You\'re sitting on a water hole or mud and...

[iccyman001]

When is your ideal shooting time? Please tell me your thoughts?

Do you shoot him before so he\'s not covered in mud or wet?
Do you wait until after he stops thrashing around?
Is he more or less alert at anytime?

How do you KNOW he\'s down playing around in it?


I\'m very interested to what your guys game plans are.

 

[cnelk]

Dan
I haven\'t spent enough time hunting over a wallow/water hole to be successful on shooting an elk there yet.
If I had the opportunity,I would make sure the elk was distracted, or turned so I could at least draw.
If he was laying/rolling in the mud I would wait to shoot him til he stood up
Having a bull covered in mud, either fresh or dried can really dull your knife!

 

[Buglemaster]

I have only killed 1 bull from water & I did it before he got in the water. If you\'ve ever seen a bull fresh out of a wallow, I\'ll bet you would want to take him before he got muddy. I know I would! That said, if he does get dirty, I\'ll still punch him & deal with the mess when done. I\'ve killed elk that were pretty caked with dried mud & like Brad said, it will almost destroy the edge on your knife. No big deal if it\'s just a wet bull, but the muddy ones are a different story.

 

[otcWill]

You shoot him the first chance you get. It may be your last! I\'ve seen em charge in, wallow and leave as fast as they came in giving VERY little chance to shoot

 

[Swede]

I shoot at the first good opportunity. Several years ago I shot a bull covered with mud. By the time I got my son in law in to help and put a knife to that bull the mud was dried. I did not notice it was a problem. Soils/mud is different n differing areas. The soil is pretty sandy where I hunt and you can brush it off the elk fairly easy. As stated by someone earlier, shoot at your first good opportunity.

 

[elkmtngear]

Only one that came close, I punched him through the lungs before he got a chance to wallow.

As Will said, my strategy is to take the first good shot opportunity. If he\'s in the wallow, so be it!

These pigs are a good example. I had several quick shot opportunities that I passed, thinking they would relax once they got in the wallow. The result was NO BACON!

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRN1v5tsuvA[/youtube]

 

[iccyman001]

I will definitely keep this mud/dirt thing in mind.
When I shot my spike this year, I too shot him before he hit the mud. I knew I didn\'t want to deal with the wet mess.

The reason I brought up the thread is because I\'ve been watching a lot of videos on them playing in the mud and water. They go crazy and make a lot of noise.

I\'m wondering if anyone uses that to some sort of advantage. Also, it seems to calm them down a bit, I didn\'t know if anyone was set on shooting after when the elk has relaxed.

I think it would be very cool to see them play around in the mud.

 

[Swede]

I think it would be very cool to see them play around in the mud.

It\'s disgusting because when I have watched, they were out of the range of my bow and I was waiting at the wrong place. :lol:

 

[Zpd307]

I shot my bull in the wallow. I didn\'t have a shot from the time he was raking to where he wallowed. there was a row of thick pines in the way. they sure do make a lot of commotion. he pawed off the ice first and then dove right in. he got up several times, just to dive right in again. he was on his back with all four hooves in the air wiggling all around. man was it cool to watch, at 20 yards.... I started to pull back each time that he got up, but he dove back down just as fast so I never did get to full draw. I wish I would have.... the last time that he got up, he just stood there, looking up to where their bedding sites were. I was able to draw then, he didn\'t see me. even then I had to wait a few moments before he stepped forward, to clear a small pine that was blocking his vitals. I was shooting from my knees, it was the only way I had for a shooting lane. I was so jacked up, I didn\'t care that he was full of mud. I cant see that feeling going away, so I would take that shot every time it was presented. muddy or not....

 

[iccyman001]

I think it would be very cool to see them play around in the mud.

It\'s disgusting because when I have watched, they were out of the range of my bow and I was waiting at the wrong place. :lol:

Luckily my tree stand was only 23 yards from the center of the mud. That\'s why my spikes lung and heart got punched at 18 yards. :wave:

 

[iccyman001]

I shot my bull in the wallow. I didn\'t have a shot from the time he was raking to where he wallowed. there was a row of thick pines in the way. they sure do make a lot of commotion. he pawed off the ice first and then dove right in. he got up several times, just to dive right in again. he was on his back with all four hooves in the air wiggling all around. man was it cool to watch, at 20 yards.... I started to pull back each time that he got up, but he dove back down just as fast so I never did get to full draw. I wish I would have.... the last time that he got up, he just stood there, looking up to where their bedding sites were. I was able to draw then, he didn\'t see me. even then I had to wait a few moments before he stepped forward, to clear a small pine that was blocking his vitals. I was shooting from my knees, it was the only way I had for a shooting lane. I was so jacked up, I didn\'t care that he was full of mud. I cant see that feeling going away, so I would take that shot every time it was presented. muddy or not....

That sounds so cool....
They seem like kids just playing around in a kiddy pool.

 

[Zpd307]

I shot my bull in the wallow. I didn\'t have a shot from the time he was raking to where he wallowed. there was a row of thick pines in the way. they sure do make a lot of commotion. he pawed off the ice first and then dove right in. he got up several times, just to dive right in again. he was on his back with all four hooves in the air wiggling all around. man was it cool to watch, at 20 yards.... I started to pull back each time that he got up, but he dove back down just as fast so I never did get to full draw. I wish I would have.... the last time that he got up, he just stood there, looking up to where their bedding sites were. I was able to draw then, he didn\'t see me. even then I had to wait a few moments before he stepped forward, to clear a small pine that was blocking his vitals. I was shooting from my knees, it was the only way I had for a shooting lane. I was so jacked up, I didn\'t care that he was full of mud. I cant see that feeling going away, so I would take that shot every time it was presented. muddy or not....

That sounds so cool....
They seem like kids just playing around in a kiddy pool.

yes it was! when he was upright, he was hopping and prancing. at one time he flopped down and started rubbing his face in the mud like a cat rubs a persons leg while they are sitting on the sofa. he was flinging chunks of mud with his antlers....