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Pick you spot
Pick you spot
You’re 35 yards away from this bull. He’s slightly quartered away and you have an elevated position on the bull. Not tree stand high but definitely a downhill angle. Which spot do you choose and why or do you have a totally different spot.
Photo courtesy of JohnMC.
Blue or yellow for me. If you’re asking which one is the best, I’d say blue. While I do like the line of the red, you’re flirting with shoulder blade.
I would wait till he moved his right leg forward. But to play along with the choice is given, Red
Blue all day long. You’ll hit the left side shoulder but get a quick clean kill.
Depends on the slightly part Red or Blue
Blue dot.
Ideally I’d like to see that front leg come forward a little as mentioned above by Altitude Sickness.
Really depends on the angle for me. In pick, he is level and not quartering away so hard to apply those conditions except figuratively....so figuratively I'd take Blue or Yellow depending on the angles both away and down. I'd like that right leg more forward so I can shoot the off leg position to start.......
It's weird- that bull doesn't look quartering away at all to me. Maybe the pic is deceiving because his onside leg is back a bit. If it really is quartering away, blue works for me. If straight broadside, I'd go just ahead of the blue.
I’d also wait for that near leg to move forward, then my spot would be between the blue and red.
Blue, or between Blue & Red
I'm aiming at blue but I'm a shitty shot so I just pray I hit any of them.
Blue for for me but to be honest I would be aiming in between the blue and green dots with a touch favoring the red dot side.
Dark blue. Should have a heart shot. Red, I am staying away from the front shoulder so if I would happen to pull the shot to the right and hit large bone. Yellow would work at a double lung shot. Green, near the spine, maybe a hit that would put the elk down fast, ie, maybe, might also cut the major artery that runs along the spine. Yep, Dark Blue for sure, for me.
Believe I could weasel an arrow in just about an inch to the right of the blue, directed towards the opposing shoulder. Maybe. As for picking a spot, I'd probably settle on the blue dot right where it is.
Just to the right of the blue, through the bunched muscle below the red dot. Puts them down in sight every time. Yellow is a gut shot, and blue is alarmingly close to the dreaded YouTube "a little back". Green is a lost bull.
Heck, all 4 will kill him! Just some quicker than others! (grin)
ElkNut
All would be quickly lethal. A difference with no distinction.
How about in the middle of the dots?
“ All would be quickly lethal. A difference with no distinction.”
Disagree. Green is much too high, because up there the ribs are arcing toward the spine, getting close to flat under the backstrap, and I have made that shot myself with a .54 roundball which flattened and veered off at a considerable angle vs the line of bore. With an arrow, you’re looking at the difference between clipping through a rib vs splitting it nearly lengthwise for several inches.
If you slip between the ribs at that height, you may get lucky— maybe it’s a foregone conclusion with a heavier compound, but I don’t think I can presume that a knockdown is guaranteed if I hit the body of a vertebra, even with what I’m shooting.
So I say “much too high” because there’s very, very little room for error there if you float your shot just a little….
Best case scenario there is that you end up slipping just under the spine and clip the aorta where it is tight to the backbone. In that case, yeah, should be a spectacularly quick crash.
Yellow I don’t like. It’s about one exhalation away from Liver unless the quarter-away is a lot steeper than it looks….
That’s really a spectacular photo for showing what is under the hide….
I drew in Deep Red for the spine of the scapula and humerus, orange for the posterior edge of the scapula. Not perfect, but you get the idea… Front edge of that scapula is pretty well defined by the shadow there…
If the front end of that bull is quartering away more steeply than the rear, the blue dot doesn’t worry me, but when I can see the crease behind the shoulder, that’s where I pick my spot; I shoot a 3D course with 5 full size Elk targets year round, and that’s what I have practiced and practiced and practiced, so there’s no way I’m gonna change it up now.
Of the choices offered, I really like the height of the blue and the fore/aft of the red, because those keep me well off of the orange and red lines… And there’s a very small dark spot just below the red dot at the top of the crease which looks like a really good place to stay focused.
Sounds like we are supposed to imagine that it is down hill and quartering away, which the photo does not show? If the bull is quartering away and we are slightly above him, I choose yellow and hope I miss a couple inches to the right?
I chose that photo because of the shoulder placement and the fact you can see the bone structure very well. It’s interesting to see how many different answers there are. I think the leg placement in the photo would cause a lot of guys to shoot too far back. Just imagine the shoulder on a forward stride now then look at the yellow dot again. It would really open that up and you’d see how far back that spot is. I’m going blue dot for sure or even red if it’s not too steep of a quarter angle.
i would aim for the center of this circle.
Of the four shown...blue.
"How was this shot?"
Hard to say without knowing the angle or exit.
Middle of the dots. So many variables to consider, no one spot is right for all gear or elevations.
My preference would be a little below the red dot, but given the 4 choices... I'd go with the red dot.
Blue dot with a rifle or a compound bow.With my stickbow, same spot but I wait until he moves the leg forward .
Red or blue. Both would be over quickly.
Agree with arlone, the bull in the pic is at ground-level view, or maybe even slightly above the shooter, and with his chest turned to his right, nearly broadside. Regardless, he does look pretty calm so I'd wait for the right front leg to move forward, then aim for the top of the heart by holding lower and right of all the colored dots.
Man any would be adequate given the bull is down hill. I would likely put my pin about the middle of all 4 or just barely left of the red dot
blue - my error in shooting going right would be a bone hit
Somewhere between the red and blue dot.
Midwest is Not Wrong about BTB’s shot, but there is absolutely no angle that I would consider for which that wouldn’t make quick work of things….
Well, I suppose it’s a bit low for an exceptionally steep downward angle. That could be a single lung, and I’d rather not. Though pretty good chances of an exit on that and that would make a big difference…
Here’s a cow I shot back in 2014 with the angles described in the op. Slightly quartering away from an elevated position. At first glance it looks too far back but the shot was a double lung. No exit hole as it center punched a rib on entry and coincidentally center punched the offside rib as well breaking both in half. This shot was the reason I started shooting a heavier arrow with weighted insert. She was dead within 60 yards
“ I think the leg placement in the photo would cause a lot of guys to shoot too far back.”
“ Yellow is a gut shot, and blue is alarmingly close to the dreaded YouTube ‘a little back’. ”
I’d call that a Match.
What’s HARD to see in that photo is the line of the brisket, which makes a big difference in how I read the situation. Depending on just how high above the bull you really are, it makes most of the original dots look pretty high. That said, you CAN see the stripe down the bull’s spine to get a sense of how high above him is the camera’s POV.
Adding a line beneath which I would not wish to stray on my exit.
None of them. Bull is still in velvet so in every western state I’m aware of the season hasn’t opened yet and you’d be poaching.
Cmon Tilz… Utah August 16 opener. Duh! ;^)
Skeletal structure
Skeletal structure
These pics always put things into perspective.
An inch or two right of the lower dot, says the color blind guy who can’t tell if it’s blue or purple. But only in Utah!
Broadside. This is the wound on the opposite side of the ribcage. Arrow stayed in after passing through both lungs and cutting the one rib on the opposite side.
I thought that picture looked familiar. I am not shooting cause he is in Rocky Mountain National Park. I know there are bigger bulls around ;)
About 2” left of the red….
Blue, red, just below red and just to the right of the blue. If I pick one spot it would be blue.
My planned spot would be closer to the red dot, likely a touch behind it. Green is too high for my liking unless I'm in a treestand and shooting a fairly steep downward shot. Blue is a dead bull, especially if quartered but I prefer farther forward. Yellow is too far back unless he's quartered away more than the photo. It's not quite what I'd call guts unless quartered to. If mostly broadside, your hoping for liver and back edge of lungs on that shot and sweating bullets while waiting to start tracking, but maybe that's just me.
Blue dot (maybe between blue/red) with a Rage. Was slightly quartering away. Sorry for all the blood - Happens with Rage sometimes!
In between yellow and blue. Either colored dot would work. That high in the body and you are in the lungs with the yellow dot broadside. Much more so at that slight quartering angle.
Quartering away…yellow and he won’t go 30 yards.
Nearside leg is back, yellow dot might make for a long day. I’d try tight in the V.
Of those dots? Red. Leaves 6" margins all around at 35 that's plenty
This blue dot shot bull went 25y and fell over before I could grab a call out of my pocket to stop him
From the choices given- RED.
I would aim south of red and east of blue. Made this shot on a moose a couple years ago - sliced all the pipes off the top of the heart.
Couple inches to the right of the blue dot. Right on that crease.
Couple inches to the right of the blue dot. Right on that crease.
Couple inches to the right of the blue dot. Right on that crease.
Stalker - if you shoot it where you said you would, you won’t have to shoot it three times.
Between the red and blue.
Honestly I like the red but I don’t have the balls for that.
