How long will elk last on one lung?

[Topo_trekker]

How far could an elk go with one lung and how long could it live? No blood.

 

[lilharcher]

No blood is concerning......theoretically, he should be spitting blood from his nose and mouth and from the wound, so there should have been some sort of blood trail.

 

[Topo_trekker]

It had rained for about a hour about 45 min before I shot him. The forest was wet and the trees dripped all night. I have a feeling that washed away any blood that night which is unfortunate.

 

[Bynumlife]

I'm sorry man. That's the worst feeling in the world.

I one lunged / liver shot an bull in 2014 and it only went 60 yards before it piled up. I think how calm the animal was has a lot to do with it. My bull was still trying to bugle and search for a no. Existent cow....


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[hobbes]

A rib, even hit dead center, should not prevent double lung penetration from a modern compound bow shooting a reasonable draw weight and arrow weight with a sharp broadhead. Ive seen a bowhunter's mind indicate more than once what it thinks their eyes should see with shot placement. Are you certain of your shot placement? Maybe shoulder blade?

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

Maybe shoulder blade?

I was wondering if it hit a little higher than expected in the side of the spine (where the ribs go horizontal) and wedged in there. Just saw a hunting video recently where upon skinning a broken shaft and arrow was buried in there on an elk they harvested. The proverbial thorn in the side for the elk so to speak. Just a thought. Sorry to hear, the wounded and questions in ones mind on what happened suck.

 

[Topo_trekker]

Yeah I know...Im positive I didn't hit shoulder blade. I watched it run about 50 yrds into the timber from the meadow we were in so I got a really good view. The arrow also didn't waiver like it should had I hit shoulder.

If he did die how far long would the meat be bad? I'm 10000 ft colorado with 65 high and 35 lows. 5 days, 7 days? It's eating me up, sucks.

 

[larryschwartz]

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

 

[Ryan2782]

Last season my hunting partner shot an elk single lung. To both of us it looked like a great shot broadside. The arrow was sticking out still. Do to the angle of us to the bull, the shot placement was high and barely hit the top of the lung. We still swear the arrow hit lower. It's just different angles and adrenaline in the situation too. There was a few drops of blood only where he turned to run and no more. We had to follow him by only his tracks. And with alot of other elk and tracks in the area it was extremely difficult. What helped us was marking his steps so we could go back when we couldn't find his tracks at the last 3-4 markings to pick up his direction he was headed and continue searching. Some times we could follow the tracks and then the next track was 20 yards away. You're looking for the direction, but also the type of track, as he is hurt he would stagger or push his legs deeper in the dirt. This one was looking for safety and bedded in thick trees clumped together. We ended bumping after waiting several hours before tracking, because of no blood we worried about the shot versus what we thought we saw. He ended up walking off quickly, and slowed down, and disappeared. Because of how we walked off we knew he was finally starting to hurt pretty bad. We waited over night and started tracking again. Found him that next morning about 200 yards from where we bumped him. He again was bedded in a thick cover again. The posting above is spot on about not always relying on blood. We had, we never would have found him. It situation is difficult.

 

[LongWayAround]

The same thing happened to me two years ago. Good shot placement but poor penetration and only one lung. I bumped the bull about a mile from where I shot him and never saw him again. I'm still looking for elk redemption...

 

[oldgoat]

Till the other lung heals up some times

 

[hobbes]

Yeah I know...Im positive I didn't hit shoulder blade. I watched it run about 50 yrds into the timber from the meadow we were in so I got a really good view. The arrow also didn't waiver like it should had I hit shoulder.

If he did die how far long would the meat be bad? I'm 10000 ft colorado with 65 high and 35 lows. 5 days, 7 days? It's eating me up, sucks.

There are a lot of variables that deternine when and if he died or will die. If, and it sounds like a big if, he died over the weekend, the meat is a total loss by now.

Not bad advice on other things to look for while tracking, but a couple comments. Its unlikely that you'll see many vultures in Colorado mountains, but instead ravens and magpies unless its in some really dark stuff where they couldn't lay eyes on it. Leaves are the same, unless you are in a stand of aspens, but instead needles, rock, dirt, grass.

 

[Jjamesdean]

Good luck!

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

If he did die how far long would the meat be bad? I'm 10000 ft colorado with 65 high and 35 lows. 5 days, 7 days? It's eating me up, sucks.

No way it lasts that long, remember an elk is in an insulated hide when it dies and has a lot of hot mass. In much colder weather the bottom side of a gutted animal can still be warmish the next morning. Learned that one early on and work hard now to get hide off and meat removed quickly after the shot, after that even temps over 40f are much more forgiving. A few days hide on it is absolutely gone but I don't know where the typical point of no return occurs 12hr, 24hr, etc., some of the archery guys likely have more advice here as I read more reports of waiting out an animal over night which I don't have any first hand experience with.

 

[Sheepeater]

A one lung bull can end up in the next county. Give them 12 hours do not push them from their bed. If you push them you likely will never find it. If your bull dies in the shade you may have 12-18 hours before meat begins to turn. In the sun it doesn't take long.

 

[Gr8bawana]

Yeah I know...Im positive I didn't hit shoulder blade. I watched it run about 50 yrds into the timber from the meadow we were in so I got a really good view. The arrow also didn't waiver like it should had I hit shoulder.

If he did die how far long would the meat be bad? I'm 10000 ft colorado with 65 high and 35 lows. 5 days, 7 days? It's eating me up, sucks.

You shot it on Saturday evening and today is Thursday so you can be assured the meat is spoiled by now. Time to notch your tag and call it a season.

 

[Ryan2782]

This is a horrible situation for any hunter to lose an animal. This will always stick with you but I believe it will give you a better look at hunting your own food, the sport, and conservation. It's a learning experience and a lot of good advice above. You need to understand in your situation, you did the right thing, backed out, searched for two days. That is doing the best you can do. That's probably the best thing you can take from this is the ethics that you put in for the animal. I'm sure we can all name someone or even multiple people that would not put in this effort. From me and a lot of other people, thanks for putting in the effort in the hunt and in the recovery.

 

[Bynumlife]

As far as punching your tag, it's really a personal decision. For me, if I've done everything I possibly could to find the animal and there is a chance it may have survived, I wouldn't punch my tag. My family depends on the meat to much. It's unfortunate and you did everything right, just bad circumstance. If I were you, I wouldn't feel any guilt going out and double lunging a cow for the meat. Sorry this happen brother.


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[Jjamesdean]

You shot it on Saturday evening and today is Thursday so you can be assured the meat is spoiled by now. Time to notch your tag and call it a season.

Notch his tag?


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[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

Notch his tag?

Some folks feel that if they wound (in a likely fatal way) but fail to recover an animal they have hunted their tag already and to shoot a second animal would be unethical as the tag is to harvest one animal from the population regardless if they were unable to located the carcass. Not sure if that is what the quoted poster was implying or not but just clarifying how some folks view the matter.