Rifle shots on elk survey!

[Lytro]

I've only shot at 1 elk with a rifle before, but here's the info:

-Cartridge of rifle: 7mm Rem Mag
-Bullet used: 162 gr. Hornady Superformance SST
-Bull or cow? Bull
-FOR EACH SHOT you took on the animal:
-Distance of the shot: 209 Yds
-Position of shot: kneeling
-Whether the animal was hit or missed: Hit
-If hit, where the animal was hit: Front Edge of the lower front shoulder even with the heart.
-If hit, did the bullet pass all the way through? No, bullet was recovered just under the hide on the opposite side.
-Whether the animal was successfully recovered: Yes
-If recovered, about how many yards from the *first hit* on the animal did you recover it: About 10 yards. The bull stumbled forward and dropped dead.

 

[rickerb24]

I'm almost solely an archery hunter but like reading things in this survey

 

[elkguide]

-Cartridges of rifles: .300 WSM - .300 Win Mag (several different rifles) - .300 RUM
-Bullets used: 175 gr. Berger - 180 gr. Nosler Partition - 180 gr. Hornady SST - 210 gr. Berger
-Bull or cow? Cows and Bulls
-For each shot you took on the animals:
-Distance of the shot: 80 yds to 380 yrds
-Position while taking shot: prone, kneeling, sitting, standing
-Whether the animal was hit or missed: Hit
-If hit, where the animal was hit: chest/lungs
-If hit, did the bullet pass all the way through? No
-Whether the animal was successfully recovered: Yes
-If recovered, about how many yards from the *first hit* on the animal did you recover: longest tracking job was 30 yards - most dropped at shot

 

[Bridger#5]

-Cartridges of rifles: .300 WSM - .300 Win Mag (several different rifles) - .300 RUM
-Bullets used: 175 gr. Berger - 180 gr. Nosler Partition - 180 gr. Hornady SST - 210 gr. Berger
-Bull or cow? Cows and Bulls
-For each shot you took on the animals:
-Distance of the shot: 80 yds to 380 yrds
-Position while taking shot: prone, kneeling, sitting, standing
-Whether the animal was hit or missed: Hit
-If hit, where the animal was hit: chest/lungs
-If hit, did the bullet pass all the way through? No
-Whether the animal was successfully recovered: Yes
-If recovered, about how many yards from the *first hit* on the animal did you recover: longest tracking job was 30 yards - most dropped at shot

Spike bull
30-06 167 Winchester fail safe
Offhand 50 yards
Traveled 40 yards
Double lungs
Bullet recovered under hide off side

 

[House21]

2016 Cow
270 WSM 130 Grain TTSX
First shot 480 yards prone, clipped back of lungs pass through
Second shot about 80 yards kneeling through both shoulders four petals sheared and base was found against hide. Dropped after that shot and about 100 yards from first shot.

2017 Bull (4x4)
270 WSM 130 Grain TTSX
150ish yards quartering to, hit shoulder and spine, dropped on the spot.

2018 Bull (3x3)
280 AI 140 Grain Accubond
75 yards in the timber, quartering away. Aimed for off side shoulder and the bull hunched at the shot and bolted but it felt good. Gave him 30 mins and tracked for over 1km with my son and decided to back out and get a buddy to go look with me. Waited 3 hours before we went back and tacked him for another 4km before he got on a quad trail and we lost all sign. Never did find him and not sure what happened.

2019 Cow
280 AI 140 Grain Accubond
50 yards broadside through both lungs and clipped top of heart pass through, went maybe 10 yards.

2020 Cow
280 AI 140 Grain Accubond
80 yards slight quartering away, through both lungs and offside shoulder pass through, went about 100 yards.

 

[Wapiti1]

1: 30-06 AI, 180 gr Nosler AB 2850fps, cow, 1 shot, 40 yards, standing supported, hit, lungs, pass through, recovered, 3 yards

2: .300 Win Mag, 200 gr Barnes LRX 3000fps, 1 shot, bull, 170 yards, prone off pack, hit, lungs, pass through, recovered, 40 yards

3: .50 Cal Muzzleloader, 300 gr Parker, 1 shot, bull, 273 yards, prone off pack, hit, heart/lungs, recovered bullet under skin on offside, recovered, 20 yards

4: .300 Win Mag 200 gr Sierra Gameking, 1 shot, bull, 75 yards, standing supported, hit, high shoulder, pass through, recovered, 0 yards

5. .300 Win Mag, 200 gr Sierra Gameking, 1 shot, bull, 50 yards, standing supported, hit, lungs, pass through, recovered, 20 yards

Jeremy

 

[mncoolbeans]

-Cartridge of rifle: 6.5 CM
-Bullet used: 143gr Hornady ELDX
-Bull or cow? Bull
-FOR EACH SHOT you took on the animal:
-Distance of the shot: 275- yds
-Position of shot: Standing
-Whether the animal was hit or missed: Hit
-If hit, where the animal was hit: Double Lung, Complete Passthrough
-If hit, did the bullet pass all the way through? Yes
-Whether the animal was successfully recovered: Yes
-If recovered, about how many yards from the *first hit* on the animal did you recover it: 40-yards.......Animal ran 40-yards and Dropped and Expired!

 

[bummer7580]

-Cartridges of rifles: .300 WSM - .300 Win Mag (several different rifles) - .300 RUM
-Bullets used: 175 gr. Berger - 180 gr. Nosler Partition - 180 gr. Hornady SST - 210 gr. Berger
-Bull or cow? Cows and Bulls
-For each shot you took on the animals:
-Distance of the shot: 80 yds to 380 yrds
-Position while taking shot: prone, kneeling, sitting, standing
-Whether the animal was hit or missed: Hit
-If hit, where the animal was hit: chest/lungs
-If hit, did the bullet pass all the way through? No
-Whether the animal was successfully recovered: Yes
-If recovered, about how many yards from the *first hit* on the animal did you recover: longest tracking job was 30 yards - most dropped at shot

Like you I've shot quite a few elk also with 300 magnums. I used mostly 180 grain accubonds and partitions and like you most of mine didn't exit. The elk seldom traveled far and inside damage was severe.

 

[JPeters218]

2020 - 30-06, 168gr Barnes TTSX. Bull. 75 yards broadside. Hit lungs. Bullet exited. Second shot hit brush and took a chunk out of the top of the neck. Exited. Bull went 50 yards. Standing with rest.

2019- 30-06 180gr partition. Cow. 75 yards. 3 broadside shots, all through lungs, all exited. Went about 75 yards. (The elk came running to me and I stopped it with a cow call before the first shot). Standing freehand.

2017- 30-06 180gr soft point. Cow. 50 yards. Broadside, liver shot. Bullet did not exit (far side hide). Went about 200 yards. Sitting with rest.

2016- I can’t remember for the life of me. But I guarantee it was a cow under 100yds with 150gr 270 or 180gr 30-06 soft point. Ran 50 yards and died. Bullet in the hide

2015-. 30-06 180gr soft point. Cow 75 yards. Running broadside. Lung shot. Bullet did not exit. Second shot was also running quartering away. 150 yards. Lung shot, exited. Both shots standing offhand

2014- Exact same as 2013 except a calf.

2013- 270. 150gr soft point. Cow. 100 yards. Running broadside. 4 shots. 3 lung shots 1 leg shot. The lung shots did not exit. The elk went about 100 yards. Standing offhand

2012- 30-06 180gr soft point. Bull. 40 yards. First shot hit the point of both shoulders and did not exit. 2 more shots in the lungs. The e

2011. 30-06 180gr soft point. Cow. Broadside lung shot. Did not exit. (Far side hide). Second shot missed while walking through brush. Went 20 yardsSitting with rest.

2010. 243 100gr soft point. Calf. 75 yards. Broadside lung shot. Exited. Second shot while it was running about 25 yds from first shot, missed. Dead 50 yards from 1st shot. Both shots standing offhand

 

[prm]

1.) .338 Federal, Kimber Montana, 185 TTSX (2720 FPS). Bull. Distance 80 yards broadside lung shot offhand. Pass thru. Bull spun, second shot 80 yards pass through lungs the other way. Recovered. 20 yards.

2.) .338 Federal, Kimber Montana, 180 BT (2770 FPS). Bull. Distance 35 yards two quick broadside lung shots offhand. Bullets recovered near far side hide. Recovered. 0 yards traveled.

3.) 338 Federal, Kimber Montana. 160 TTSX (3050 FPS). Bull. Distance 75 yards, offhand shot to frontal chest. Bullet not found. Recovered. 35 yards.

4.) 6.5 Creedmoor, Barrett Fieldcraft. 140 Berger VLD Hunting (2800 fps). 135 yard broadside shot to lungs, kneeling. Bullet did not pass through. Recovered. 0 yards.

 

[AP577]

My last AZ elk was a cow at
708 Yards

6.5 Creedmoor 143gr ELD-X Precision Hunter

1 shot broadside, aiming for vitals, was lucky to hit the heart. Bullet stopped in her right side rib cage.

She walked 30 yards then collapsed.

This was a prone, zero wind shot, after a lot of experience long range with the rifle.

 

[Laramie]

I'll just list the last 5... Can't remember specifics on many from the past.
Elk below harvested with a 30-06 shooting 165 grain Hornady Interbonds at 2875FPS. All shots were prone off bipods. All passed through except for #3. Bullet was recovered under off side skin.
#1 Mature Bull. 255 yards. Double lung hit. Shot elk again quartering away as he was moving. Hit high chest cavity. Elk went down about 50 yards from original hit.
#2 Young Bull. 340 yards. Double Lung hit. Elk reacted but was still standing so shot again through lungs. Elk died within 10 yards.
#3 Mature Bull. 477 yards. High Shoulder hit. Elk dropped in his tracks.
#4 Cow, 210 yards. Double Lung hit. She travelled about 15 yards.
#5 Cow. 200 yards. Double Lung hit. She travelled about 25 yards.

 

[Hoodie]

2020 Cow-

6.5CM with 143 grain ELDX (probably around 2700 FPS)
205 yards.
Shot(s) were kneeling supported on pack.
2 shots in rapid succession behind the shoulder on bedded cow (not sure second shot would have been necessary).
At least one bullet exited.
Recovered <10 yards away (all distance covered was rolling downhill after the shots, not sure if that counts.)

 

[RCB]

Noticed that this post suddenly got resurrected. Will try to update analysis on this soon. Last I checked the data was basically inconclusive. Ie sometimes elk die fast and sometimes they die slow, and it’s hard to tell why.

Here were my original conclusions. Looks like I could grow the sample size quite a bit given recent responses.

Tentative results of elk rifle shot survey

I am reporting the preliminary results of my elk rifle shooting survey (originally posted here: https://www.rokslide.com/forums/threads/rifle-shots-on-elk-survey.134191/ posted also in Hunt Talk forum for more data). Up to now I have only recorded 47 elk encounters. So far this has not enabled...

www.rokslide.com

 

[CAElkhunter]

Longest shot:
-450 yds off shooting stix sitting with my 300 RUM, 180 grn Nosler, stopped him with a cow call dropped at the shot broadside.
-Avg shot 300 yds. Sitting off shooting stix.
-Closest shot 50 yds with my 338 Win Mag, standing off hand. Flipped the bull. That is a lot of energy that close.

 

[CC11]

Don't have many rifle killed elk since we primarily archery hunt but here's two.

-350" bull estimated 8-9 years old. 7mm Browning x-bolt. 168 gr Berger VLD at 2960fps handload. 406 yards angled downhill, bull was quartered to, bullet hit where the dark hair meets the light hair on his shoulder just above mid body line. Bull tipped over backwards dead on impact, bullet never recovered although we found fragments. Lungs were completely vaporized.

-Spike bull. 7mm Browning x-bolt. 168 gr Berger VLD at 2960fps handload. 95 yard shot, center of body right on the shoulder crease, double lunged. Bull ran 15 yards before falling dead. Bullet passed through with about a golf ball size exit hole.

 

[Wassid82]

Cartridge of rifle (e.g. 280 rem, 338 wm, 300 wm, 300 wsm )
-Bullet used (e.g. 165 Sierr, 190 Nosler accubond, 215 Barnes tsx,
-Bull or cow? 4 bulls 1 cow
-FOR EACH SHOT you took on the animal:
-Distance of the shot ( all shots have been 150-350)
-Position of shot (standing, sitting, kneeling)
-all animals hit
-If hit, where the animal was hit (e.g., 1 neck, 2 front shoulder/ bread basket. 3 lungs, 4 lungs, 5 lungs.)
-If hit, did the bullet pass all the way through? On animals 1,2 I’m not sure because they were lost. 3,4,5 yes
-Whether the animal was successfully recovered. 1,2 no. 3,4,5 yes they were recovered.
-If recovered, about how many yards from the *first hit* on the animal did you recover it (e.g. 3= 0 yards if DRT, 4= 50 yards, 5=150)