HELP NO BLOOD

[IdahoBeav]

Precisely! When the pump shuts down, the flow stops.

They can bleed internally, too. Think of a milk jug with a slightly smaller water balloon inside. If you shoot the top of the balloon, little or no water will hit the ground, but the balloon is still popped.

 

[Dakota Dude]

The last two bulls I've shot didn't bleed externally at all. It was all internal. Last year I didn't find a spec of blood and just happened to find him grid searching. I heard him tip over and kick, so I knew he was dead. It was just so thick that I couldn't find him. I searched for 2 hours and only found one pin drop. I searched another hour and found about 8 inches of my arrow.

The one I shot last Saturday only had a few drops by where he crashed, but I saw his antlers tip over through the thick brush about 60 yards away. I didn't look hard, but I couldn't find any blood where I shot him or the first 20 yards or so. It was thick cover again, but I knew he was dead. After 2 people searching for about 20 minutes I did a quick fan search and found him. Once I butchered him it was obvious all the blood stayed internal. Gallons of blood were pooled in the cavity.

I switched to fixed blades last year (QAD Exodus). They obviously do the job, but the blood trails are nothing like my old rages. I'll probably switch back next fall.

Don't give up and good luck.

 

[sickles107]

Search 1000 yards in ALL directions.

I have unfortunately been in your shoes in years past. You owe it to the animal and yourself to put in a few solid days of searching. Stay at it and keep your spirits up. Wounding an animal is a terrible feeling.

While everyone likes to say they go down hill or to water or away from pressure or x y z it simply is not ultimately true. A few years ago a bull turned and I was unbelievably surprised at what I thought was a broadside shot at 20yd, arrow entered behind the shoulder but passed through guts as if it was quartered to hard. Hit a main blood line in rear leg on the way out and bled like crazy for 100yds then nothing. Found next day when I bumped a coyote in open timber about to drop down into a hell hole and starting gridding. 1000 yards up hill, 90 degrees off from original blood trail, opposite direction of water, towards a main trail.

 

[Customweld]

If he's quartering away facing left you may have barely clipped a lung judging by where the blood spot is on that pic. I wouldn't stop looking, but I also wouldn't be holding my breath on that one.

I would agree. That bull may not be dead....yet. Looks to be a shoulder hit, quartering through the neck on the opposite side.

 

[CalvinMax]

Frontal at close range, what could possibly go wrong?

yeah, I had been wildly opposed to that shot for a long time but sortof got talked into it’s viability during my research for this hunt. Believe me it’s the first and only one I’ll take. I really was convinced he was so close there was no way he could move. Wildly underestimated their speed.

His summary nailed it, so his reading and comprehension skills are outstanding.

His advice is also spot on; go track the animal you chose to shoot in real life. The Internet cannot do that for you.

Lack of blood is not something that assures a non-lethal hit. You can make a lethal high lung shot without a speck of blood hitting the ground until the bull lies down.

It sounds like you want to abandon the search and are looking for someone to write something that will ease your conscience.

If you're trying to tag that bull, you should be hunting him and looking to make another shot instead of tracking him and hoping to find him dead. Think miles instead of yards and spend some time behind glass.

NO! I am certainly not looking for a bail out, the opposite. I am looking for intuition about where he could have sought shelter or general distances they trabel after similar shots. Miles instead of yards. Got it.

 

[Customweld]

They are wildly tough animals. You see pictures every year of broadheads, arrow shafts and bullets that get pulled out on butchered animals. Best of luck to you OP, hope you find your bull.

 

[Gerbdog]

yeah, I had been wildly opposed to that shot for a long time but sortof got talked into it’s viability during my research for this hunt. Believe me it’s the first and only one I’ll take. I really was convinced he was so close there was no way he could move. Wildly underestimated their speed.



NO! I am certainly not looking for a bail out, the opposite. I am looking for intuition about where he could have sought shelter or general distances they trabel after similar shots. Miles instead of yards. Got it.

Hard to say for sure without a toppo of the area and i wouldnt be releasing a toppo of any hunting spot on the internet. He likely headed for a bedding area and laid down, i'd run ridges within a mile and i'd be looking for crows and ravens.

 

[GSPHUNTER]

I'm thinking the penetration got plugged with body fat, and any blood that did come out was absorbed by the hair. Just go back to where you shot from and where he was, then start a grid search. Two of the Elk I have shot left no noticeable blood trail, but we found them both by doing exactly as I mentioned. keep at it.

 

[Indian Summer]

I’ll say this…. I’ve been hunting elk most of my life. You are certainly a respectful and humble hunter. You handle constructive criticism very well. I think you will learn from your mistakes and do very well in the future. Never give up.

As a seasoned elk Hunter, I have to say when I hear newer hunters say things like elk hunting is easy after getting lucky on a first hunt or that they are prepared to take 100 yard shots with a bow, I get a little uneasy. There’s nothing easy about elk hunting if you’re doing it right and elk are really tough animals so you shouldn’t take unnecessary risks. Next time hold off for a few more seconds and hopefully you’ll get a broadside shot. Best of luck to you.

 

[wytx]

Birds, birds birds at this point if he's dead.

Any water nearby to check?

 

[Pharmseller]

A 500 lb elk leaves tracks where ever he goes, with or without blood.

If he’s running, yeah, most of the time.

Walking on thick pine needle duff?

Nope.

Like a ghost.

 

[TaperPin]

If he’s running, yeah, most of the time.

Walking on thick pine needle duff?

Nope.

Like a ghost.

Most people just don’t enjoy getting down on hands and knees to mark tracks, or do it long enough to develop a feel for where to look or what tiny details to look for - every track may not be seen, but that’s why individual tracks are marked to anticipate the path. If he’s in the aspen, grass and pines like the photo shows, there’s usually plenty of sign to follow. It can be too slow to be practical, but I see most guys give up really quickly.

Rocky areas can be hard to stay on tracks, maybe some thick Pacific Northwest stuff I’m not familiar with.

Regardless, tracking should be practiced before it’s needed, and the best time to track is when it’s super fresh. I bet if we polled the average hunter in the field they would clueless about it unless there are obvious tracks that Ray Charles could follow.

 

[Customweld]

Most people just don’t enjoy getting down on hands and knees to mark tracks, or do it long enough to develop a feel for where to look or what tiny details to look for - every track may not be seen, but that’s why individual tracks are marked to anticipate the path. If he’s in the aspen, grass and pines like the photo shows, there’s usually plenty of sign to follow. It can be too slow to be practical, but I see most guys give up really quickly.

Rocky areas can be hard to stay on tracks, maybe some thick Pacific Northwest stuff I’m not familiar with.

Regardless, tracking should be practiced before it’s needed, and the best time to track is when it’s super fresh. I bet if we polled the average hunter in the field they would clueless about it unless there are obvious tracks that Ray Charles could follow.

He had enough blood on his side to leave on the brush if he rubbed against it.

 

[Beendare]

Frontal at close range, what could possibly go wrong?

I'm about 7 for 7 with the shot...and I've seen another 10 shot like that- all dead in 50yards.

Its lethal as heck if you know shot placement....

Have you seen the 12 year old kid that shot one frontal and the bull just stood there with a garden hose of blood dumping on a log?

 

[Customweld]

I'm about 7 for 7 with the shot...and I've seen another 10 shot like that- all dead in 50yards.

Its lethal as heck if you know shot placement....

Have you seen the 12 year old kid that shot one frontal and the bull just stood there with a garden hose of blood dumping on a log?

That's an awesome video. That bull didn't even know he was dead.

 

[GSPHUNTER]

That's an awesome video. That bull didn't even know he was dead.

Video??????????

 

[Fmarji]

Video??????????

It’s my friend Clayton, crazy kill shot for sure.

 

[Fmarji]

It’s my friend Clayton, crazy kill shot for sure.

Look up Clayton Coyle arrows an elk in the chest! On YouTube. 5.7M views

 

[nphunter]

IMO that bull is alive and breeding cows, that doesn't mean to give up looking but I've put a couple of arrows in that spot and recovered about the same amount of arrow 3 times. One bull was under 20 broadside, fixed head, big six, looked good, he went 50 yards and stopped in a thicket, I backed out and found one small golf ball sized spot, looked for multiple days grinding the entire ridgetop, found 2 other dead bulls, multiple arrows and several shed antlers but no bull, illegally took a friends tracking hounds up and looked in about a 2 mile radius with zero luck, went back everyday for two weeks and saw zero birds. I got pictures of the bull two years later on my trail cam and a buddy picked up what I believe was his shed the following spring.

Second time was a giant on an OIL hunt, broadside in the shoulder, this time with an expandable. Lots of blood but after a couple miles of tracks it stopped bleeding and got back with the cow group. I got together 9 people and gridded a mile in every direction, several dogs were grinding too for 3 days straight. I looked for that bull for a total o 10 days and am convinced he also didn't die, zero ravens and I went to every camp around and asked them too keep an eye out as well. This was a 360+ bull and I worked hard for that shot, after spending that much time looking I was convinced he was alive and decided to keep hunting. I killed a bull about 2 weeks later that my two kids called in and he bull I killed had 2 fixed broadheads healed over inside of him, one in the spine and one in the shoulder.

Third bull was at 35 yards and was a chip shot, bull came into under 20 facing me and then turned and was walking away with no clue I was there, he was quartering away slightly and I held too tight to the shoulder. Same exact scenario with the arrow, 6" gone and the rest 15 yards from the shot, this bull was standing there watching me pick up the arrow and bedded about 100 yards away from the shot, I bumped him two hours later and found just a tiny spot of blood as big as a grape in his bed. Got a tracking party out there and found less than if you had a bloody nose, about a pin prick of blood every 20 yards or so, followed it for a half mile up and down ridges and into a bedding area with more elk. The bleeding stopped and we gridded with no success.

This was over a 10-year period and I now try to hold about 5" behind the shoulder just to be safe, I am pretty confident that most elk shot in the shoulder heal up and just get tougher. They are super tough and a carbon shaft and stainless broadhead are much less likely to cause and infection than a puncture wound from a piss-covered antler while fighting.

Some people punch their tag when they wound an animal, IMO that's each individual's decision to make, I think we owe it to the animals to give it our best when tracking. Just this year a friend who I took on a backpacking hunt in the wilderness "missed" a nice 6 point. He wasn't sure if he hit the bull or not on the shot but should have at that range. We spent the entire next day which was about 20% of our backpack hunt looking for an elk we weren't even sure if he hit, we never found a drop of blood or the arrow, I watched the shot and didn't see any blood and the elk didn't act hit, but he said it felt like a good shot. We still dedicated an entire day to verifying, we exhausted our search and spent hours grinding the drainage and pretty much ruined the rest of our hunt by blowing the rest of the elk out of the drainage with our scent all because he rushed his shot and couldn't tell if he made a good shot or not.

Anyway, good luck, even if you call off the search check back every couple days and listen for blue jays and crows, they will find anything dead after a few days and possibly give you some closer or at minimum show you what happened.

 

[Farmer9770]

My son shot his first bull last week, qad exodus broadhead great shot right behind shoulder halfway up. Bull made it about 400 probably didn’t drop 20 drops of blood. Was crazy how tough hide is seems it just sealed wound right back up. Good luck hope you find him.