Most of us aren’t Dr’s so the mention of the dead zone or void is just a reference to the area with no vitals that goes from the physical top of the back down to the lungs. On an elk this is going to be the top 6” to 8” or so of the animal.
Most of us aren’t Dr’s so the mention of the dead zone or void is just a reference to the area with no vitals that goes from the physical top of the back down to the lungs. On an elk this is going to be the top 6” to 8” or so of the animal.
Shooting an elk lower rather than high is always better. Unless you shoot too low and just graze his belly and watch a 300 inch bull run up a mountain....Dont ask how I know that.
Usually if a wounded elk can travel uphill any distance, recovery is slim. mtmuley
I refer to the area above the spine, right at the tops of the shoulder blades the “withers”, and the bone structure the spinous process.
If you hit the bone the impact can cause temporary poralasis that temporarily drops the animal or causes it to lose function in the hind end. But they tend to recover function rapidly and get up and depart. Often not to be seen again.
I don’t know if they survive this. I’ve killed several elk with injuries from muzzleloader bullets and broad heads, but never with scar tissue in the back strap. I butcher all my own animals, so tend to notice scar tissue, lead slugs, and broadheads.
I called in a 5 pt bull for my buddy a few years back. When we were processing it later, we recovered an old broadhead lodged against the spine in the backstrap near the top of the shoulder blade. It had been there at least a year, so at least in this case it was non fatal, and didn't seem to be affecting the bull in the least bit.
It would be pretty rare for an animal to die of an infection from a muscle wound from an arrow.
I don't know what it is about the hunting community and " I hit a bull, but he was bugling and had a herd of cows two days later he will be fine" or "I hit a buck, but saw him on trail came a week later he will be fine"