Still more information being received about the San Juan Late Elk Hunt and more and more it looks like I made a correct decision on  accepting the tag.  I can’t let you know everything about this hunt and the information I have gotten, but I can tell you my attitude about this hunt is growing more and more positive all the time.  There are some very knowledgeable people out there who know this area very well.

As for me right now, I have a tough decision to make regarding shooting the first bull I see when on this hunt.  Maybe I need to consider my muzzleloader a little more as well.

Yesterday some discussion was had on where to shoot a big bull elk once it’s within range (say under 200 yards).  The key to shooting a big bull, according to my source, is to anchor it right where it stands.  His experience has been perfectly placed shots to the lungs and heart area which resulted in him having to track it for miles before he found it piled up.  This, according to him, happened more than once with one traveling 5 miles before he was able to get a second shot in it to put it down.  Upon cleaning the animals, the first one had both lungs collapsed but no hit to the heart.  The second on had one collapsed lung and no heart hit.  When you think about how big an elk is and the size of the chest cavity, you would have to know exactly where the heart sits in relation to the rest of the vital organs to make that shot especially if you were in a hurry to take the shot.

So, his advise is to shoot higher on the shoulder and hope to break the shoulder bones and possibly the backbone.  I’ll be dreaming about that shot for the next few months.

Bears Butt

August 1, 2013