Shot bull. Having a hard time finding him.

[CRJR45]

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[skeptic]

The void doesn’t exist.

It's probably all semantics, but I agree. I think more than likely when it is a high lung hit you get so little of the lung elk either don't die or go really far and die much later. There is definitely a spot high in the chest cavity though that doesn't result in a dead elk. I have seen that hit many times with a rifle and watched elk run forever.

 

[isocyanate]

I don't have any good advice, but can commiserate on losing an animal. My first bow shot at a whitetail was a lost cause, shot too high into the backstrap and never saw her again. It's a terrible feeling and tough to shake. Good news is, if this type of thing bothers you, you're a good person and the type of sportsman the world needs. Shows an appropriate amount of respect for the animal.

 

[TheTone]

Elk lungs are big! 2.5 inches from perfect IMO would be a quickly dead bull. I’m guessing the hit wasn’t exactly where you thought

 

[T-town]

Shot a bull @12 yards. Hit him a little higher than I preferred. Left/right was perfect just a little high. I found zero blood at POI but about 25 yards down trail I found this small spot. After that there’s nothing I can find. I was on hands and knees crawling around looking for blood. There’s wayyy too many tracks to try to follow him. I zig zagged back and forth and then reset and circled the entire area for hours. Nothing. I’m shooting a sevr 1.75 inch and never found my arrow but saw the vanes disappear. I’m absolutely distraught. Thoughts? Ideas?

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Was the bull still visible to you at the location you found the blood? Many times I have seen a non-vital hit animal (deer mostly) run off 20-50 yards an d stop to look around like “what just happened” giving a little time for blood to pool up under them before they move off again. Usually though there’s not an arrow still skewered through their chest or back. Surprised you didn’t get a pass through the ribs at 12 yards.

 

[Marble]

Where does this void exist? The only time I’ve seen people talk about a void is when they get confused at how LOW the spine really is. Everyone assumes the spine is at the top of the back.


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I don't know if I would really call it a void. My experience was gutting a bull I had killed with rifle. As I was gutting it, I noticed what I thought was a stick laying close to the spine (bull was on its back). I grabbed it and felt it was attached (by soft tissue) and realized it was an arrow. I pulled it loose and found about 9-12" of arrow with a 3 blade broadhead like a G5. The broadhead was covered in scar tissue. Entrance was 4-6 ribs from the back, and it broke a rib going in and then stopped against a rib on the other side. The bull was young, a 4 point, and was running a herd of a dozen cows. I hunted him off and on for 2-3 days. He was completely fine.

I've probably cleaned and quartered 100+ elk over the years, and I, for the life of me, cannot explain it. There is a huge artery against the spine, and the lungs go right up against that.

My only guess is the broadhead was really dull and whatever tissue it came into contact with as it went through the bull didn't get cut.

I saw another picture last week of a similar hit, but it was really far forward. At the very front of the thoracic cavity. Which makes even less sense.



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[SDHNTR]

I don't know if I would really call it a void. My experience was gutting a bull I had killed with rifle. As I was gutting it, I noticed what I thought was a stick laying close to the spine (bull was on its back). I grabbed it and felt it was attached (by soft tissue) and realized it was an arrow. I pulled it loose and found about 9-12" of arrow with a 3 blade broadhead like a G5. The broadhead was covered in scar tissue. Entrance was 4-6 ribs from the back, and it broke a rib going in and then stopped against a rib on the other side. The bull was young, a 4 point, and was running a herd of a dozen cows. I hunted him off and on for 2-3 days. He was completely fine.

I've probably cleaned and quartered 100+ elk over the years, and I, for the life of me, cannot explain it. There is a huge artery against the spine, and the lungs go right up against that.

My only guess is the broadhead was really dull and whatever tissue it came into contact with as it went through the bull didn't get cut.

I saw another picture last week of a similar hit, but it was really far forward. At the very front of the thoracic cavity. Which makes even less sense.



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If it was a G5 Montec, your dullness theory is probably correct.

 

[Ucsdryder]

If it was a G5 Montec, your dullness theory is probably correct.

I used them back in the day. Dullest head ever. I remember drinking the koolaid, “they feel dull but they’re not”. What a terrible head.

 

[Cameron.25]

I feel for you man, i lost one this year too

 

[Amincey34]

Was the bull still visible to you at the location you found the blood? Many times I have seen a non-vital hit animal (deer mostly) run off 20-50 yards an d stop to look around like “what just happened” giving a little time for blood to pool up under them before they move off again. Usually though there’s not an arrow still skewered through their chest or back. Surprised you didn’t get a pass through the ribs at 12 yards.

I’m with you on the pass through unless I caught the scapula on the other side it makes no sense. Even then I searched hard for the arrow with no luck. The way it happened I shot and jumped around the thicket to watch him leave and couldn’t see him there but it was close to POI. About 25 yards. I’m still out here beating the hills. I legitimately was nauseous all day yesterday. I’ve trained so hard physically and mentally. Shot my bow 3x a week all year since January. Broadhead tuned back in July. Ensured I was ready. Until the moment presented itself and the nerves were firing I knew I shot higher than I wanted but regret even shooting now.


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[Scoot]

There is no void. But the lungs can certainly be missed, if shot placement isn't right. Most "high lung shots" are actually above the spine in the back strap (which is not a void in the way the nonexistent void is typically talked about). Lastly, hunters are notoriously bad at telling you where an arrow both entered and exited an animal and their confidence in where these two spots are is almost completely unrelated to their accuracy.



OP- that stinks. Punching your tag is totally up to you, but it sure doesn't sound like you likely killed that bull. If it were me, I'd keep hunting. Good luck with however it turns out.

 

[sndmn11]

it sure doesn't sound like you likely killed that bull. If it were me, I'd keep hunting. Good luck with however it turns out.

This would be my approach.

 

[Amincey34]

There is no void. But the lungs can certainly be missed, if shot placement isn't right. Most "high lung shots" are actually above the spine in the back strap (which is not a void in the way the nonexistent void is typically talked about). Lastly, hunters are notoriously bad at telling you where an arrow both entered and exited an animal and their confidence in where these two spots are is almost completely unrelated to their accuracy.



OP- that stinks. Punching your tag is totally up to you, but it sure doesn't sound like you likely killed that bull. If it were me, I'd keep hunting. Good luck with however it turns out.

Thanks for the input man. Definitely happened fast and I instantly said that was higher than I’d like. I was chasing three bulls bugling back and Forth up the mountain and hit a bench and out of nowhere this completely separate 6x6 screamed at me 35 yards away I stepped into the tree line and saw him trotting at me, he stepped into the clearing broadside I estimated to be about 18 yards I centered my 20 yard pin behind the shoulder and shot.


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[TaperPin]

If you punch your tag, there’s nothing wrong with that, many, maybe most folks think that’s exactly what you should do.

I follow the letter of the game regs - I don’t cheat a little on any of it, don’t drive off-road violating forest service rules, and in general avoid the legal gray areas. I’ll also go beyond what average hunters do for equipment preparation, shot placement and if an animal is winged will search for far longer than most.

Given all that, if there isn’t a body after two days of searching I have no ethical dilemma in continuing to hunt. Hunting is not a perfect science - game laws are not perfect - humans are not perfect. Every season many animals are lost and not tagged - most are from sloppy slob hunters, but ethical hunters contribute to the list if they hunt often enough, and that’s not the end of the world. Maybe it’s a regional difference, but most guys I grew up with in Wyoming, both young and old alike, share this sentiment.

Fly fishing I’ve landed a very rare endangered fish that was foul hooked and without a doubt died of its injuries after being released. Does that mean it should be counted toward a daily catch limit and I should have turned myself in for wanton destruction of an endangered species - I say no. Even though it wasn’t required a barbless hook was used, my net is one of those soft/easy on the slime kind of things, fish are treated gently during release and at no time do I get into any regulatory gray areas, so an unintended loss doesn’t keep me up at night.

Just saying this out loud will get me a lot of hate mail, but it should be said so you don’t beat yourself up too much, unless you want to. If someone has a more or less strict personal code of conduct, that’s a personal choice.

Best of luck with the search - when you’ve exhausted the search you’ll know.

 

[BRTreedogs]

Made this exact shot last year.
I gridded the direction he went thru the brush.
But he did a Jay hook to meet with the rest of the heard.
We found him once we gridded that way.
Unfortunately the meat was already sour by noon the next day.
Good luck. I believe your elk to be dead.

 

[greenomics]

Thanks for the input man. Definitely happened fast and I instantly said that was higher than I’d like. I was chasing three bulls bugling back and Forth up the mountain and hit a bench and out of nowhere this completely separate 6x6 screamed at me 35 yards away I stepped into the tree line and saw him trotting at me, he stepped into the clearing broadside I estimated to be about 18 yards I centered my 20 yard pin behind the shoulder and shot.


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Thought you said 12 yards earlier. So 20 yard pin at 12 yards?

 

[wildwilderness]

Birds and smell take a few days. I’ve found elk and deer for others that way.

Elk are the toughest (North American) animals for sure

 

[Ucsdryder]

Thought you said 12 yards earlier. So 20 yard pin at 12 yards?

Doesn’t matter. My single pin is set at 27 yards. I’m not more than a couple of inches high or low from 10-30 yards. On an elk it doesn’t matter. Reality is the OP got excited and probably pulled the “minute of elk shot”. I did it on my first elk, right into the shoulder. They look so big, the pin looks so small and you point and spray.

This is the reason I went to a single pin. I remember having my first bull at steps and having all of my pins on tan elk. I pulled the trigger thinking I couldn’t mess it up. That was 25 years ago and I’ve been shooting a single pin/double pin since.

 

[greenomics]

Doesn’t matter. My single pin is set at 27 yards. I’m not more than a couple of inches high or low from 10-30 yards. On an elk it doesn’t matter. Reality is the OP got excited and probably pulled the “minute of elk shot”. I did it on my first elk, right into the shoulder. They look so big, the pin looks so small and you point and spray.

Fair enough.

 

[hiker270]

Couldn't find a bull I shot a few years ago, ran out of blood after about 200 yards. Shot him at 8am and looked all day. Went back the next morning and looked again. Finally noticed the sound of crows or ravens in the next ravine over from where I shot. Told my buddy that's probably him. Yep the birds found him for me. It was very warm out and he was bloated and smelly. Probably went another 500 or so yards from where we lost the blood. Cut the horns off and punched my tag. Absolutely sick about all that wasted meat. If not for paying attention to the birds never would have found him.