2nd ever CO OTC hunt. I finally got an opportunity on a bull after being skunked in 2022. Arrowed this bull a little far back and was unable to recover him.
LESSON LEARNED: Back out and give these guys more than an hour (AT LEAST 4) if you know/believe the shot wasn't perfect.
Though we didn't get eyes on him, we heard some crashing through the woods after beginning our search approximately 1.5hrs after he was arrowed. We tracked him to a a pool of blood (pic 3) from where all sign vanished. Hindsight 20/20, he likely laid down at this point and we would have recovered him here had we not bumped him. We didn't know if he went up the mountain or down. Spent a total of 2 full days grid searching the area for him but he didn't turn up.
I notched my tag on him and headed home, very bummed.
LESSON LEARNED: Back out and give these guys more than an hour (AT LEAST 4) if you know/believe the shot wasn't perfect.
Though we didn't get eyes on him, we heard some crashing through the woods after beginning our search approximately 1.5hrs after he was arrowed. We tracked him to a a pool of blood (pic 3) from where all sign vanished. Hindsight 20/20, he likely laid down at this point and we would have recovered him here had we not bumped him. We didn't know if he went up the mountain or down. Spent a total of 2 full days grid searching the area for him but he didn't turn up.
I notched my tag on him and headed home, very bummed.
