How long will elk last on one lung?

[Sheepeater]

In our camp if you draw blood then your tag is filled. Whether you find the elk or not.

 

[ericF]

My hunting buddy just came back from a week of Archery. The other guy he was with shot one in what was probably a single lung one of the mornings. He said the arrow was up the fletching, but it was a headon shot. They didn't give him enough time and then spent 9 hours and 7 miles tracking a blood trail. Eventually the blood trail went dry, but up until then the trail was pretty massive in his words. This just shows you that an elk can probably go farther than you can on one lung.

 

[DEHusker]

Elk can go miles (as previously mentioned) on one lung and never die. They evolved with bears, wolves, etc and are bred to be tough as nails. I shot an elk one year and the ground where I shot him looked like someone dumped a bucket of blood all over the place. 2 days and a couple miles later blood dried up and never found him. Oh, and he climbed 1800 feet up in the process. That made me sick and gave me a new appreciation for the toughness of these creatures. A wise elk hunter once told me that if you double lung them, they won't go very far but a heart shot or single lung and all bets are off. Heart shots can be tricky because elk can run a long way with no blood pumping. Double lung shots collapse the lungs almost instantly and they can't breathe. It's not blood loss that kills them on a double lunger.

 

[GKPrice]

Sorry to hear about the shot and non-recovery. As others have said, it might not have hit where you think it did. Also, where the shaft seems to be on the elks body may not be where it entered the body. I look at videos and often times where it looks like it went in isn't where it really went in.

Three things to think about / do...

First, if it is dead, there should be scavengers on it, like vultures or other predators. I would check the skies for circling vultures or buzzards.

Second, and this is something that takes experience to realize and practice to get good at, but we all need to stop looking for blood only when we are tracking after a hit. Get down low, on your hands and knees if you need to, at each sign and look for evidence of where the animal went. Broken spider webs, leaves turned upside down or sideways, often time blood is left on the underside of leaves as the animal brushes past them, tracks in the dirt, something out of place like mud on one rock but not on any others around it.

And third, stalk your animal when you are tracking it. Too many of us jump up a bedded and dying animal, extending the tracking job, by just walking through the woods. Remember, he is going to see you before you see him if he is still alive.

Hope this helps,

Larry

ALL VERY good advice

 

[GKPrice]

Elk can go miles (as previously mentioned) on one lung and never die. They evolved with bears, wolves, etc and are bred to be tough as nails. I shot an elk one year and the ground where I shot him looked like someone dumped a bucket of blood all over the place. 2 days and a couple miles later blood dried up and never found him. Oh, and he climbed 1800 feet up in the process. That made me sick and gave me a new appreciation for the toughness of these creatures. A wise elk hunter once told me that if you double lung them, they won't go very far but a heart shot or single lung and all bets are off. Heart shots can be tricky because elk can run a long way with no blood pumping. Double lung shots collapse the lungs almost instantly and they can't breathe. It's not blood loss that kills them on a double lunger.

^^^^^^^^ not what you want to hear BUT nevertheless the absolute truth with elk (heck, I've tracked mule deer that I was SURE should be dead) When you're tracking an elk you'd swear there's not THAT much blood inside anything alive short of an elephant ! They'll most likely die but just not as soon as we would expect - I watched a guided hunter knock a good 6 pt off a little hill at 250 yards with a .30 magnum, I swear it was a good hit - blood all around the impact site .... we never found that bull and believe me, I tried ...... ELK are incredible creatures

 

[Ucsdryder]

What was your setup...bow, arrow weight, broadhead? Find it hard to believe a rib would stop an arrow.

 

[Coveyleader]

One lung, depending on hit on lung, they can be alive for 8+ hours easy, and may not die if nothing else was hit.

 

[mod700]

Seems like I remember reading in the bugle magazine some years back of a guys wife taking a bull. Upon dressing out the beast, the husband found his broadhead, and piece of shaft encapsulated in one lung. He had shot the same bull the previous year, in the same drainage, they are tough.
Years back, I shot a heard bull in Oregon, first arrow hit his scapula at about 32 yds. 540 grain arrow, 260 fps., old thunderhead days, the arrow only had about 5/16" penetration through the bone. I was able to hit him again, fatally. Got the scapula to this day as a reminder of placement. I personally don't think god made a creature with much more desire to live or more toughness, than a elk, on the north American continent.
Mike

 

[Beendare]

Yeah, one lung.....they can live long enough that you will never find them.

We see it every year....hunters underestimating the toughness of elk.

"Will my whitetail arrow work for elk?", "Is the frontal a good shot on elk?", "What sight for long range shots? <essentially>"

You have to put a good shot on elk....and its best to setup your equipment for a worst case scenario with better penetration for archery and heavier partition bullets when rifle hunting.

 

[aggieland]

Until gun season. Given past experiences

 

[Gr8bawana]

Notch his tag?
Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

The OP shot a bull in at least one lung and is most likely going to die a slow, painful, agonizing death. So yes the tag should be notched and marked as an un-recovered animal. How many animals is it ok to wound and not re-cover till we fill our tag?
I know a jack-ass in the small town where I live that shot and wounded 3 deer before he was able to put his tag on one. He is a POS!