Do you shoot? Where?

[iccyman001]

For the sake of this, it\'s 10 minutes before legal shooting light ends.

You\'re up 20 feet in a tree and these two elk come in. This spot must be off because only little bulls keep coming in. :wave:
They play around in the water for a while, not offering you a shot and now the are ready to leave.

They are walking towards you and are 15 yards away from the base of your tree.


Do you have a shot? If so, where are you shooting?

 

[VTHOKEE]

At the current angle they are at no. If it\'s still 10 min left of legal shooting light I\'m going to hope that one of them turns to offer me a shot. Also if they are at 15yds my bow is already drawn.

 

[F M]

I\'m with Alan on this one. The one on the right is walking and 3 or 4 more steps and it\'s time to pack out your elk.

 

[JohnFitzgerald]

At this point no. Wait until one turns broadside. If no shot presents itself, watch them walk off and I will know I made the right decision. Helps me sleep at night.

:upthumb:

 

[Swede]

They are walking towards me, so I would prefer to wait a little. I prefer a better angle and a still elk if possible.
If the bull to the left was stationary and this is all I had for an opportunity at 20 yards, then Whack. Shoot right in the crease behind the shoulder, level with his nose.

 

[Ol' Arky]

Here again IF you found me 20\' up a tree I would wait and like John watch them walk off in the sunset if a better shot wasn\'t given.

There is a reason I hate afternoon hunting. After mid-day you are always loosing daylight. When you hunt mornings you are gaining daylight till mid-day and still have more daylight to hunt if you want. In the afternoon when daylight it\'s gone, it\'s gone.

Don\'t get me wrong I hunt every afternoon I have a chance to but that doesn\'t mean I like it.

 

[mainebrdr]

No shot for me yet. It\'s coming...

 

[bowhunter]

Shooting the one on the left where Swede said would probably result in a one lung shot. You better give him plenty of time before the tracking starts.

I would be at full draw as soon as they started getting close. The one on the right would be getting an arrow as soon as that closest leg swings back and I\'m getting both lungs. I will probably hear him crash in less than a minute.

 

[razorback]

The bull on the right is close to presenting a shot. At this point I\'m drawn and holding. In a few steps it looks like I can take out both lungs and I\'ll drop the string.

 

[Swede]

I shot a bull a few years ago that was nearly a mirror image of the bull on the left. He went about 60 yards and tipped over. The chest cavity was full of blood. As Tick wrote, puncturing lungs is not the objective. Causing massive bleeding is. I prefer the bull on the right, but the left bull is shootable from 20 feet up.

 

[cohunter14]

I shot a bull a few years ago that was nearly a mirror image of the bull on the left. He went about 60 yards and tipped over. The chest cavity was full of blood. As Tick wrote, puncturing lungs is not the objective. Causing massive bleeding is. I prefer the bull on the right, but the left bull is shootable from 20 feet up.

Interesting Swede. So would you be taking more of a frontal shot on the bull on the left then? It looks like the bull on the right is facing more broadside than the one on the left, so just guessing.

 

[cohunter14]

If the bull to the left was stationary and this is all I had for an opportunity at 20 yards, then Whack. Shoot right in the crease behind the shoulder, level with his nose.

Sorry Swede, I missed this post from earlier. So why would you prefer the bull on the left to the one on the right? Just curious since the one on the right appears to be more broadside than the one on the left.

 

[Swede]

To be clear, the one to the left is to my left. It is the smaller bull farthest away. I would shoot him because the vital area exposed is larger. Still your shot placement needs to be exact. If a person has the shakes or for other reasons can\'t place an arrow in a spot the size of a 3 inch diameter circle, then wait. There is no margin for error on this bull.
The bull on the right is walking and I can\'t hit a moving target reliably. Also the vital area exposed is too small.

 

[iccyman001]

Assuming we are in a tree and these guys are right below us, I agree with Swede that the guy on the right would be a no go.
It\'s a tough shot straight down and quartering too.

We\'d be battling that scapula or just maybe hitting one lung. He would get the pass.

The one on the left Id wait a little longer. See if he turns more broadside and opens up a better shot for me.