Shot elk, pass through but no blood trail

[Bowhunter23]

So this morning I shot a good 6x6 bull. He spun out of the shot, but still looked like the placement was good (looked to still be in lung area). After finding the arrow it is covered in blood and bits of meat, but there is zero blood on the ground. After 9 hours of looking I had to call it quits for the day, going back in the morning. Has anyone else had this happen to them?

 

[4ester]

I’ve seen animals shot with rifles and bows that don’t bleed much. Sometimes fatty tissue plugs the holes instantly. Other times I think the lungs have to fill up with blood before leaking externally.

I’d give him a couple hours, then try to follow his tracks. If you can’t do that I’d start gridding it out. About all you can do.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Bowhunter23]

I’ve seen animals shot with rifles and bows that don’t bleed much. Sometimes fatty tissue plugs the holes instantly. Other times I think the lungs have to fill up with blood before leaking externally.

I’d give him a couple hours, then try to follow his tracks. If you can’t do that I’d start gridding it out. About all you can do.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I’m going back to see if I missed something, I gridded out most the area today. Will finish up tomorrow. Just weird, I’ve shot over 30 animals with archery equipment and have never had a pass through not bleed minimally at least

 

[Coveyleader]

Strange? How far was the shot?

I hope you find him. Good hits they normally don’t go far as you most likely know. Asking on range due to close shots, you normally see a bit better on what actually was hit and happened.

good luck

 

[Bowhunter23]

Strange? How far was the shot?

I hope you find him. Good hits they normally don’t go far as you most likely know. Asking on range due to close shots, you normally see a bit better on what actually was hit and happened.

good luck

26 yards, I’m just puzzled. Regardless if I find him or not my tag is punched for the year, I just would love to have elk to last me most of the year

 

[ridgefire]

My brother had a double lung complete pass thru and the bull went 40 yards or so but no blood. I couldn't imagine your bull would have gone more than a few hundred yards if you had a good shot but Icould be wrong. Hopefully you can find it tomorrow.

 

[14idaho]

If legal consider using a dog. Keep it on leash. Most any dog with a good nose will find it.

 

[Stubborn_bowhunter]

Go early if you want meat. It will go bad while it's on him. You salvage it, but it's going to be a race against time.

There's always blood somewhere. Miniscule drips on the ground.
Brushed on stuff he walks through.

Sucks, but it's part of the journey.

 

[Bowhunter23]

Go early if you want meat. It will go bad while it's on him. You salvage it, but it's going to be a race against time.

There's always blood somewhere. Miniscule drips on the ground.
Brushed on stuff he walks through.

Sucks, but it's part of the journey.

The plan is be there at daylight and look all day. Definitely sucks but that’s the game we all play

 

[wapitibob]

Yep, pass thru at 35 yards and zero blood. Fortunately I saw him fall about 150 yards away. Thunderhead 125

 

[Ucsdryder]

Full pass through? Probably a high hit. Doesn’t mean he’s not laying there dead. I would be there before shooting light and look again for blood. Then it’s time for a grid search. After that it’s listen for birds and work into the wind smelling for death.

 

[Ross]

Double lung experience has shown they do not go far, may not bleed a lot but simply fall over…..one lung that can be tough or if back or off more than we think….just do the best you can and look for little tell tale signs and be using you nose as well….good luck

 

[fish impaler]

You probably know this but when looking for blood pay attention to any groups of ants/flys/yellowjackets etc. sometimes they find smaller drops that are easy to miss. it’s helped me out before.

 

[Read1t48]

After years in search and rescue, I’ve come to love tracking. However, it’s a stressful process trying to find an animal that you’ve worked so hard for.
If it was a double lung but high, it will take time to fill the lungs to the point where you get blood coming from the entrance hole. This is especially true when it’s not a pass through because it can create a seal and can be compounded further by fat or tissue.
If it was lethal, I’m guessing he’s under 300 yards from where you shot him. Square off 300 yds using your phone or paces and grid it. I would start on the far side of the 300 and work your way back— this is based on the notion that he likely went more than 100yds but less than 300. Once you find his track, study it. Measure it. Make a marking stick that you can use to measure his track length from one to another. Use sticks or flagging to get a direction of travel. This is super helpful when you look back on the track. When you know exactly where he stepped you will find more blood. Even if minuscule, you will find more blood than you originally thought.
you’re obviously an experienced hunter and probably know all of the above. But good lung hits don’t always produce much blood. They are often fatal. Best of luck in finding him and kept us posted!

 

[cnelk]

I shot this cow at 60yds - pass thru- watched her fall at 75yds

You can see there wasn’t much blood on her side but was filled up inside

Like mentioned, if the hit was as good as you think, he’s dead fairly close.

Otherwise he could live for who knows how long. Maybe forever

So many times the 'perfect shot' isnt so perfect

 

[Indian Summer]

Take some peroxide in a spray bottle and mist anything that looks like blood. If it is it’ll foam up. He’s there!

 

[Scoot]

One thing I have seen over and over again is that people's reports of exactly where they hit an animal are often quite inaccurate. Been victim of this myself… I was positive I made a perfect shot on an elk and it turns oit turns out it wasn't a great shot. Found him but I was shocked to see how far off my belief of where I hit him was from where I actually hit him.. Also people's confidence in knowing exactly where they hit seems pretty unrelated to where they did actually hit. Not saying you didn't hit him where you think you did, but it's often the case that we are quite wrong on that. That's especially the case if he spun on the shot.

An example for you… I know a guy who was site he made a perfect broadside shot on an antelope at 25 yards. He watched the animal run 50 yd and dropped dead. When he went up to it he was shocked to discover that his arrow had entered entered 1 of the antelope's nostrils and somehow snaked its way back through its throat cutting some major arteries there. He was just positive he had made a perfect behind the shoulder shot.

Regardless of all that I hope you did make a great shot and recover the animal quickly. Good luck!!

 

[S.Clancy]

I shot a BIG 6x6 last year with the same results you are describing. Shot looked good, maybe a bit high. A little blood and meat on the arrow. I watched him for 600 yrs, no visible reaction. I tracked him for 1 - 1.5 miles by track, no blood in the track. Looked for the next 2 days. Saw that bull rutting cows 10 days later. I hit above the lungs somehow, even tho the shot didn't look that high.

 

[Flatgo]

i'll add two things from my experience elk hunting. if you don't find a bull within 200 yds of the shot success rate of recovery drops drastically off, plenty of people still do find elk and every effort should be made to continue to follow the blood trail. however if you track the elk 200 yards and its not dead i think your recovery rate drops below 25%. granted there are lots variables such as terrain and where the elk would feel safe bedding done. if you hunt prairie elk it maybe further than 200 yds since they will want to get to cover before bedding down.

the second is lets say the kill zone on an elk is approximately 16" by 20" (never exactly measured it so this is a swag) within the kill zone there are shots that will bleed and kill the elk instantly and others that may not kill the elk or take a long time lowering recovery success. one of these areas is right above the heart, but but barely clips the bottom of the lung tight to the shoulder. i've seen this shot result in long track jobs and too many unsuccessful recoveries. i believe there are other areas in the kill zone which are similar.

not sure this helps your situation, but this has been my experience seeing probably around 20ish archery hits/kills. i feel for you its one of the worst feelings in the world to not recover and elk especially when you think you made a good shot. I am glad you're putting in the time to try to find the elk. good luck.

 

[SWOHTR]

An example for you… I know a guy who was site he made a perfect broadside shot on an antelope at 25 yards. He watched the animal run 50 yd and dropped dead. When he went up to it he was shocked to discover that his arrow had entered entered 1 of the antelope's nostrils and somehow snaked its way back through its throat cutting some major arteries there. He was just positive he had made a perfect behind the shoulder shot.

Regardless of all that I hope you did make a great shot and recover the animal quickly. Good luck!!

Sorry but clarify please. How do you mistake a nose for a shoulder?