Elk hunting: Tips and tactics to make the shot happen

Nothing is more important and (arguably) more difficult than the last 50 yards in elk hunting.  Here’s my take on how to make shot opportunities count.

Have you ever calmly watched a bull walk into your setup?  Yeah, me neither.  The skyrocketing heart rate from close encounters is part of why we elk hunt.  However, there’s a dangerous side to that rush: it’s so overwhelming that many hunters are tempted to think “there was nothing I could have done” when they don’t capitalize on a shot opportunity.

I would argue that in elk hunting, like many things in life, the small decisions you make before things get crazy dictate the outcome.  The good news is that there are lots of things you can do to greatly increase your odds of shooting an elk.  In this post I’ll cover why you have to find the doorway, how to pick the best position, how to limit your movement, and wrap it up with shot placement.  

The single most important thing: Finding the doorway

I distinctly remember the moment I heard Paul “Elknut” Medel use the term “doorway” on a podcast simply because it tied together 20 years of spearfishing experience (and a few years of elk hunting) in an instant.  In my mind, it’s also the single most important concept for shooting an elk.

Imagine this scenario: if someone you don’t know calls to you from a room in your house, you don’t run into the room to see who it is.  You would cautiously lean your head around the doorway until you could see the person before you reveal your presence (yes, I’d have a gun out too, etc but bear with me).  Elk are the exact same way, except they have to treat every “room” with caution because things are trying to eat them 24/7.  To put it simply, an elk will stop at the point where it can first see you or the area you’re in (even if it doesn’t know you’re there).

If you don’t know where that exact point is, you’re probably not going to get a shot opportunity.  How many times have you heard hunters say “the elk just wouldn’t come in” or it “held up” at a certain point?  That’s another way to describe what I’m talking about.  A “room” might be something as obvious as a meadow or a lane in the trees, or it might simply be a slightly thinner patch in the dark timber.

Over time you’ll get really good at identifying these areas as you walk along.  It’s a great habit to act the same way elk do: slowly peer into each “room” in the woods before you enter it.  You’ll notice the number of times you see elk before they see you will skyrocket.  Now that you understand the concept, let’s talk about how to utilize it.

Picking the best position

Picking the right position is how you put the “doorway” theory into practice.  In my mind, setting up in the right location is the most important thing for a good shot opportunity.  Here’s how to do it:

Be where the elk want to go.  I keep repeating this in each article because it’s true: it’s far easier to find, call in, and shoot elk that already want to come to your location.  Even if you’re in a screaming match with a bull, it’s well worth a minute or two to find the defined game trails that elk use to access the “room” you’re in.  Trying to coax them in another way or setting up away from those areas is a recipe for failure.

If you’re not calling (i.e. stalking or ambushing) this is even more important. If you don’t know where the elk are and their general habits, then they could come from any direction. This is why I’m a big advocate of getting to know an area really well, and a deciding factor in at least two of the successful encounters I’ve had.

Always move up (and stop calling).  It’s hard to believe, but elk can tell where you last called from within a few feet, even from hundreds (or even thousands) of yards away!  Time and time again I’ve seen elk wander in 20+ minutes after I called and look exactly at the spot where I was standing.

As we discussed, elk always stop when they can see where they think you are.  That means if you don’t move up, then the elk is going to stop just out of range almost every time.  This is especially true if you’re solo: stop calling sooner than you think and move forward.  Other articles I’ve read try to give numbers (move up 50yards, 100 yards, etc) here, but those are always wrong since each setup is unique.  You need to go at least where the “doorway” for your setup, which changes every time.  That’s true even if you’re not calling.

Move to the downwind side.  Once you’re up to the doorway (or a bit further), always move off to the downwind side of where you expect the elk to come in.  Elk tend to try and circle downwind of your location if they’re the least bit wary, so that sets you up better to head them off.

Pick your lanes. This is the most intuitive part, but you’ll need to find a few clear shooting lanes to send your arrow.  A hint here: always look for a spot with a few lanes to your side and behind you… elk can do crazy things, and it’s far better to swivel than reposition.

Make sure there is something behind you.  Like I talked about in tips for getting close, elk key in on your outline.  For some reason we all like to get behind things… that’s exactly the wrong thing to do!  First, it blocks a ton of shot opportunities.  Second, if you lean out from behind something to shoot, it gives a clear view of your outline.  Always set up in front of a large area of brush, tress, or something that will keep your outline from showing.  Extra points if it’s shaded and/or thick enough to not let light through.

Limit your movement

This is another thing I repeat in a ton of these articles because it’s so important: elk only see you when you move.  There are several things you need to do as final preparation that will eliminate your need to move when an elk gets in close:

Find your food placement.  Alright, time to do an exercise.  Stand up, pretend to draw you bow, and plant your feet.  Now rotate as far left and as right as you can without moving your feet.  Crazy right?  At best, you can only cover 90 degrees (or ¼ of a complete rotation) without shuffling around.  If an elk isn’t in that window, you have to shuffle around, which is a lot of movement and noise at the last minute.  Make sure to set up right by pointing your shoulder toward the area you expect the elk to walk out.

Clear the ground near your feet.  If you do have to reposition you probably won’t have the time to look down at your feet and make sure the ground is clear.  Move anything that will make noise out from around your feet so you can rotate (or even reposition slightly) if you need to.

Range 20, 30, 40.  The #1 reason people miss elk is because they guess the range wrong.  Unfortunately, it can be impossible to pick up your range finder once the elk gets within bow range, so it always pays to mark a few obstacles.  I find objects at those 20/30/40 and repeat the numbers over and over in my head as I wait for the elk to move in.  Why only to 40 yards? Well, 1) It’s pretty hard to memorize more than 3 things under pressure, 2) beyond 40 yards the arrow trajectory begins to fall off, so you’ll need a precise range and 3) the elk is far enough away for you to re-range without as much danger.

Nock an arrow.  I’ve screwed this several times on setups or even while eating lunch.  If you’re not moving, and you’re anywhere in elk country, you should have an arrow nocked.  Trust me, it’s far more annoying to blow an easy opportunity with such a simple movement.

Make a noise before the elk enters a gap.  Lots of hunters use mouth diaphragms or make a slight noise to stop an elk for a shot opportunity.  Again, I’ve learned the hard way that elk usually take 1-2 steps after you make a noise.  Most lanes/gaps are pretty small, so if you call when the elk is in it, it will usually stop behind a tree on the other side.  Make the noise right when the elk starts to walk out from behind the final obstacle.

Shot placement

This section could be an entire post (or book) by itself, so I’ll try to make this brief.  The key to shot placement in my mind is to give yourself the largest margin of error.  No matter how good you are, there is a lot going on in the final moments and you owe it to the elk to make an ethical shot.  Fortunately, a double lung shot on a elk is predictably fatal, so you do have a relatively large target.

Traditional wisdom is to shoot low behind the crease in the shoulder.  While that works, it doesn’t give you much margin for error to the left or to the right (or down).  What most people don’t realize is that the bones in an elk’s shoulder actually go forward in a triangle from the visible crease.  That leaves a large area that many hunters call the “the golden triangle” since it’s so effective.  This article by Corey Jacobsen is fantastic and has several great pictures to show you what I’m talking about.

I simply find the crease in the shoulder, move back (toward the elk’s butt) 2 inches, and aim for halfway up the body.  That leaves a large margin of error for the arrow to go left, right, up, or down, which is the most important thing in my opinion.  Any of those areas (other than the shoulder blade of course) will lead to a double lung hit, which is very effective.

Finally, aim small and miss small.  You hear that phrase a lot, but elk don’t have bullseyes on them (like most targets we’re used to) so make sure to pick out the individual hair or rib to aim at.  You’ll be amazed at how much better you shoot.

Summary

There is such a thing as the impossible elk shot.  However, I’d argue that many times it was actually preventable with the right planning.  The good news is that if you find the doorway, pick a good position, and limit your movement, then you can change the outcome of many shot opportunities… and it just takes one.  Take the minute or two to think ahead (and practice before hand!) and you’ll see why it’s worth it every time.