Elk advice, 2 lost in a row where am i going wrong?

[wapitibob]

I don’t like high shoulder. If you were starting at the top of the body cavity, and divided it into quarters, I like the third quarter as my aiming point.

There is a big bunch of major veins and arteries in this area. A bullet here produces a very quick kill.

They don't always die quick. This was the 1st shot in a 3 shot rodeo. Buck was finally killed with the third shot facing the hunter, under the chin and thru the spine at about 10 yards, 30 minutes after the 1st shot. Deer probably traveled 1/4 mile. Second shot was thru the lungs.
Berger 140 hunting vld from a 6.5 CM; 2nd rodeo I've witnessed with this bullet/caliber. I don't shoot this bullet but If I did, I'd throw every one of them in the garbage.

 

[Jason Snyder]

If I’m following, divide in half. Scrap the top half, divide the bottom half again and you’re aiming in the top of the bottom half?

Yep.

 

[Johnny_Yemon11]

Yep.

Cool, thanks amigo.

 

[hunthikecamp]

The lesson that has served me best in my (relatively short) time in the elk woods is an echo of what's already been said, if they are still on their feet and you can see them, KEEP SHOOTING.

My first bull i literally stumbled into, we both stared at each other dumbstruck when we bumped into each other. He spooked out to about 75 yards broadside and I was hiking, rifle over my shoulder. Quickly shouldered my rifle, no rest and let one rip. He was still on his feet, so I quickly racked another and steadied myself and sent #2. Turns out #1 was a complete miss but #2 did the trick and put him down. Barnes TSX 180 gr for what its worth.

Fast forward to a deer hunt last year, i lost a deer on opening weekend of 2nd rifle, absolute gut punch and a poor decision that I regret still. I wounded it but a combo of buck fever and misjudging my holdover led to a wound that I never recovered. Second weekend of the season I had a very comfortable shot on a buck, took my time, was solid, and watched him get very wobbly after about 10 yards but he was still in the open. 0 hesitation sent round #2. I lost some backstrap bc i was higher shooting down, but he dropped on the spot and I have 0 regrets.

I am firmly on the side of keep shooting. "But you'll lose more meat" would you rather lose 5 lb from shot #2 or 200 lb from potentially not recovering the animal?

Sounds like a lot of factors added up but the one that rung familiar to me was not getting the second shot out. Practice the quick follow up shots and always take them. sorry about the luck, best you can do is learn from it and improve for next season!

 

[IDVortex]

Huh. Now realizing the cow (only elk ive shot, I buy my meat from the store) I shot was actually besides a high shot. The original spot i thought i was aiming was still high.

 

[R boar]

To OP:
For the cow (and possibly the bull) I think you need to get better at tracking. Of course it's hard to say without being there, but you can follow a track a long way between drops of blood. Sometimes blood is the tiniest speck, sometimes you have to turn leaves upside down because it's on the bottom side. Sometimes there just isn't any blood for a while, but you can try to think like the wounded animal and, based off of where it was, estimate where it "should" be headed. Rather than grid searching, keep looking for tracks/blood in all the possible directions or trails (starting with most likely). You might be surprised how far you can take it, and how often you actually find the animal.

Looks like it's already been covered, but I think you aimed way too high on the bull.

On the other subject of shooting something after dark: I've never done it, and I'm the type that reads every bit of the regulations and follows them exactly. But I lost of a buck because of it. I hit him high (archery). No blood trail, spotted him after half hour or so walking normally and saw red circle on exit side. Looked like high lung, below the spine, and thought he should be dead. Just before dark I found him still up, and shot him again from maybe 10-20 yards, but through a pretty thick bush. Couldn't see the hit, but it produced some blood which I followed. Hours later, searching around with flashlight down near town where hunting is illegal, and people are probably watching me, I spot him, right across the fence on neighbors property. Standing there broadside. I walked away, and came back in the morning. Don't see him. Got permission from neighbor, went looking in there, bumped him and watched him run away across a construction site into other neighbor's property. Could see second shot clearly center punched his guts (deflected off the bush). He should be dead 2x by now. Few more hours go by, permission from 2 more neighbors, and I bumped him back to our property, no blood other than on the fence. Kept searching but no luck. Found his head the next year. Kind of wished I'd just put an arrow in him with the headlamp.