Give them time or not? That is the question.

[brimow]

So I shot a bull just after sunset but still within legal light. Arrow flight looked great at a quartering away bull at 38 yards. Bull barely acknowledged the Arrow ripping through him. Took a few steps so I sent another. This one I did not compensate the yardage change It went straight through his offside front leg (pulverized the bones). He then ran about 30 yards and I heard him crash. (Assuming dead from first arrow). I pursued after about 15 minutes of silence to find him on his 3 feet walking away. Broken leg apparent at this point. I tried to get in a position for another shot but he stumbled into some thick cover. Went back to the shot area and found my arrow. Gut shot for sure based on what I found. I chose to back out and not push because the broken leg would slow him down. Did not want to push him down this hill. Came back the next morning and he was laying 20 yards from where I last saw him walking.

I lost several pounds of meat on the down side. I feel sick about that but honestly still feel like I made the right choice backing out. Gut on an arrow to me means give them time.

Turns out I hit gut on entry but exited by his offside elbow clipping liver and lung.

When to pursue and when to leave? This was in CO and evening temps were in the 40s.

Thanks for listening.

 

[Brooks]

I would have let him alone until first light. I’ve seen too many guys go after the bull 30 mins later and it usually pushes them out of the country. Hard to find a bull when the blood trail stops in the nasty country they call home. Glad you got him.

 

[D_Dubya]

I lost a bull a few years ago by not waiting long enough, he was bedded 30 yards from where I shot him, he got up an ran off as I approached. Three days of searching couldn’t find him. In hindsight I would have much rather waited overnight and got 80% of him than rushed it and lost 100% like I did. I was sick about for…well, about three years now.

 

[Stubborn_bowhunter]

Elk can go far. Unless you see it crash in sight. Wait 30 minutes. Then check your arrow, or blood trail to see.
Bumped elk can leave a drainage completely. Breaking his leg probably saved you from losing him after bumping.

 

[Rob5589]

Based on what you found post shot, sounds like you made the right call. Like said above, better to lose some meat than the entire animal.

 

[Read1t48]

How about rain? I hunt in the Pacific Northwest. It rains a lot. You always try and put down a perfect shot and use a sharp bros head but how about scenarios in rain. Do you not hunt or do you go after them quickly? I went after one this year more quickly and found it. It was a difficult track and made me think twice about shooting in steady rain.

 

[Laramie]

With the broken leg, and knowing he was quartering away so very likely got at minimum liver, I would have waited a couple hours and went in to avoid meat loss. However, hindsight is always 20/20.

 

[TraderMike]

The one aspect of leaving an animal overnight in September (with warmer temps), that I rarely ever see discussed, is the "quality" of the meat if recovered. Even if the meat isn't outright spoiled the quality is likely to be seriously degraded. I know what a humanely (quickly) killed elk tastes like when it is cared for "perfectly" vs meat that is compromised. "Compromised" typically means not cooled adequately, and in my opinion accounts for that "gamey" flavor that turns people off of wild meat. I would like to think this consideration would enter into the calculous when one is contemplating a shot with archery tackle on an animal as hardy as an elk. Especially shot opportunities later in the day. I know they die quickly when hit perfectly but there is very little margin for error, most will agree. To your question, I would err on the side of attempting a timely recovery rather than risk losing the meat at worst or packing out dogfood at the best. Obviously there are other considerations as well but my hunt is over once an arrow or bullet blows through one.... recovered or not.

 

[Jbehredt]

How about rain? I hunt in the Pacific Northwest. It rains a lot. You always try and put down a perfect shot and use a sharp bros head but how about scenarios in rain. Do you not hunt or do you go after them quickly? I went after one this year more quickly and found it. It was a difficult track and made me think twice about shooting in steady rain.

Bros head? Portland area?

 

[hobbes]

You did what you thought you needed to. That's probably what a lot of folks would have done. Considering the second arrow, I may have gone in middle of the night, bit it's easy to armchair quarterback how you handled it.

I've made the same choice on a whitetail for years ago because the arrow smelled like gut and I thought I jumped her tracking. She was quartered to more than I realized so it exited gut. She was dead within 100 yards of the stand and I'd have found her in another 10 yards in waist high grass if I'd kept going. I lost all the meat because by morning the coyotes had picked her bones clean on the upper side.

Learn from it and be happy with the meat that you did recover.

 

[mavinwa2]

To your direct question, not your recent circumstance.

For me, depends on what sign found at the shot location, how sure of shot placement and what I HEAR after the shot. I often see bucks and sometimes bulls drop within eyesight.

Late in the day & hunting solo, if blood is bright color, frothy, lots of it...I'm waiting 20 min to start tracking. However, moving slowly & quietly, taking my time & listening, looking ahead for color and checking the wind too. Just as if stalking the bull.

If darkness sets in, will wait an hour. Very different following a blood trail in the dark. Spent a few times processing a bull until midnight. Early season temps, you'll lose a lot of meat, or meat will deteriorate as table fare if you wait until next morning on an elk.

DON'T celebrate, yell, TXT, Call someone immediately after the shot...but LISTEN for several minutes at least!

 

[Read1t48]

Bros head? Portland area?

Haha!! Gotta love auto correct. I avoid Portland at all costs.

 

[brimow]

The one aspect of leaving an animal overnight in September (with warmer temps), that I rarely ever see discussed, is the "quality" of the meat if recovered. Even if the meat isn't outright spoiled the quality is likely to be seriously degraded. I know what a humanely (quickly) killed elk tastes like when it is cared for "perfectly" vs meat that is compromised. "Compromised" typically means not cooled adequately, and in my opinion accounts for that "gamey" flavor that turns people off of wild meat. I would like to think this consideration would enter into the calculous when one is contemplating a shot with archery tackle on an animal as hardy as an elk. Especially shot opportunities later in the day. I know they die quickly when hit perfectly but there is very little margin for error, most will agree. To your question, I would err on the side of attempting a timely recovery rather than risk losing the meat at worst or packing out dogfood at the best. Obviously there are other considerations as well but my hunt is over once an arrow or bullet blows through one.... recovered or not.

Appreciate the comment. I did notch my tag after I got back to the truck. Recovered or not I knew I had killed that bull. I second guessed everything based on the arrow. A gut shot elk can take a long time to die. The arrow did not show the rest of the story and I did not realize the complete amount of quartering. I aim at my exit point and hit exactly where I was aiming but looking at and smelling a gut shot arrow I figured I missed far to the right.

 

[hibernation]

For what it's worth, I think you made the right call. Or at least the most prudent one.

I had a real similar situation this year and made the same decision to back out overnight rather than pursue and potentially bump a marginal hit in the dark. Came back at first light, followed the blood trail for about 150yds and he was dead right there. Probably walked slowly for an hour or so after I last saw him before piling up.

Overnight temps were in the high 30s and I still lost a fair bit of meat on the downhill side. The mistakes I made are still gnawing at me, but I think it was the right call to back out. It's so hard in the moment knowing exactly what the hit is, but if you err on the side of too early you risk bumping him over a ridge, leaving minimal blood, and possibly losing the trail forever. At that point, grid-searching could take you so long to locate him you'll lose 100% of the meat.

It absolutely sucks but I think that's partly how archery goes. Making difficult calls. If nothing else, it all serves as a harsh reminder to practice hard, stay focused, and keep our shots close. 40 yards feels like nothing on the range with a modern bow, but it's still a good long ways on an animal and I think we (definitely including myself here) kid ourselves about having high-percentage shots at those distances. I know that next year I'm going to think twice on whether or not I can close more distance, and in the same circumstances, might consider coming back at 2 or 3am to start tracking if I have to.