do you routinely take a second shot if, your sure the first ones a good hit?
theres several ways of looking at this and from what I see in my group of elk hunting buddies the most common idea seems to be if its still standing keep shooting.
now I used to be a firm believer in that,Id shoot an elk and if it didn,t drop instantly Id shoot until it did,which usually only meant a second shot,rarely a third, but with the 30/06 slide action Remington I was using at that time it sounded like almost semi-auto burst fire, when I swapped to a 340 wby and later a 375 H&H or 35 whelen, I noticed far more elk acted stunned and just staggered around a bit before dropping, I was sure of my shot placement , by that time I learned to shoot only when I was sure and well into range,and I just waited, they always fell in a few seconds, and I've NEVER lost an Elk I shot doing that,and after about 5 years of hunting elk and dressing out several dozen ELK I saw the results,those bullets produced, and it became rather obvious to me at least that if your sure of your shot placement and the animals just standing or stumbling around its not likely to drop a great deal faster from a second bullet impact in nearly the same spot.
elk are large and at least with the rifles and bullets I use bullets tend to zip thru and exit but leave an impressive path of destruction thru internal organs , yet its not UN-common for an elk to stagger around for 15-45 seconds before collapsing, or making a mad dash for 20-40 ft before going nose first into the dirt.
yes most of the guys I hunt with still keep firing if the elks still standing and I can see that has some logic to it, no one wants to loose a wounded elk. but I don,t like throwing away a good deal of bloodshot meat or dressing out elk with a couple slugs up the butt and into the intestines either.
"BUT GRUMPY? how do you know the bullet didn,t fail to penetrate or zip thru without expanding?"
thats a reasonable question, but after using a 340wby loaded with 250 grain hornadys,and 35 whelen,loaded with 250 grain speers and 375H&H loaded with 270-300 grain hornadys for decades,as the most common rifles I hunt with, and loading similar ammo for others Ive never seen a properly placed bullet fail to destroy the vitals, now a few failed to exit, Ive seen bullets expand a bit more or less than I would consider ideal, but none failed to deliver a mortal wound
in fact I have seen friends use 250 sierras in 338 wins that turned to glitter on impact that still delivered an almost instant mortal wound, its been my experience that most (BULLET FAILURES) were actually BAD SHOT PLACEMENT
maybe Ive just been extremely lucky but I can,t remember an elk running more than about 40 yard max before dropping when hit correctly and most never make it 20 feet
Those 250 gr. sierra gamekings in the 338 win mag work great on Elk. Most guys I know around here use them because they are damn accurate and "hit hard", usually producing DRT's when hit well. [/quote]
several guys in my camp have also found them to be accurate and very effective, they hammer elk on heart/lung shots and quick kills are frequent, but I also see those bullets expend rather rapidly, most of the time, some guys love them, me, not so much, I want exit wounds from nearly any angle personally, hey! everyone gets to select what they want to use my choices may not be ideal for you.
my late main hunting partner used mostly a 250 grain speer in a 358 win BLR and thought that was the absoluter best elk rifle ever made, he never had a problem killing elk, it worked for him,there one old guy in our camp that uses a 257 roberts and that works for him, so its rather obvious that its the guy using the equipment that dictates its effectiveness to a great extent, me, I like to get in close and hammer them, with at least 250 grain bullets ,I rarely take or even see elk past 250 yards but my methods may not suit everyone, but I prefer hunting areas like this,
actual picture of part of the area I hunt most of the last 35 years
theres several ways of looking at this and from what I see in my group of elk hunting buddies the most common idea seems to be if its still standing keep shooting.
now I used to be a firm believer in that,Id shoot an elk and if it didn,t drop instantly Id shoot until it did,which usually only meant a second shot,rarely a third, but with the 30/06 slide action Remington I was using at that time it sounded like almost semi-auto burst fire, when I swapped to a 340 wby and later a 375 H&H or 35 whelen, I noticed far more elk acted stunned and just staggered around a bit before dropping, I was sure of my shot placement , by that time I learned to shoot only when I was sure and well into range,and I just waited, they always fell in a few seconds, and I've NEVER lost an Elk I shot doing that,and after about 5 years of hunting elk and dressing out several dozen ELK I saw the results,those bullets produced, and it became rather obvious to me at least that if your sure of your shot placement and the animals just standing or stumbling around its not likely to drop a great deal faster from a second bullet impact in nearly the same spot.
elk are large and at least with the rifles and bullets I use bullets tend to zip thru and exit but leave an impressive path of destruction thru internal organs , yet its not UN-common for an elk to stagger around for 15-45 seconds before collapsing, or making a mad dash for 20-40 ft before going nose first into the dirt.
yes most of the guys I hunt with still keep firing if the elks still standing and I can see that has some logic to it, no one wants to loose a wounded elk. but I don,t like throwing away a good deal of bloodshot meat or dressing out elk with a couple slugs up the butt and into the intestines either.
"BUT GRUMPY? how do you know the bullet didn,t fail to penetrate or zip thru without expanding?"
thats a reasonable question, but after using a 340wby loaded with 250 grain hornadys,and 35 whelen,loaded with 250 grain speers and 375H&H loaded with 270-300 grain hornadys for decades,as the most common rifles I hunt with, and loading similar ammo for others Ive never seen a properly placed bullet fail to destroy the vitals, now a few failed to exit, Ive seen bullets expand a bit more or less than I would consider ideal, but none failed to deliver a mortal wound
in fact I have seen friends use 250 sierras in 338 wins that turned to glitter on impact that still delivered an almost instant mortal wound, its been my experience that most (BULLET FAILURES) were actually BAD SHOT PLACEMENT
maybe Ive just been extremely lucky but I can,t remember an elk running more than about 40 yard max before dropping when hit correctly and most never make it 20 feet
Those 250 gr. sierra gamekings in the 338 win mag work great on Elk. Most guys I know around here use them because they are damn accurate and "hit hard", usually producing DRT's when hit well. [/quote]
several guys in my camp have also found them to be accurate and very effective, they hammer elk on heart/lung shots and quick kills are frequent, but I also see those bullets expend rather rapidly, most of the time, some guys love them, me, not so much, I want exit wounds from nearly any angle personally, hey! everyone gets to select what they want to use my choices may not be ideal for you.
my late main hunting partner used mostly a 250 grain speer in a 358 win BLR and thought that was the absoluter best elk rifle ever made, he never had a problem killing elk, it worked for him,there one old guy in our camp that uses a 257 roberts and that works for him, so its rather obvious that its the guy using the equipment that dictates its effectiveness to a great extent, me, I like to get in close and hammer them, with at least 250 grain bullets ,I rarely take or even see elk past 250 yards but my methods may not suit everyone, but I prefer hunting areas like this,
actual picture of part of the area I hunt most of the last 35 years
