Frontal shot

[gman1]

I would like to know what the groups opinion is on taking a frontal shot with a rifle on an elk? Some articles I have read say that if placement is made correctly that this can be a good shot to take?

Where if any is the best placement for a frontal shot?

Thanks and happy trails to all the EHJ hunters.

Gman

 

[Gr8bawana]

It's not a shot I would take if it was possible to wait for a better angle.

 

[Tim McCoy]

Taken that shot at a standing elk with a rifle and good elk bullet a number of times. Very effective, but gives you a smaller target. Generally it has been 100 yards or less, with a solid rest, in a timber situation, where another shot angle is unlikely to be present.

But last Tuesday at 100 yards I passed that exact shot on a cow, waited till she turned and shot her broadside. Was fairly open. I was shooting 175gr partitions out of a 280, so could have taken the frontal shot with my shooting sticks, but did not. Generally there are better shot angles, mostly due to a larger lethal area being exposed IMO.

 

[Hilltop]

Unless your busted, you can almost always wait for a better angle. The shot can be effective but you have much less room for error. The elks posture and exact angle will determine where you have to hold to make a clean kill. Google elk frontal shot and click on images... there are a few examples that will pop up. If you have to do it - prepare for a messy gut job as well as potential hind quarter damage if you get enough penetration.

 

[JimP]

I have taken it a couple of times and I have had zero meat damage and the animals didn't end up being gut shot either.

Depending on the angle you can go high or low with the shot for good results. A low shot should take out the heart and a high one should spine the animal. I took one on a buck deer and the bullet ended up in the hind quarters when it finally hit a bone.

It is a lot like a Texas heart shot. Done right and you are fine, screw it up and you'll have a mess on your hands.

 

[go_deep]

Did it last year on a cow, she went 40 yards. You really have to be comfortable and have your gun dialed in. My shot was shy of 200 yards with a.270 130 grain the bullet entered in the neck went through the throat, heart, back of the lungs, liver and stopped in the stomach area.

 

[brianboh]

If I had that option I would put it at the base of the neck at minimum but I would probably put it on her noggin.

 

[kidoggy]

take any shot you know you can make a quick clean kill with. if you doubt your ability it is wise to pass.

 

[Ikeepitcold]

I agree with Kildoggy

I've taken neck shots under 200 yards but not frontal shots. If your confident with the shot then take it, if not lean to the safe shot and wait for broadside.

 

[JimP]

but I would probably put it on her noggin.

The bullet would have a large chance of bouncing off of her or his noggin on a straight on frontal shot doing very little damage. If your lucky you might knock them out long enough that you can put a second shot into them.

 

[brianboh]

The bullet would have a large chance of bouncing off of her or his noggin on a straight on frontal shot doing very little damage. If your lucky you might knock them out long enough that you can put a second shot into them.

You really think it would bounce off? I have never shot an elk in the head but many deer and large hogs. Heck I kill beef and pigs with a 22.

With neck shots on an animal as big as an elk it is possible to miss any spine or arteries and them just have a flesh wound.

 

[JimP]

On a frontal shot I would say that it could quite possibly bounce off given the angle. A elks skull is large,heavy and has some thick bones. Perhaps a deer would be OK on a frontal skull shot, a side shot would be better but then if you are just off a little the deer or elk runs off with it's jaw hanging down to die a slow death of starvation.

When you shoot a hog do you do it from straight on or from behind them? And if you do it from straight on are you down on their level or above them. It makes a difference.

 

[brianboh]

Yea I see your point. It is just hard for me to wrap my head around a bone deflecting a bullet. Either was shoot him in neck (high) or lungs. Yea come on.

 

[theleo91386]

If it was the only shot I was to get from the animal, I'd take it. Most times though they will give you a better angle that'd be less likely to result in a messy gut job. If you use something like a Barnes bullet that penetrates for miles, that elk will be a gut shot mess to dress out.

To the head shots. Yeah I could see a bullet glancing off an elk skull with a shallow enough angle but the situations I've been in where a frontal head shot would be the only option the elk have had me pegged and were looking directly at me, not down their nose. Pretty much anything larger than a .22 LR would have worked easily, but I was bow hunting and I don't take head shots with my bow.

 

[mcseal2]

I'd not hesitate to take a frontal shot on an elk with a good stout bullet and enough gun behind it. I fully agree that if waiting for a broadside shot is an option it's a better one and allows for more margin of error. It's probably not a shot I want to take if I'm just meat hunting but if it's a big bull I'd take the shot and accept a bit of meat loss if necessary. My aiming point would be chosen by the angle, I'd envision where I wanted the bullet to exit and aim accordingly. Shots like this are why I am a fan of having enough gun and a tough enough bullet to take a shot at any reasonable angle, and especially enough skill and familiarity with the gun to ethically take the shot.

Not an elk story, but last year I got a 152" 6.5yr old whitetail buck I'd seen around for several years. Rifle season was very warm and none of the bucks I had scouted were moving much in the daylight. The wind was right to go after this buck one evening so I set up in my blind 300yds from the trail I expected him to come out to feed on. I usually like to set up for a little closer shot somewhere around 225yds, far enough I can get in and out of the area undetected but close enough for a very high percentage shot. This spot didn't allow for that. Anyway when the buck stepped out onto the trail it was last light, darn near the last minute of legal light on a cloudy evening. When I got switched from the binos to the rifle I saw through the scope the buck's head was down feeding and he was faced directly at me. I was above the buck on a ridge so I pictured where my bullet needed to hit to angle through the deer and exit in front of the guts. I took the shot and he collapsed. With the light fading waiting for another angle wasn't an option. Three of the better deer I've taken have required me to take a shot that wasn't broadside, I'm glad I was ready for the shot I was offered.

 

[go_deep]

Who cares if the bullet ends up in the guts? I don't gut anything, quick quarter, and debone.

 

[theleo91386]

Who cares if the bullet ends up in the guts?

Guys that gut them, skin them, quarter them, and take the quarters out whole. I'm not a particular fan of the smell, mess, or the gut juice getting on the meat. When I get an elk down I'm usually by myself and it takes me a while to get the gutting and skinning done depending on what position the elk is in. I prefer not to make that chore any dirtier and smellier than it needs to be or risk tainting the meat with bile.

 

[SunnyInCO]

Not to derail the conversation but what about a rear-end shot? I have heard a story from an old cowboy (he really likes telling stories) about how an elk was walking away from him so he shot the thing right up its you-know-what. Evidently the rear blew up. He did not mention the field dressing part but I would imaging it would be quite messy. (This is also the cowboy who tells a story how he ran out of bullets on someone's property, he was on a ridge so he jumped on the back of the elk and slit its throat.)

 

[JimP]

That's called a Texas heart shot.

I know of a couple of hunters that have taken that shot without running too much meat, but I wouldn't take it. I had a chance to do it once but all I did was raise my sights a little higher and shot the buck square in the back of the head as he walked away from me.

 

[go_deep]

Guys that gut them, skin them, quarter them, and take the quarters out whole. I'm not a particular fan of the smell, mess, or the gut juice getting on the meat. When I get an elk down I'm usually by myself and it takes me a while to get the gutting and skinning done depending on what position the elk is in. I prefer not to make that chore any dirtier and smellier than it needs to be or risk tainting the meat with bile.

Why would you waste your time guttingif your just going to quarter the meat up anyway?

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