How often do you find unrecovered animals?

[jcaud]

First time hunting Colorado this year, on the evening of opening day we were walking into a spot we’d pinned. About 300 yds off the road he whispers to stop, there’s a bedded buck in the oak brush. His rifle was on his pack, so I gave him mine and told me to shoot. The buck was laying with his back to a bush and back facing us. He was only like 25 yds so I was confused as to why he hadn’t bumped.

Buddy got leaned up against a tree, and i tried to make a little noise so he would stand and we could get a shot, but not matter what we did he just kept licking at his side and wouldn’t stand up. Like at one point we were talking normal and he still wouldn’t move.

A few minutes later he just plopped his head over on the ground. We were so confused, we walked up to him and he was laying there dead. Super strange that we just wondered up on his last few minutes of life. We called the GW, but he didn’t return our call for a few hours. He told us to harvest what meat we could, and go get a roadkill permit within the next few days.

Oddly enough we bumped into the guy whose grandson shot him the next morning. Said he tracked him for about 200 yds and lost blood - remember we were only 300 yds from the road, so I think we have a pretty good idea where that deer was shot from. The deer was badly gut shot, the guy didn’t seem too upset and seemed more disappointed that we took the meat than he did about making a bad shot. Pretty frustrating to know there are people who will shoot something and won’t spend more than a few minutes looking.

Anyway, I guess I’m 1/1 finding deer not in my home state.

 

[Macintosh]

Mostly where I hunt its very thick so unrecovered game is very hard to see.
I’d find unrecovered pheasants and ducks with my dog. Found one deer someone shot from the road, realized it was not a legal deer, and left. At least one that I think got hit by a car. A couple random animals that were dead, but with no visible wound so not sure if they were shot or just died.
However you count it, that’s a small number in almost 40 years of hunting.

 

[Turkeytider]

First time hunting Colorado this year, on the evening of opening day we were walking into a spot we’d pinned. About 300 yds off the road he whispers to stop, there’s a bedded buck in the oak brush. His rifle was on his pack, so I gave him mine and told me to shoot. The buck was laying with his back to a bush and back facing us. He was only like 25 yds so I was confused as to why he hadn’t bumped.

Buddy got leaned up against a tree, and i tried to make a little noise so he would stand and we could get a shot, but not matter what we did he just kept licking at his side and wouldn’t stand up. Like at one point we were talking normal and he still wouldn’t move.

A few minutes later he just plopped his head over on the ground. We were so confused, we walked up to him and he was laying there dead. Super strange that we just wondered up on his last few minutes of life. We called the GW, but he didn’t return our call for a few hours. He told us to harvest what meat we could, and go get a roadkill permit within the next few days.

Oddly enough we bumped into the guy whose grandson shot him the next morning. Said he tracked him for about 200 yds and lost blood - remember we were only 300 yds from the road, so I think we have a pretty good idea where that deer was shot from. The deer was badly gut shot, the guy didn’t seem too upset and seemed more disappointed that we took the meat than he did about making a bad shot. Pretty frustrating to know there are people who will shoot something and won’t spend more than a few minutes looking.

Anyway, I guess I’m 1/1 finding deer not in my home state.

I don’t even like to think about how much of that goes on. Similarly, I don’t like to think about the number of people in the woods who have no business being there. Maybe it’s just that I’m getting older but it bothers me when something I might shoot doesn’t fall stone dead. It’s one of the reasons I don’t shoot a turkey unless he’s practically in my lap.

 

[jcaud]

I don’t even like to think about how much of that goes on. Similarly, I don’t like to think about the number of people in the woods who have no business being there. Maybe it’s just that I’m getting older but it bothers me when something I might shoot doesn’t fall stone dead. It’s one of the reasons I don’t shoot a turkey unless he’s practically in my lap.

Exactly - we saw road hunters galore so it’s crazy to think how it is going on it that little unit.

I think the worst part about that deal is that it was his grandson who shot, and it was okay to casually look and move on.

 

[sndmn11]

First time hunting Colorado this year, on the evening of opening day we were walking into a spot we’d pinned. About 300 yds off the road he whispers to stop, there’s a bedded buck in the oak brush. His rifle was on his pack, so I gave him mine and told me to shoot. The buck was laying with his back to a bush and back facing us. He was only like 25 yds so I was confused as to why he hadn’t bumped.

Buddy got leaned up against a tree, and i tried to make a little noise so he would stand and we could get a shot, but not matter what we did he just kept licking at his side and wouldn’t stand up. Like at one point we were talking normal and he still wouldn’t move.

A few minutes later he just plopped his head over on the ground. We were so confused, we walked up to him and he was laying there dead. Super strange that we just wondered up on his last few minutes of life. We called the GW, but he didn’t return our call for a few hours. He told us to harvest what meat we could, and go get a roadkill permit within the next few days.

Oddly enough we bumped into the guy whose grandson shot him the next morning. Said he tracked him for about 200 yds and lost blood - remember we were only 300 yds from the road, so I think we have a pretty good idea where that deer was shot from. The deer was badly gut shot, the guy didn’t seem too upset and seemed more disappointed that we took the meat than he did about making a bad shot. Pretty frustrating to know there are people who will shoot something and won’t spend more than a few minutes looking.

Anyway, I guess I’m 1/1 finding deer not in my home state.

Found one yesterday. Within view of the main road, which is well travelled by road hunters. Hate to think someone shot it and didn't even look for it but that's where my mind goes.

This year was my brother's first bull hunt and I know the unit well. It's the same unit from the original post and I know it fairly well.

We had found a bull Friday night but we're unable to drive their directly on opening day due to snow drifts. The long way took us by a little travel corridor of broken ridges.and I felt bad about not being in the field in the morning so we stopped. A little hike to a knob to glass and we found tracks galore with a few separate orange guys moving fast and could hear some vehicles on the loop road about a mile away as the crow flies. Beyond that loop road is another another half mile as the crow flies of steeper ridges and gulleys before private, the private isn't great hidey habitat, and I assumed that's where these animals were running to.

We got around to the other side to walk, just in time to video grandpa and grand daughter shoot at least 6x from the road. Grandpa walked about 20yds up and used his rifle as a spotting scope then they got back in the truck. Here are some statements from them:

"We didn't see any hunch or fall over so we know we didn't hit any"
"That's a lot farther than we've shot before, so we didn't hit any" (measured at 360ish yds)
*When I asked if they each shot at the same animal for all of their own shots*
"Every time we shot an animal before they fall over. We are hunting cows so it's too hard to remember which one we missed."

We walked a loop out to the private and found where that little herd came back together near the private, split into three about half way, and stayed as one for about 500yds going up the first sloped ridge from where they were shot at. When they diverged, there was OK blood.

Gramps and Granddaughter were still at the truck when we returned and didn't believe us when we said there was blood. Son/Dad had arrived and walked a little up the ridge slope and didn't find blood. They didn't like my idea that their wounded cow(s) had elk behind them stepping on the blood and hiding it when the herd was whole. They still refused to go look "they probably went to private" or try and get access.

We did run into the Wildlife Officer and got him the video in hopes of scoring some preference points.

I can easily see how folks bang away at a herd and shoot too many animals or lie to themselves that things die in sight.

 

[Turkeytider]

Exactly - we saw road hunters galore so it’s crazy to think how it is going on it that little unit.

I think the worst part about that deal is that it was his grandson who shot, and it was okay to casually look and move on.

Kid will grow up with the same attitude. What we do and how we think later in life is SOOO influenced by our upbringing.

 

[mtnbound]

I ran across two elk carcasses today, both were in the wide open and visible from several hundred yards off.

How often do you find unrecovered animals?

View attachment 628238View attachment 628243

View attachment 628240View attachment 628242

The more time you spend in the woods the more often you will find stuff like that.

 

[jcaud]

View attachment 792663

This year was my brother's first bull hunt and I know the unit well. It's the same unit from the original post and I know it fairly well.

We had found a bull Friday night but we're unable to drive their directly on opening day due to snow drifts. The long way took us by a little travel corridor of broken ridges.and I felt bad about not being in the field in the morning so we stopped. A little hike to a knob to glass and we found tracks galore with a few separate orange guys moving fast and could hear some vehicles on the loop road about a mile away as the crow flies. Beyond that loop road is another another half mile as the crow flies of steeper ridges and gulleys before private, the private isn't great hidey habitat, and I assumed that's where these animals were running to.

We got around to the other side to walk, just in time to video grandpa and grand daughter shoot at least 6x from the road. Grandpa walked about 20yds up and used his rifle as a spotting scope then they got back in the truck. Here are some statements from them:

"We didn't see any hunch or fall over so we know we didn't hit any"
"That's a lot farther than we've shot before, so we didn't hit any" (measured at 360ish yds)
*When I asked if they each shot at the same animal for all of their own shots*
"Every time we shot an animal before they fall over. We are hunting cows so it's too hard to remember which one we missed."

We walked a loop out to the private and found where that little herd came back together near the private, split into three about half way, and stayed as one for about 500yds going up the first sloped ridge from where they were shot at. When they diverged, there was OK blood.

Gramps and Granddaughter were still at the truck when we returned and didn't believe us when we said there was blood. Son/Dad had arrived and walked a little up the ridge slope and didn't find blood. They didn't like my idea that their wounded cow(s) had elk behind them stepping on the blood and hiding it when the herd was whole. They still refused to go look "they probably went to private" or try and get access.

We did run into the Wildlife Officer and got him the video in hopes of scoring some preference points.

I can easily see how folks bang away at a herd and shoot too many animals or lie to themselves that things die in sight.

Absolutely blows my mind that people have that mentality. Also pretty sad how blatantly people are willing to hunt from the road.

 

[sndmn11]

Absolutely blows my mind that people have that mentality. Also pretty sad how blatantly people are willing to hunt from the road.

The shooting from the "road" part is what got them the visit from the Wildlife Officer. I could care less about road hunters, we do it sometimes, but the Wildlife Officer told all he cares about is for the hunter "to just make an effort to be safe". In this case, these two folks were shooting in line with the road and there's a few blind corners there as well.

Speaking of recovery. @wind gypsy came out for a deer hunt and grabbed a permanent spot with us due to his recovery skills. Maybe he will share story here someday.

 

[jrbarnes9972]

Couple years ago, I found 5 deer the week after rifle opener in WV

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[sndmn11]

Couple years ago, I found 5 deer the week after rifle opener in WV

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How far apart?

Does WV have straight wall cartridge restrictions?

 

[jrbarnes9972]

How far apart?

Does WV have straight wall cartridge restrictions?

I probably covered 4-5 miles. WV is not straight wall only. Any centerfire rifle is legal

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[mlevimadden]

Found a solid bull elk last year on a rifle cow elk hunt that was a month after archery season.

Back in Kansas, we had access to some primo private ground and would find about 1 poached buck a year. Usually 50-100 yds off the road with just the head cut off.

 

[sndmn11]

Found a solid bull elk last year on a rifle cow elk hunt that was a month after archery season.

Back in Kansas, we had access to some primo private ground and would find about 1 poached buck a year. Usually 50-100 yds off the road with just the head cut off.

View attachment 792840

Was there an arrow in it?

 

[Wyo_hntr]

Found this little bull in rifle season. Assumed it was a '23 or 22 bow kill/loss.

 

[mlevimadden]

Was there an arrow in it?

Not that I found, but I just snapped the pic and didn't look around the carcass a ton. It just appeared to have been dead for about a month was the reason for my guess. Could've been a predation or other cause of death for sure.

 

[bpa556]

View attachment 792851
Found this little bull in rifje season. Assumed it was a '23 or 22 bow kill/loss.

Quite the assumption. As a guide, I can assure you the average rifle hunter is no more capable of good shot placement or committed finding wounded game than the average bow hunter. In fact, my considerable personal experience indicates the opposite.


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[CMF]

I found a decent 5x5 bull in MT during archery, but I couldn't tell if it had been hit by a hunter or killed by something else. It was pretty consumed by bears(potentially griz) and made for an extremely nervous recovery of the antlers with just me and my 13yo daughter as lookout. It almost seemed to be too decomposed for the time of the season to be a hunter kill, but idk.

 

[Wyo_hntr]

Quite the assumption. As a guide, I can assure you the average rifle hunter is no more capable of good shot placement or committed finding wounded game than the average bow hunter. In fact, my considerable personal experience indicates the opposite.


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Didn't mean to ruffle any sensitive feathers. It was just in an area that is bow hunted more than rifle, due to the elevation 10k +.

..jfc....