Elk hit.

[williaada]

I am from MI and have the ability to hunt the small MI elk herd. My younger brother was lucky enough to draw a cow tag. At the DNR meeting required to attend. the state representative leading the meeting told a story of a person shooting 7 cow elk in about five minutes due to the elk not really reacting to being hit mortally. The DNR now recommends that hunters shoot at one animal, and wait 5 minutes to watch if one animals acts differently than the others.

has anyone done this or heard of this when hunting cow elk?

 

[elkguide]

I have watched elk take a lot of lead. They can be very tough animals. But shooting 7 in 5 minutes is just shooting at anything standing.
I've guided elk hunters using lots of different calibers, 30-30, .41 magnum handgun, 25-06, all the way to the Lazeroni Warbird. For me when I go elk hunting, I always grab a .300 and it's usually a .300 Win Mag.

 

[87TT]

They are tough animals. I would think that is good advice.

 

[Huntinaz]

Yes it’s very common for them to just take a round without much reaction, both good shots and bad. Shoot only at the same elk and shoot until it’s down is my advice

 

[bsnedeker]

It's situational I think. If you have another person spotting for you to ensure you are on the right elk i think a follow up shot is a good idea.

That said, you are in MI where they are trying to build up the herd so I think an extra conservative course of action is the best move.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

 

[87TT]

It's situational I think. If you have another person spotting for you to ensure you are on the right elk i think a follow up shot is a good idea.

That said, you are in MI where they are trying to build up the herd so I think an extra conservative course of action is the best move.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

And ethical.

 

[CAElkhunter]

Does it really need to be stated that you should not be randomly shooting at multiple Elk just because the first did not drop ?
You have an ethical duty to make sure the first animal you shot at is not hit period. Harvesting a cow is secondary to making sure you are not shooting multiple elk. Mistakes happen but shooting again just because
you did not see a reaction is not acceptable. You need to follow that animal. Check for blood etc.

 

[Agross]

I really hope that’s not true. Been putting in for michigan elk for years. I envy you and your brother Getting the opportunity . Good luck on the hunt and let us know how it goes.

 

[BRTreedogs]

So he must of assumed that he clear missed the first 6 times?
Boy that isn't much confidence in you round or shooting.
Sounds to me like a blood thirsty killing spree and a lame excuse.

Take a rifle and round he is confident with.
Practice.
Yes I believe they can take a hit and make it a ways not looking hit.
Yes they may need a follow up.
But to just keep blazing away not know what animal is what is something else.

Confidence in the initial shot.

 

[Seamaster]

It has been my experience that they can stay on their feet for a several seconds even with a perfect shot and a bullet through both lungs. A poorly hit elk can stay on it's feet for a very long time. Occasionally they will drop to the shot but more often they do not.

 

[Traveler]

Did the DNR say what happened to the guy?

 

[87TT]

Only shoot at one animal period. If there is any and I mean ANY doubt about which one you shot at, Don't shoot again. Elk seem to be one of the most resilient and determined animals I have hunted. There is just no give up in them.

 

[txhunter581]

Buck fever in an experienced hunter. Bottom line is they screwed up. No excuse for that.

You NEVER shoot at a different animal than the first one. If you can’t shoot at that one, you don’t shoot again. Simple as that.

 

[mtwarden]

got to work the Gardiner late elk hunt a couple of different seasons, got to see lots of very unpretty things

 

[CBreeze]

Pure Michigan

 

[Blinddog]

Uncle Ted would go ballistic on that fool and the DNR for such a dumb statement which should be common sense.
If you shoot and your not sure you hit, that's it. do a search for blood and move on. Some would even punch their tag if they knew they wounded an animal.

 

[Sled]

I have put multiple rounds in elk before. In certain areas I hunt, if they're still standing I'm still shooting. In wide open places I'll put one in and wait. In all cases I shoot at the same animal and verify my hits. When that's not possible I wait for the animal to verify for me. If the push off then I go in and check for signs of a bit and start tracking if need be. I've only had that happen once And it was a misrange. From a very stable position I put a round above the back strap. By the time I figured out what happened, the elk grazed its way out of sight. That took several minutes but I wasn't willing to keep shooting when I knew something wasn't right. Immediately after that I had a pretty cool bear encounter. Id like to think karma kept the both of us safe that day.

 

[Ralphie]

I’m 100% for multiple shots on elk. When you are 100% you are shooting at the same elk. Cows in a herd can make that second part very tough. This year I killed two cows at different times, yes two separate tags. I was by myself both times and on both I was unable to ethically take a 2nd shot. On one I was pretty sure but had to wait Until she dropped. On the other after the shot the herd went out of sight into a small draw. Then they came back out and I easily could have shot. But I didn’t. I had to watch them leave, unsure whether I’d killed one. I didn’t know I’d killed one until I walked up there and found one dead in the draw.

My daughter killed a cow the other day and there were only two elk total there. And there were two of us so it was pretty easy and ethical for her to take a second shot.

 

[Chesapeake173]

The Michigan elk hunt is a joke by most standards. If you saw how it was you’d understand exactly why that statement was made.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[roadrunner]

Shot a medium size cow a couple of weeks ago. First shot I thought was a miss. Second shot adjusted and punched straight into the shoulder, slightly quartering to. Watched her run about 30 yds doing the tell-tale "limp" run before watching her nose dive. First shot was actually a hit, just low and through the brisket/sternum area. Caliber used was a 7mm Mag.

A youth hunter I brought out a month ago hit a cow about the same size a little far back and ended up with a liver hit. The hunter could have shot another cow because they (the elk) didn't really know what was going on. We suspected a cow hanging back was the one that was hit because of how it behaved. We watched and observed for close to 45 min until the cows drifted off into the trees before making our approach. We found the cow we had been watching before she disappeared right where we last saw her. She had been dead for probably 30 min or so. Caliber used was a .270 Win.

The take away, never shoot again until you know for sure it was a clean miss, or you know the elk you're shooting at is the same one. The one I shot was easy because there was only a spike with her to not mistake shooting at another one.