Rod, There were a couple of times in my life where I`ve had almost the same experience with my shooting. When you said you hit the main artery in the back leg is what I did in reverse on a Texas aoudad, hitting in the fleshey part of the neck but catching a artery. I , like you, were lucky, but the end result is still the same. You did what you had to to take a beautiful elk. Congratulations, James