Big game shot placement?

[Recel]

I recently bought the game and having a lot of fun with it, but I'm kind of struggling with larger game. Mooses, Elks and the like just feel over the top sturdy.
Even with the right weapons they don't seem to go down from anything short of a heart shot, and will either survive or run huge distances before they fall, even with both lungs shot.

I'm using the higher penetrating rounds, but when I miss the heart they don't seem to do enough damage to down the animal in a fair time, or not at all. I tried soft points from close range too, but it kind of has the same end result.

Am I doing something wrong, or is it just supposed to work like this where if you don't hit the heart you have to hit the road to go after them?

[RedTide249]

I guess it depends what the "right" weapon is. The 30/06 is an acceptable weapon to use but when i shoot elk with it they run forever. When I use the 300mag they go down fairly quick. So just because a weapon is ok to use doesn't mean its best tool for the job. Also the 600grain arrows will pass straight through all those animals front to back and skewer them so give that a try too.

[Nightwalker]

The smaller the bullet the smaller the hole it makes and the longer it takes for the animal to bleed out. After you make the shot if you immediately head to the hit spot and begin following the animals trail you can actually cause it to run far further than it might have if you'd stayed put and given it time to die first. RedTide248 is right about weapon selection. Just because a weapon is rated for an animals class it does not mean it's very good at bringing the animal down quickly. After a lot of experimentation at various distances I no longer use the 7mm or the 30.06 on class 8 animals. I'll carry the .300 or the .338 for Class 8 and 9 critters. When it comes to penetration and animal bleed out rates the Bow reigns supreme. Leave the soft point bullets at home (unless they are for the .22 or the 7.62 mm rifles). Just my op on them.

[Recel]

I dropped the 7mm and gave bows a try. It's surprisingly fun to use, didn't think I'd like it. Can't use the Alexander or Recursive to hit things yet, but the ones with sights work out fine.
Went on a night hunt with tracer arrows just now, was fun, and finding anything that ran a bit was easy.

[GamingB4UWereBorn]

If you are using the 243 stick to small game like deer and coyote to build up cash to buy more powerful weapons. Like OP said, the M1 or 30.6 is great for deer and the 300 or 338 is for elk or moose. Don’t worry, once you get more cash and buy more weapons the game gets easier.

[Hidden Gunman]

.45-70 up close on moose. It's an oldie, but a goodie...

When you boost up your perks and playing skill, moose can actually pose a risk by stepping on you while you are crawling up on them, so the range limitation of the .45-70 isn't an issue.

[Imposter]

As your still new to the game then your probably still struggling with the base firearms. They are under powered, you just have to stick at it.
If you cant hit the heart, go for the lungs, I find for the likes of Moose or any of the larger animals aim just below the spine where the lungs are closest to each other, chances of a double lung hit is much higher.
Good luck.

[Hidden Gunman]

Originally posted by Imposter:

As your still new to the game then your probably still struggling with the base firearms. They are under powered, you just have to stick at it.
If you cant hit the heart, go for the lungs, I find for the likes of Moose or any of the larger animals aim just below the spine where the lungs are closest to each other, chances of a double lung hit is much higher.
Good luck.

That works well on bear as well, aim about six to eight inches down from the tip of the hump of the shoulder/spine.