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ELK 101 | KDFWS

July 19, 2024

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Video elk vital area

Anatomy & Shot Placement

Understanding the basic anatomy of an elk will help you make appropriate equipment and shot placement choices prior to your hunt.

Vital Organs

Let’s first define the “vital organs” and the importance of choosing the vitals as an ethical shot. The most vital organs of elk and all game animals are the heart and lungs. A proper shot through the heart and/or lungs will offer the quickest kill, making it the most humane for the animal. These organs offer the best opportunity for a kill for firearm and archery hunters.

A double lung shot offers a hunter the best opportunity to take down an elk quickly. The lungs provide the largest target and by collapsing both lungs, the animal will be unable to travel a far distance. Though a heart shot will do the job as well, it presents a much smaller target and makes the margin of error smaller for the hunter. The heart is tucked behind the front shoulder towards the bottom of the body cavity. Miss low and you may miss all together, miss forward or high and you may hit shoulder blade (bone) losing necessary penetration.

Envision: You have an elk at 30 yards, whether you realize it or not your body will most likely release adrenaline and therefore you should expect heavier breathing, shaking and even enough excitement to make poor decisions. Would you rather have an inch margin of error or 4-5 inches?

Image Source: Wayne Trimm

So what tissue, muscle and bones do your arrows and bullets pass through to reach the vital organs?

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By now, you have an understanding of just how BIG elk really are. For an animal of this size to support its weight, its “frame” or skeletal system must be sturdy and strong and must be supported by the necessary muscles and tissues for movement.

The scapula of an elk can have a thickness ranging from ¼ inch to 2 ½ inches! Add to that the thickness of the skin/hide, heavy muscles and tendons. There is a lot of matter your arrow or bullet must travel through to even REACH the vitals—and it still must PENETRATE them to make the kill!

Let’s take a closer look at elk anatomy from different angles. A proper shot-placement opportunity makes for the most humane kill for the animal, and an easier recovery for you.

Only two shot angles offer shot-placement opportunities to make the ideal double lung or heart shot for both archery and firearm hunters. The hunter’s ability to wait for one of these two shots will increase the chance of a successful harvest and decrease the chance of injury and non-recovery of the animal.

Broadside

This is the ideal shot for most archery and firearm hunters. It provides the hunters with the largest target of the vital area behind the shoulder blade (scapula). Properly placed shots will have little bone to pass through, enabling more penetration to the vitals. This shot angle also provides the best opportunity to make a double-lung/heart shot and offers a quick humane kill.

Image Source: elkhunting.com

Quartering Away

This shot offers another ideal shot-placement opportunity for hunters. The angle of the elk away from you will affect your shot placement for the proper entry and exit holes. An extreme quartering away shot will offer little room for error as the margin between the back hip and front shoulder shrinks as the angle of the elk away from the hunter increases. A slight quartering away angle will open up the vital area to the hunter and provide ample opportunity for a deep penetrating shot. The ability of a hunter to envision the arrow or bullet path through the elk is of high priority to successfully make a double lung shot.

See also 3 things you must know to chase carp on the fly. Carp have been rising up on the list of desired freshwater fish to experience on the fly.Some will even go so far as to compare this freshwater monster to the notorious bonefish, earning the carp the nickname of the golden bone.Many factors will greatly determine your success rate when fly fishing for carp. To name a few: location, mood, posture of the fish, and time of year.For example, if it’s winter you’re not going to throw a 3” crawfish pattern at huddled carp. Why you ask? Crawfish are dormant in the winter due to being cold blooded. If you throw that rusty orange pattern at a carp in the winter he’s going to know something's up because it’s not normal for him to see that in the winter months. He will be gone just as fast as he appeared.If you've been wanting to try your hand at chasing these golden ghosts of the shallows, here are 3 tips you must know to get in the action with these easily spooked creatures. 1. Being able to read the carp and know how to act accordingly.Dane Schmucker caught the big fish of the weekend at the Midwest Golden Bones Fly Tournament near Chicago, IL. The 2018 event is coming up July 27-28 and is sponsored in part by Flymen Fishing Co.The number one mistake that beginning carp anglers make is casting to non-receptive carp.Here's how to read carp in some common fishing situations. Carp splashing on topwater.If you happen to spot this, you might as well put down your fly rod and head on your way.These carp won’t pay attention to even the tastiest-looking pattern in the world; they have one thing on their mind, and that’s reproduction.However, the upside to this process is the awesome post-spawn bite! Fast-moving pods.Once again, don’t waste your time – these carp are either spooked or heading on a mission, not even a bag of pellet carp food will stop these beasts. Keep searching for more fish to cast to. Slow-cruising pods/singles.Get a fly right in front of their faces and below them.Why? Carp like to cruise while searching the bottom for a quick and easy snack. This means their eyes will be focused below them right where your fly should be! Heads down and tails to the sky with a mud cloud around them.This is the most important one of all!Slow down, take your time, and cast to this feeding mud monkey, then hang on because you’re about to have a gnarly fight on your hands! Sunning carp.These carp are the ones kicked back enjoying the warmth of the sun. Toss a small unweighted fly to them and hope for the best. 2. Choosing the right fly weight and pattern (I can’t stress this one enough!).Fly patterns and weight are often overlooked when carp fishing. Most people think anyold pattern that looks appetizing will work.Wrong!Carp have feeding patterns and certain food sources they like better than others. Carp are very boring when it comes to fly patterns. They like rusty, orange, olive, brown, and black. These color patterns are usually the go-to for carp fishing, but it depends on what location you’re fishing in. I’ve heard a great tale of western carp actually chasing streamers, but I haven’t seen this firsthand.The Fish-Skull CrawBody paired with a Shrimp & Cray Tail can be a deadly combination.I fish and guide in the waters of North Carolina where we have the more calm and gentle carp that have very subtle takes.Do your research on the body of water you’re fishing and stop and watch the carp. If you stop and watch you can usually figure out what they’re feeding on.People overlook weight because they think it isn’t important in carp fishing, but weight is crucial in carp fishing.Fly selection and speed of current. Unweighted flies.These unweighted flies are those you throw at the sunning carp. 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To do this, drag your fly away from the carp and let it sink, mimicking a fleeing crawfish or nymph. This is usually used for slow-cruising carp and sometimes for the feeding carp.Follow these tips to increase your number of hookups and catches when fishing for this elusive fish.As always, best fishing to you all! Want more articles like this? Subscribe to the Flymen mailing list at the bottom of the page!About Jakob Barlow:Jakob Barlow is the head guide/owner of High Grass Guides in Western North Carolina. He has been fly fishing since he was 6 years old. From the pumpkin seed sunfish to the big bull trout to the tarpon of the salt flats, he has experience in it all. He's been guiding locally for 10 years and then decided to take it to the next level so he opened High Grass Guides with two of his buddies, hoping to make it into a living. “I've experienced nothing that consumes my mind like fly fishing, it’s all I think of all day every day.” Jakob is well seasoned with most freshwater species around his area with some saltwater species as well. Jakob has a passion for getting new anglers involved with his obsession of fly fishing. "I live to see that big smile on my client's face when hooking the fish of a lifetime.” You can follow him on Instagram @the_jakob_barlow or check out his website at www.highgrassguides.com. Written by Jakob Barlow Filed under carp, fly fishing, fly fishing tips, freshwater Tweet Comments on this post (12) Jun 29, 2022 Thank you for your insight!— Greg Bright Jun 09, 2022 I live in Lake Havasu AZ, a great fishery and one of the most under rated carp fisheries in the states. Huge carp here, up to 50 lbs. NOBODY fly fishes carp here so I’m giving it a try. Found a nice shallow beach where early morning carp feed, from 3 to 15 lbs. Great article and tips, all makes sense.— james Dec 03, 2020 Have chased carp for several years. berleyed with white bread and fished with bread flies, great fun good results. 70 – 120 per day. A pest species that is fun to fish for. All removed from the waterway. a win for the angler and the waterways— Ben Hicks Dec 03, 2020 I got 13carp and 3 cat fish on a 6wt fly rod and reel 6lbs test with a 6wt floating line and 6lbs line 8lbs all up to 25 lbs cats were 3 lbs to 8lbs on carp best have 200 yards of backing @ least 3 bigger ones almost spun 100 yards out I used a really slow sinking method for my carp fly’s I am so hooked on fly fishing carp— Alvin vaughn Dec 03, 2020 Hooked on carp on the fly— Harold Fenhaus Dec 03, 2020 About fly fishing for carp.— Don Smith Dec 03, 2020 Nice Blog ! Try fly fish Colorado here : www.shoprma.com/fly_fishing_classes.htm— Shoprma Dec 03, 2020 Here in the desert of Central Washington, carp offer opportunities to chase big, hard fighting fish during the heat of summer. Very good information!— Patrick Burdick Dec 03, 2020 Hit the 17 year cicada hatch. Carp on the top. Best fish was 29+ lbs. Talk about fun!— Andy Braznell Dec 03, 2020 @Wayne Walts, no they’re not as fast as a bone but: if you hook a big one they just go, slow but they go and it’s like you hooked a garden tractor!— Keith Antell Dec 03, 2020 They are not bonefish nor will they ever swim like a bonefish. Bonefish can swim over 30mph. That being said they are fun to catch, when I can’t go bonefishing— Wayne Walts Dec 03, 2020 Great information on Carp fishing and have been having a blast tying up and creating pattern targeted for crap.— Rick Takahashi Leave a comment Name Email Message

Image Source: Joe Lacefield

While elk will present hunters with other less-ideal shot opportunities such as a quartering toward shot, these shots are not recommended as there is a high chance of hitting bone, resulting in little to no penetration of the vitals. The ability for a hunter to successfully make a double-lung shot decreases and the margin of error becomes much smaller as well. Especially when taken by bowhunters, these shots present the most likelihood of injury to the animal causing potential infection and death over an extended period of time. Many hunters use calls to draw the bulls to get close. That presents a problem because the bulls usually walk straight towards the noise and don’t present a broadside shot. Caller placement then becomes important.

Anatomy & Shot Placement

Vital Organs

Broadside

Quartering Away

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