I keep reading about these bulls people are tagging and not finding....

[Gerbdog]

And now im left wondering what percent of hunters this happens to.... 15%? 30%? It definitely sucks but been seeing a lot of these stories as of late. How many days are people spending searching for the downed elk? No doubt the blood trail goes dry and things start feeling really bad but... very little detail in the stories of what happens after that last bit of blood is seen... its just a bad feeling knowing the animal is dead up there


When the blood trail is going dry for me I immediately start taking a bit of the toilet paper from my roll and hang it in the tree near the last drop of blood. These get collected after we find the animal so we don't litter. From the last drop of blood small circle start getting made out from it, looking on leaves, twigs, branches, anything another drop of blood could land on, sometimes that next drop of blood could be 20 yards away....

Anyone got any other tips for following a blood trail that's drying up?

 

[Indian Summer]

Peroxide in a spray bottle. Much better.

 

[Jim1187]

If legal a trained dog can make the recovery of lost game so much quicker and more successful you will wonder why it isn't legal everywhere game is hunted. I know in my province its kind of a legal grey zone, some DNR officers will start writing tickets and charges in the hopes they can get a couple to stick, others will actually commend you and some have even asked if I was willing to try my bird dogs on a blood trail to help. Much harder to fool a dogs nose than our eyes.

 

[Ross]

In the mountains when the blood dries up and there is no snow you can circle and circle till your hearts content but elk are so tough and Can go so far in country that can be extremely difficult eventually the mind says enough. my experience has shown if you do not find them within 200 yds you are in for an outcome that may not be positive and the shot was not good.

 

[Phaseolus]

Once you have wounded one you punch your tag.

 

[Gerbdog]

Once you have wounded one you punch your tag.

I would consider doing that IF I know I made a solid hit and my arrow was coated in blood that told me the animal is going to die no questions about it. At that point i know there is a dead animal on the hill somewhere and if i cant find it thats on me. I guess I've been lucky enough to find all my animals.

 

[WYCFM1]

Once you have wounded one you punch your tag.

Some ppl really actually want the meat after the experience...it would suck too just feel bad about the animal and go home without any meat at the end of the hunt...I look forward to that part of shooting an animal. I


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[amassi]

The way I look at it-that tag is the receipt for one animal taken from that herd. Not necessarily a carcass coupon. I believe this is even factored into harvest allotments that theres going to be some over harvest from lost game. Each individual gets to decide if they are going to shoot a second animal or not. I assume injured animals are going to die either through the results of the initial wound or slowly through increased predation, sickness/infection or winter as a result of the wound. Granted I know some elk survive bow hits, even thrive- I helped butcher a bull with a healed broadhead and 4" of arrow shaft in him. There was no indication he wasnt 100% healthy. Regardless I think these are flukes more than the norm.

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[Sekora]

My opinion is that many of these hunters who are filling a tag without finding the animal are doing so knowing that their hunt is over due to the season ending or their trip ending. I am sure there are honest guys out there who feel that once they put an arrow in an animal, their tag is used regardless if they find the animal or not, but there are also many hunters who would not hesitate to release another one if the opportunity presents itself.

 

[Felix40]

I would guess here in NM the number of bowhunters that wound an animal each season is close to 60%. About 2/3 of bowhunters I talk to have shot at least one elk and many times it’s multiple elk. By the end of sept there are wounded elk all over. Guys just suck at archery and blood trailing. It makes me understand why some people dislike bow hunting.

 

[Gerbdog]

I would guess here in NM the number of bowhunters that wound an animal each season is close to 60%. About 2/3 of bowhunters I talk to have shot at least one elk and many times it’s multiple elk. By the end of sept there are wounded elk all over. Guys just suck at archery and blood trailing. It makes me understand why some people dislike bow hunting.

Thats an eye opening percentage there if its accurate, the bow shooting part of it can be trained and practiced out if willing, I figure the blood trailing can only come from experience and like any other curve in hunting its steep. I don't have dogs but I bring my brother along, he's a damn good blood trailer.

 

[Mule3006Elk]

Who would bow hunt if the risk of losing an animal was 60%?
I wouldn't even consider it. That percentage seems generous IMO.

 

[Mule3006Elk]

I did a quick online search and I'm getting much lower numbers: 7, 10, 12, 13, 17.
I can only imagine all the confounding variables making a retrospective study, on this topic, very challenging. I would like to believe the lower % to more true.

Above all as a hunter, rifle or bow, only pull the tigger if you are very confident in the shot. We all know this and I'm not preaching from a pedestal. I've passed shots for no other reason than I can't get completely comfortable behind the shot. Maybe it's a gut feeling something is not right.

It takes discipline in the heat of the moment to the have the presence of mind and situational awareness to make that judgement call. Even then things can/will go south but the probability is much lower IMO.

I do like R. Newberg and S. Rinella's take on a wounded animal. If you shoot one and can't find it your tag is punched. Legally, if you keep hunting, it's not against the law in my state, so no judgement from me. For me, if I were in this situation, I am reminded of A. Leopold quote on ethical hunting. FWIW

 

[Gerbdog]

Who would bow hunt if the risk of losing an animal was 60%?
I wouldn't even consider it. That percentage seems generous IMO.

It does seem generous but.... i guess I've talked to an awful lot of hunters in the field with similar stories of hitting an animal and never finding it.... I totally understand it happens though, twigs get in the way, animal spins last second, blood trail goes away (happened to me this year, luckily found the elk anyway), etc. I'm just wrapping my head around how often it actually does happen

 

[realunlucky]

I would guess here in NM the number of bowhunters that wound an animal each season is close to 60%. About 2/3 of bowhunters I talk to have shot at least one elk and many times it’s multiple elk. By the end of sept there are wounded elk all over. Guys just suck at archery and blood trailing. It makes me understand why some people dislike bow hunting.

So success rate is 10-15% and your wound rate is 60% so 75% percent of archery hunters are getting within range and releasing arrows every year? Must be a truly magical place to hunt.

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[AaronMColeman]

So success rate is 10-15% and your wound rate is 60% so 75% percent of archery hunters are getting within range and releasing arrows every year? Must be a truly magical place to hunt.

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ive been archery hunting for a few years. I put an arrow in a shoulder, Never found the elk but I think he was ok since arrow was only 4” in. my main hunting buddy has taken. Many bulls with archery and never lost on but has a similar story to sticking one.

so maybe that 60% is not per year but 60% of archery hungers have experienced a loss? I’ve actually seen more guys lose an animal rifle hunting because of bigger distances.

 

[mike.adams.467]

My 2 cents; guys have the gear to get pretty decent shooting at long distances at the range. They then convince themselves they can make that same shot at a live animal in mountainous conditions, and they fail miserably. Virtually every one of these stories includes some statement about the deadly shot the hunter made. Long shots don’t replace the skill of getting close to game.


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[Peaks&Creeks]

Problem I see is that not many shoot their bows all year long. Many hunters I’ve talked to and even guided have just dusted off the bow a couple days before archery and test shoot them a couple times and call it good. Besides being crappy at archery or wounding an animal, I’ve seen bow strings break due to neglect. Here you have a person who just put a lot of time, money, and mileage to do a western hunt for a week but now they are spending 2-3 days fixing equipment. I don’t feel sorry at all either. Same goes for rifle hunters. Was guiding a older fellow a couple years ago who had borrowed his sons rifle. Opening morning we come upon a dandy 6x6 bull. Dude is trying to figure out how to chamber a bullet into his rifle and for some reason couldn’t get the bolt to release. After what seemed like an eternity he finally got one racked, but the bull got nervous from all the fidgeting and wandered into the dark timber never to be seen again


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[Gerbdog]

Problem I see is that not many shoot their bows all year long. Many hunters I’ve talked to and even guided have just dusted off the bow a couple days before archery and test shoot them a couple times and call it good. Besides being crappy at archery or wounding an animal, I’ve seen bow strings break due to neglect. Here you have a person who just put a lot of time, money, and mileage to do a western hunt for a week but now they are spending 2-3 days fixing equipment. I don’t feel sorry at all either. Same goes for rifle hunters. Was guiding a older fellow a couple years ago who had borrowed his sons rifle. Opening morning we come upon a dandy 6x6 bull. Dude is trying to figure out how to chamber a bullet into his rifle and for some reason couldn’t get the bolt to release. After what seemed like an eternity he finally got one racked, but the bull got nervous from all the fidgeting and wandered into the dark timber never to be seen again


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Ye ... hard to feel sorry for that situation.... sounds like you got him on a good bull and .... well the story speaks for itself. Guess at least he didn't shoot it in the leg and watch it hobble off for miles

 

[Ross]

Out today in my stomping grounds bugling for a friend heard ravens smelled into him hunters lost bull archery is tough and things happen just sad to see had found his shed this year about 4 miles away up canyon