Elk Anatomy and Where to Shoot

[147 Grain]

Elk Anatomy Overview: http://www.bowhunting.net/NAspecies/elk2.html

In looking at an elk's circulatory system and bone structure, there appears to be two good spots to shoot for:

1. Heart and Lung area slightly behind the front leg / near the top of the shoulder.

2. Spine / Base of Neck Area. Following the forward portion of the front leg 1/2 to 2/3'rds up to where the neck meets the spine. There are a lot of major support bones in this area that when broken, should anchor the animal very quickly.

 

[JD338]

147 grain,

Very good information.
Elk are very big, tough animals but if you place the shot correctly, they will die.

I have only taken one elk (5 pt). I placed a single 210 gr PT from my 338 RUM through the sweet spot at 350 yds and dropped him in his tracks.
Having good equipment and lots of practice with that equipment will pay off.

Regards,

JD338

 

[147 Grain]

It's hard to beat those partitions for elk; I wish I had the confidence in AccuBonds to take this large animal as well; perhaps I need a little more education.

 

[JD338]

I too am a PT fan. Last weekend I conducted a water expansion test at 200 yds. I did a comparison of the 225 gr AB and 225 gr PT out of my 338 RUM. The results were impressive. The AB penetrated 7 1 gal jugs of water and expanded to .778" and weighed 144 grs giving it a weight retention of 64%. The PT penetrated 8 jugs and expanded to .695" and weighed 157.7 grs, 70%.
Based on this example, I would feel confident to use the 225 gr AB in my 338 RUM for Elk.
I will try to post pictures of the recovered bullets for everyone to see.

Regards,

JD338

 

[147 Grain]

Impressive results and thanks for the feedback!

Do you feel a 30-06 shooting 180-gr. Partitions / AccuBonds (SD of .271) at 2,750 fps MV will achieve similar results - at least as far as penetration is concerned?

Steve

P.S. .338 Noslers in 225-gr. have .281 SD's.

 

[JD338]

147 Grain,

Similar but different results could be expected.

Similar ratio of PT vs AB penetration. The PT will penetrate deeper because it will retain more weight and the diameter of the mushroom of the PT will be smaller than the AB, less resistance and deeper penetration.

Different results when comparing 180 gr 30-06 at 2750 MV to a 225 gr 338 RUM at 3100 MV. The SD is close but the energy, shock, and bullet weight of the 338 RUM will most likely result in deeper penetration.

You might want to try testing your loads in some test media. I call this dinking around.
1 Gal Mike jugs are quick and easy to work with. Line up 7-8 jugs on a 2x12 plank and a few small peices to adjust the jugs for a straight line and place your bullet in the center of the jugs. You will most likely recover 180 gr PTs in jug #7. Not sure about AB's, but would guess jug #6. I did a test of the 160 gr AB from my 280 Rem and recovered these bullets in jug #6.
Don't forget to bring some plastic garbage bags for clean up afterwards.

You can also soak phone books in water and put into a box about 20-24" deep. If you put 2 soaked phone books into a small garbage bag and then repeat process for all the books, handeling and clean up wil be easier.
If you place your shots carefully, you can put 5 shots per box. You will be able to plot the path of each bullet and make comparision of penetration, expansion, and recovered weight between the PT and the AB.

Hope this helps you out. Have fun dinking around!

Regards,

JD338

 

[147 Grain]

JD338:

Thanks for the feedback!

Steve

P.S. Do you feel 30-06 High Energy 180-gr. Partitions from Federal at 2,890 fps will penetrate any more than the standard factory Partitions at 2,700 fps?

 

[JD338]

147 Grain,

I would think that you would get slightly deeper penetration from the Federal High Energy load because of the higher velocity.
Higher velocities can actually decrease penetration because the bullet expands faster and is up against more resistance. In the case of the bigger 300 Mags, moving up to 200 gr bullets would give you deeper penetration.

The 30-06 with 180 gr PT's is more than enough to kill elk, bear and moose. Shot placement is the most important factor and lots of practice from field positions will give you the confidence to make the killing shot come show time.

Regards,

JD338

 

[FOTIS]

147 gr Good stuff!

 

[7mmfan]

Great photos. Just remember when hunting elk, waiting for a perfect broadside shot is sometimes not feasible and heavy cover (trees, brush) can come into play. Remember the lungs are always the biggest target but try not to hit them too high. An elk is big and the side of an elk starts to curve rapidly as it approaches the spine. This brings up two concerns. First, there is a large void spot (no vitals) between the bottom of the spine and the top of the lungs. This is usually not as big of a problem on a small deer, but is very much a concern on elk and moose sized game. Shoot an elk there and you'll never see him again. Secondly, even if you do get lucky and clip the very top of the lungs, the blood has to travel around the curve of an elks back before it will drop to the ground. The long hair of an elk also helps the blood clot quickly in this situation. For this reason I like to focus on the bottom one-third of an elk being extremely careful not to make a range estimation error that would cause my bullet to fly high.


There is also one more area of concern for proper shot placement of an elk. I never try a broadside neck shot on an elk because (especially on a large bull) there is a void spot (no vitals) between the spine and the juglar. The area is approximately 3-4 inches by 10 inches and your bullet will hit nothing but meat. Hope this helps.

 

[FOTIS]

Very nicey stated Brad! :wink:

 

[7mmfan]

Your welcome.

 

[FOTIS]

Your welcome.

Don't you mean You're welcome? :lol:

 

[Anonymous]

Great thread guys!!! I moved up here for the elk hunting, this info will come in handy.

 

[HunterJim]

You can generally use your scope to find where to put the bullet on the deer family: put the vertical wire so that it splits the forelegs; put the horizontal wire one-third of the way up the chest.

When you look at big animals like elk and moose it is easy to shoot for the center, so "measuring" with the crosswires prevents that. Also bisecting the front legs gets you the proper aimpoint regardless of target aspect (which way the animal is facing).

I learned this technique from Jeff Cooper at Gunsite, you can label it the school solution if you will.

jim