Arrow Placement - Shot under heart?

[Marble]

Curious what broadhead? Doesn't tell the whole story by any means, I'm guessing it was a small head.

This 20 years ago....but it would be similar to a 3 blade G5. I want to say it was one of those.

 

[bm-55]

It was higher than I had obviously hoped but with the extreme down angle and that being the entrance I really figured that bull was toast when the arrow hit him I spent about a hour watching him in the spotter when I took that picture couldn’t believe that it didn’t do the trick so I do believe there is a empty spot in there I’m sure it must have only clipped on lung at best


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Friend is an outfitter in western CO who’s had several animals (over 20 years or so) that were running around weeks later and looking just fine after taking an arrow through that zone - perhaps anecdotal, but I’ve always understood that ‘void’ to be a real risk. Sorry for the result on that bull, I know the rollercoaster ride.


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[Beendare]

Friend is an outfitter in western CO who’s had several animals (over 20 years or so) that were running around weeks later and looking just fine after taking an arrow through that zone - perhaps anecdotal, but I’ve always understood that ‘void’ to be a real risk. Sorry for the result on that bull, I know the rollercoaster ride.

There is no void...but it is possible to only partially collapse the lungs on an elk....especially on that high shot right under the spine.

I've seen some crazy wound channels...one that a rancher buddy sent over a week later; My buddy shot a 161" whitetail, mech head that made a hard downward turn once it entered the chest going straight down just nicking the left lung, lots of blood but the buck survived. We didn't recover that buck...but the ranchers friend shot him a week later in gun season.

If you only saw where the arrow hit...you would have said, "Great shot"

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[LostArra]

Could the OP have hit brisket? The shot always looks "a little low". Arrow is bloody from bh to nock especially if you have good arrow flight. Usually a decent blood trail for a while and the elk is probably sore but healthy.

 

[ElkNut1]

We can only comment on info & Description shared by OP. Question was can you hit too low & miss the heart? Yes! You won't hit much there but veins do bleed, they do not bleed out like arteries but still lots of blood before drying up.

As far as heart shot elk covering lots of ground after the shot; well take that with a grain of salt. Some fall within eyesight & others can cover a bit of ground; same as a double lunger. Beendare's comments are solid on this.

Blah Blah Blah, there's always that guy that has an unusual comment on this or that but consider the guys that have taken a truckload of elk accompanied by real world experience, that's the ones with solid info! Bottom line; Heart shot elk die & are found! Marginal shots are not as lucky & shot placement by shooter can be exaggerated. Sorry folks but that's real life shit!

ElkNut

 

[Coveyleader]

Take the heart and lungs diagram out of this photo, but the area I circled is always a very iffy spot. If you hit in that area, pretty tough going. I had one that lived for 10 minutes in front of me with that shot. Shot him for 20 and he was about 25 yds.

 

[Coveyleader]

Elk in question.

 

[bm-55]

Take the heart and lungs diagram out of this photo, but the area I circled is always a very iffy spot. If you hit in that area, pretty tough going. I had one that lived for 10 minutes in front of me with that shot. Shot him for 20 and he was about 25 yds.

That’s exactly the spot I’m referencing... I tried to add some additional details and arrow/blood photos to help. I’d heard a lot of varied opinions on it and it’s been great hearing from people out there killing elk with a bow.

[mention]ElkNut1 [/mention] Thanks for the feedback, I’m a fan of your content and appreciate the help.


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[cgasner1]

My Montana bull this year I got lucky and hit the heart wish I had got a better picture for this chat he went about 80 yards and was doa. I got a buddy that says that elk are like shooting at a armored car you hit it them wrong and you’ll probably never see them again. I’ve heard stories of guys shooting bulls on a hard quarter away and only hitting one lung and the bull licking into rifle season a month later to get killed then


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[Marble]

I've killed a pile of elk 2itha rifle and only one with a bow. Over seen everything from immediate death to the 200-300 yards death run. I've learned there are no absolutes. Wierd things happen.

An apparent perfect shot can deflect once inside the animal. Anatomy can be off, larger or smaller. Etc etc.

Make the best shot you can, and shoot till they are dead and not moving.

 

[Beendare]

Elk in question.

I get that pic of an entry wound doesn't tell the whole story as it could be a steep down angle or hard quartering away shot that only caught one lung....but it sure looks like good placement to me on a broadside shot from ground level.

Some of the fastest kills and most blood with an arrow that I've seen are in that spot. It seems to be a confluence of top of heart and bottom of lungs where all of those important arteries intersect- a good spot.

I would say, your actual shot location is higher than the location of your illustration.

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[nphunter]

How did the elk breathe before the Previous hunter shot it?

The only way for the elk’s lungs to not be touching the thoracic wall in the area you found the arrow, is for the chest cavity to not be completely sealed. The only way to break that seal is to breach the chest

I am making no statements as to the lethality of shots in this location, though I have my opinion.

I’m just providing some simple information on animal anatomy, hoping maybe it clears up some misconceptions about how things happen out there.

I won’t say never, I know better. But it seems incredibly difficult to believe this one elk discovered a different way to inflate his lungs than every other elk.

I could be convinced someone shot a small cutting diameter with dull blades, or a mechanical who’s blades broke off on impact or didn’t open, and said arrow did not create enough hemorrhaging to kill the elk. The arrow likely got sheared because it went through shoulder blade. Which would also explain the dulling and lack of penetration. And would aid in sealing up one hole Enough giving the elk a chance to recover.

But I’ll bet the farm a 3’ long arrow with a broadhead on it did not bend and redirect enough times to penetrate the chest cavity And find a path between the chest wall and lungs.

We have killed several elk over the years with arrows broken off inside of their chest cavity. I killed a spike one time that was shot the night before by a 300 win mag, he bedded down and I went in after him the next morning looking for a dead elk. I was a kid and my dads buddy shot him the night before and made a Questionable hit. I was pushing through some thick brush and bumped the bull at about 10 feet, he jumped after I walked past him. I turned and hip shot him at that distance and hit him in the neck. I started to gut him and found about 16” of an aluminum arrow in his chest cavity floating around, it had a muzzy type head in it and the general spike season use to be about a month after archery season.

I shot a six point bull about 5 years ago right through the front shoulder at a little less than 20 yards. As soon as he took off his shoulder broke the arrow off, about 8” of the arrow broke off which would have been through his ribs behind his shoulder in order for it to snap. I heard him cough and walk into a thicket, I backed out and went in after him a couple hours later. I found one small spot of blood and nothing else, we walked that area in about a mile circle for a week. I found two other dead bulls and several sheds and several old arrows. We also used my buddies hounds and never turned anything else, the next spring a guide in the area posted one of the bulls sheds. I have pictures of that same bull on a trail cam 2 years later.

Elk are crazy tough animals, i shot a 2” Trypan through a bull this year, hit slightly low but right where his diaphragm meets below the lungs, I ripped the diagram all the way across the bull and had 2-3” holes on both sides of the bull. I could see blood pouring from the bull like dumping it out of a hose. After a few seconds his guts slid forward into his chest cavity and came out about 8” on either side of the bull closing off the holes. The bull walked 20 yards and laid down, I snuck around for another shot I figured if he didn’t die by the time I put another arrow in him I’d shoot him again. When I got around on him probably 10-15min later he was still sitting up but his head was bobbing. I decided to put another arrow in him. The second arrow went in through the front of his shoulder, through his ribs, through his windpipe, both lungs and stopped in the far side ribs by his sternum. He Immediately got up and ran about 80 yards full sprint with 4 big holes through his lungs before piling up.

 

[Coveyleader]

Down hill shot. Trust me, when I hit him I was like oh....... That was low. Level shot, lights out.

That elk ran 50 yds, then layed down like it was bedded and just sat there. I got lucky.

I've been on alot of bloodtrails, and for me, with elk, when you get further than 100 -150 yds, the "shot" maybe a bit different than you thought.

 

[Ross]

I've been on alot of bloodtrails, and for me, with elk, when you get further than 100 -150 yds, the "shot" maybe a bit different than you thought.

this is 110% accurate...once you get past that distance your in for a long day 99.9% of the time elk are so big and tough if there is error on our part the recovery likelihood drops tremendously.....things happen so fast we often think the shot placement was better than we thought as noted before keep shooting if Any doubt until you are notching your tag.