Elk Vitals

[excelpoint]

G,day all. im coming over to Colorado in September to hunt Elk. Given that over here in Australia most of our game that we hunt is a lot smaller then an Elk I was wondering if anyone could tell me the average height of an Elk's vitals from the ground. I want to get used to shooting at the right height on my target from all positions before I head over.
Thanks,
Matt

[Greg Owen]

Sent you a PM with some info.

[excelpoint]

Thanks Greg. Thats really helpful.Cheers mate.

[ozy clint]

they are just big red deer. good luck.

[LKH]

1/3 up.  I learned the hard way not to hold too close to the front leg.  You connect with that and all you get is an arrow with a slightly damp broadhead.  There is a lot of dead animal behind the front leg.

[excelpoint]

Originally posted by ozy clint:
they are just big red deer. good luck.

I havnt seen a Red deer yet LOL. Seen plenty of sambar though.

[Adrian Farmer]

Matt:

I have seen more elk than sambar, but have seen enough sambar in India to know that they would be a good model "target" for elk practice.  

Where you planning to hunt in CO?  If you want to discuss logistics, equipment, or have questions please feel free to conact me.

Cheers,
Adrian

[FerretWYO]

Elk are roughly 4.5-6 feet from the ground to the topof the back. This can very a lot from situation to situation. Rather than practice a hight from the ground I would recommend being very comortable shooting up hill down hill accross hills and small draws. Practice from kneeling alot where you are shooting up slightly.

[elktalker]

I want to see the elk with the vitals 6' off the ground. I think you mean 4.5-6' to the top of the back.

[FerretWYO]

 Darren you make a valid point. that is what I ment I will edit to read correctly.

The other thing about elk is that the vertabre are very tall the top 6 to 8 inches is no mans land so stay under that.

[Steve O]

Maybe these will help too:

[cacciatore]

NOElktaker,this is because Randy's bulls are very BIG.LOL.

[excelpoint]

Thanks Guys. That info helps a lot.

[jomama]

steve o excellent post, should do the job.

[excelpoint]

Yep Steve O those pics are great.

[Ben Maher]

good stuff guys ... i'm going over at the same time as Excelpoint and have been wondering the same thing .
Matt...maybe we better just go and take a few Sambar for practice .....

[excelpoint]

Sounds good to me mate. I intend to try and do just that. When ever you are ready just shout out mate.

[the longbowkid]

are sambar legal to hunt in australia?

[elktalker]

Just wanted to note that of the three pictures posted on page 1, the third one on the bottom is wrong, the lungs dont go up that high. Don't hit a elk high. Like FerretWYO said about the no mans land, but I think the top 10" wont hit lungs.

[elktalker]

oops its the 4th pic.