Aiming intentionally for the femoral artery on Elk for archery hunt?

F

FirstFreedom

Moderator
I have an acquaintance (friend of a friend) who had heard to aim for the femoral artery on hindquarters of an Elk with an arrow, and tried it and sure enough, got his Elk by hitting it there intentionally. It didn't go very far. He says that if you do this, you *want* to then spook and run the game, so that they'll bleed out and not lie down and heal up. Anyway, seems weird, but worked for him as an alternate method for these very tough critters. Oh, he did have to shoot 2 more arrows at it to put it completely down. But where exactly on the hind leg is the femoral, anyway?
 
It will work on any animal, but it is not a shot an ethical hunter should take, in my opinion. The risk of wounding is so large that no one should try it intentionally. Like any arterial hit, the animal will bleed out very quickly, but you have to shoot it right through a large muscle to get to the artery. With a bow, you will likely hit the paunch after passing through the leg. With a rifle, this will ruin a lot of meat and break a leg, then hit the paunch. If you miss the artery, your wounded animal will cover 2 miles so fast you will think it evaporated. It will likely die from the wound after several days of suffering.

Ethically, we hunters should always try to dispatch the game quickly, humanely, and as painlessly as possible. This is not the way to do any of those things.
 
It will work on any animal, but it is not a shot an ethical hunter should take, in my opinion. The risk of wounding is so large that no one should try it intentionally. Like any arterial hit, the animal will bleed out very quickly, but you have to shoot it right through a large muscle to get to the artery. With a bow, you will likely hit the paunch after passing through the leg. With a rifle, this will ruin a lot of meat and break a leg, then hit the paunch. If you miss the artery, your wounded animal will cover 2 miles so fast you will think it evaporated. It will likely die from the wound after several days of suffering.

Ethically, we hunters should always try to dispatch the game quickly, humanely, and as painlessly as possible. This is not the way to do any of those things.
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+1

Why shoot at a little target when you have an excellent large target readily available; the heart and lungs.

Charles
 
Why shoot at a little target when you have an excellent large target readily available; the heart and lungs.
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+2
If the animal is heading directly away from you, a "Texas heart shot" with an arrow will often make it into the "boiler room". Much easier to hit than a femoral artery.
Not that I would take a "Texas heart shot"; I wouldn't relish cleaning the animal after that.:p
 
<a "Texas heart shot" with an arrow will often make it into the "boiler room">

Is this your idea of an Aggie joke? Works for me. :D
 
The Texas heart shot and base of the tail are two different things !!! The base of the tail shot is made to hit the lower spine where there is a network of nerves that control the hind end . This is a valid shot to stop an animal since it paralizes the entire hind end which will collapse . I saw this recently on the OLNTV program about dangerous game . To prevent a wounded cape buffalo from escaping into the bush he hit the lower spine and the hind end immediately collapsed - perfectly done !! A Texas heart shot is a mess and requires a lot of penetration to get to the vitals .
 
Yep. Straight down the bunghole
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Up here we call that "tail piping". I agree with most of the other posters here. If you have a broad side shot why not aim for the area with the most vitals. A little bit more room for error and is more ethical.
 
They did that in that movie "the bear".
From what I remember they were poachers hunting brown bear w/ a 30/30.
Think they said they couldnt kill it w/ one shot fast enough so they would shoot the hindquarters so it couldnt run away as fast.
Then I guess they would fire the finishing shot(s).
They also used their knives to carve X's in the tip of their bullets for max stopping power.
 
It will work on any animal, but it is not a shot an ethical hunter should take, in my opinion. The risk of wounding is so large that no one should try it intentionally. Like any arterial hit, the animal will bleed out very quickly, but you have to shoot it right through a large muscle to get to the artery. With a bow, you will likely hit the paunch after passing through the leg. With a rifle, this will ruin a lot of meat and break a leg, then hit the paunch. If you miss the artery, your wounded animal will cover 2 miles so fast you will think it evaporated. It will likely die from the wound after several days of suffering.
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OK, thanks you for the info. I won't try it, and I'll give him some spit for doing it when I see him again.
 
The femoral artery is inside the thigh bone. That shot, then, would have to be into the inside of the off hind leg. Not a good decision. The heart is a much larger target, and certainly would bleed out quickly--and probably faster than the femoral artery.

Hit the pump, not the pipe.

:), Art
 
The vitals (heart/lungs) are 10 times bigger that an artery. A hit there will kill it just as dead. If you miss that artery that elk will continue on with an arrow stuck in it. Not a wise idea.
 
The boiler room....

Is the only shot with a bow to try anything less is just plain stupid :mad:
they are tough and can cover so much ground so fast they would be in the next county befor you drew a nother arrow :(
If it cant breathe it wont go far :D so aim for the boiler room only
any where else you should be stuck in the a.. with a arrow :eek:
life time archer and riflemen ;)
 
Yep. What Elkslayer6X5,Art and SparkySteve said. EXACTLY!
Tell your friend that just because he got the fever and butt shot an elk, don't try to play it off by saying he meant to shoot that 1/3 inch artery.
I aint a buyer at that price. Sell it to someone else. The 3 shots to take it down sounds like a story too, unless he can run 35mph over deadfall and strait up or down a mountain while reknocking an arrow and firing with accuracy. Wow, is your friend named Clark Kent perhaps?
 
Shooting at the femoral artery makes less sense than shooting for the neck artery (cartoid? sorry, my anatomy lessons are long gone). As referenced above, you have to get either through the bone, or around it. Neither a neck shot or a "femoral artery" shot is a legit shot for bowhunting. I have seen a neck shot on a animal that was down and suffering. I helped gut a bull killed with a archery Texas heart shot. By help, I mean held a leg and held my breath - what a mess. The bull jumped down on an abandoned logging road right in front of my buddy, facing dead away from him. One of those "shoot - no shoot" situations that we all face.
 
Prime example why elk should not be hunted with 'bow n arrows'
I have heard WAY to many times " stuck em but he got away"
Half the guys in the woods can't even kill a deer with their magnums the way it otta be done much less with a bow. To even consider shooting any animal in the hind quarters is ridicules.
 
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