Aim Low on Elk for Archery?

[Cfriend]

Posting two questions in a row here.

Do you guys generally aim a little low on elk with the expectation they will drop some with the shot? I am primarily a whitetail hunter, and I learned that lesson the hard way last year after missing high a couple times. Wondering if same thing applies for elk.

 

[cgasner1]

No aim where you want to hit I usually like about 2/3 the way up. High lung they won’t clear 100


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[dlee56]

I agree, aim where you hit. But I disagree with above mentioned aim point, it's pretty widely accepted to aim 1/3 the way up. High lung shots can hold blood in the body cavity and make tracking tough. Plus the heart and all the good arteries are in the lowest third.

 

[SDHNTR]

No. Aim to kill.

 

[Hnthrdr]

Rarely to do elk jump the string in my experience, definitely not like whitetail

 

[wapitibob]

I've seen 2 Elk move at the shot in almost 50 years, both were just waiting for the guy to shoot.

 

[Trial153]

Nope. Put it on the money and hit behind your pin. He will be there

 

[Jellymon1]

I’d rather hit low than high. There is a lot of nothing in most of the upper third, but I have hit the heart within 2” of the chest line. Plus the blood trails seem to be better. I’m not saying to aim this low, but this shot hit lungs and heart. None of the elk I’ve shot have moved enough to matter.

 

[Cfriend]

Thanks for the input everyone. Definitely will plan to aim where I want to hit.

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[ganngus]

I have always been of the opinion it is better to miss low than high.

 

[307]

I agree, aim where you hit. But I disagree with above mentioned aim point, it's pretty widely accepted to aim 1/3 the way up. High lung shots can hold blood in the body cavity and make tracking tough. Plus the heart and all the good arteries are in the lowest third.

Would be interested to hear @jmez thoughts on the above.

A higher hit might accumulate more blood in the chest cavity, lead to hemothorax, and collapse the lungs pretty quick, along with the blood loss from vascular system into chest cavity. The downside would be reduced blood leaking out, aka "blood trail".

A lower hit would likely produce more blood trail but may depend completely on blood loss to be lethal via exsanguination. Potential pneumothorax I'd suppose.

 

[Dos Perros]

I aim mid height because I don't always hit where I aim. Right in the middle of the kill zone with margin for error all around.

 

[Pigdog]

I aim at a point that will produce a wound channel that passes through the vitals, ideally the heart. If it’s a broadside on level ground that’s a point right behind the shoulder 1/3 of the way up the body. In theory this will produce an exit wound in the same spot on the other side of the animal. If he’s quartering to or away, or up hill, or down hill that changes things a TON.

 

[BDRam16]

Would be interested to hear @jmez thoughts on the above.

A higher hit might accumulate more blood in the chest cavity, lead to hemothorax, and collapse the lungs pretty quick, along with the blood loss from vascular system into chest cavity. The downside would be reduced blood leaking out, aka "blood trail".

A lower hit would likely produce more blood trail but may depend completely on blood loss to be lethal via exsanguination. Potential pneumothorax I'd suppose.

The fastest I’ve ever seen an animal go down from an arrow is when a large bore artery is hit. Faster than a double lung or heart shot personally. Sprint like crazy for 5ish seconds, stop, stumble and wobble, down for the count. There are far more large bore arteries lower on the body than higher. Also, if you’re shooting to a position above you a high entrance will almost certainly be a single lung. I’d definitely aim top 2/3rd if I was shooting downhill though because I’d want my exit to get those major arteries.

A hemothorax will absolutely be lethal, but how long will it take to fill up the chest cavity to get to that point?

 

[hobbes]

I aim, on elk and deer, somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 way up from the bottom. I have on occasion aimed a touch lower on whitetails from a tree stand. I've only shot a few deer that were on pins and needles waiting to explode and those were really close. I've not seen or shot at an elk that was anywhere close to as high-strung as a whitetail. Granted, I've not shot a lot of elk,but I've been close to plenty of them. They don't react as wild as whitetails.

Due to form issues, it's not uncommon to shoot a touch high out of a tree stand.

 

[jmez]

I aim straight up the middle of the front leg, 1/3 of the way up. You have way more room for error in the lower portion of the chest than the upper. The base, or bottom of the heart actually lays on the bottom of the chest cavity from about the 3-4th rib back to the 8th rib. The great vessels come out of the apex , or top of the heart and curve back through the chest. This is all in the lower 1/3 of the chest.

What kills them quicker, not straight answer. There is a lot that goes on in a short amount of time when you put an arrow through the chest. IMO, the quickest kill is going to be a passthrough right over the top of the hear where the great vessels come off. Rapid exsanguination. You will also have a bilateral, both sides, pneumothorax. Zero ability to oxygenate blood along with zero ability to move blood throughout the body.

If you hit one high you will have a pneumothorax along with a hemothorax . You have zero ability to oxygenate the blood but it will continue to circulate. Still very deadly.

Blood trails are all over the place. Even with a high hit, the animal along with all of its internal organs are moving. The blood doesn't need to fill to the level of the holes to leak out. Take a mild jug poke two holes near the top, fill it 1/4 full with water, put some stuff in there to rattle around. Take off running with it and see if any leaks out. May not be a lot but it will leak out.

Bottom line, you put two holes through the chest, lungs and or heart it is a dead critter in short order. Blood trail may be good or bad. Animal should die within a reasonable enough distance it doesn't matter.

 

[psp8ball]

I have learned my lesson the hard way, and aim middle 1/3rd to give myself the largest margin for error.

My lesson: My dad and I were hiking back to the truck through 10 inches of snow that had just fallen. We jumped a small bull who was laying right in our boot tracks from where we came in. He just stands there looking. I wasn't going to shoot him until my wise father said, "think of the pack." Which would have been a piece of cake. I take off my bow sling, knock an arrow, all while the bull stands there looking oblivious. He's just over a small rise, so I can't quite see his belly line. I have my dad range him, he says 40. Here's where my mistake happens. I've been shooting a ton, and I'm super confident. I now know the exact range at an elk that is broadside. So I hold bottom 1/3rd, maybe even a touch lower (instead of in the middle) since I can't quite see his belly line. I shoot and celebrate my dead bull... that wasn't. It turns out the bull was 45 yards, not 40. I ended up just cutting hair and hide on his brisket. Had I simply played it safe and aimed middle 1/3rd, I would have heart shot him, despite the range being off. I got too cute/cocky/confident and thought I'd make the perfect shot. I didn't factor in the possibility of something going wrong. Like his range, or if he moves, me shooting bad or any of the 1,000 things that can happen while bowhunting.

Like I said. Lesson learned.

 

[TheViking]

I aim mid height because I don't always hit where I aim. Right in the middle of the kill zone with margin for error all around.

This.

Nerves can get you, breathing heavy from hauling ass up a ridge, all kinds of factors. This isn't backyard 3D archery where you are calm, cool and collected. I usually aim 1/3 - 1/2 way up the elk, right in the crease. A few inches in any direction and you're still in the money.

 

[philson208]

I aim mid mass on elk. I hit my bull this year @ 42 yds he didn't even move until the arrow had passed through him and hit the dirt on the other side of him. I thought I had somehow missed until I heard him coughing and located a nice red fletched arrow. I hit him high lung, quartering to me and there was zero blood to track. Luckily, he piled up 80 yds from the shot in under 2 minutes.