Elk Hunting Outfitter - The follow up shot is just as important as the first shot while hunting any animal. As an elk hunting outfitter, our operation is set up where most the time our hunters are sitting by themselves, which leaves it up to the hunter to make good decisions. One of our biggest mistakes we have is a hunter making a great first shot, the elk hits the ground, then gets up and runs off. I have seen a lot of people who don't set back up on an animal to take a follow up shot. As an Elk hunting outfitter I would disagree because of how many elk we loose do to our hunters not attempting a follow up shot. We loose a lot of elk because the area we are hunting makes it almost impossible to track especially when there is no snow on the ground and very little blood to follow. We have one spot on the ranch that produces more cripples than any other spot and there is not one shot over 200 yards. Each cripple seems to be just like the rest. The hunter shoots, the elk hits the ground gets up and runs off. This particular area has every fuel type from scrub oak, to aspen, to conifer all in a 1/8 of a mile radius. Thick grass, freshly fallen leaves and thick pine duff make it very difficult to track animals. As an elk-hunting outfitter I must ask myself why are we wounding the elk. Obviously because of shot placement and in this area there are a lot of latter fuels so I think it is natural for hunters to be aiming high on the animal