Success but not quite

[BigAntlerGetter]

Well this morning I had my chance found the elk moved in for a stock a bull fed right to me. 30 yard shot when I shot my string hit my rain jacket an made a loud pop, this let them onto me an the bull ducked my arrow. I hit him high shoulder I didn't get the greatest look at where I hit him, I moved down for another shot and hit a limb and a tree. I did notice that he was acting funny before my second shot arching his neck backwards putting his head down.He went about 40 yards and stopped again so I backed out. I found my hunting partners and we gave it about 20 minutes before going down to see. We found my arrow 20 yards from where they were with blood hair and 8 inches broken off. Then for another 20 yards decent blood and track. Dripping 3 to 4 drops every foot or so, then there was a big bunch of blood where he stopped and then nothing I couldn't find track blood nothing. 4 of us searching and it all stopped I went to where I seem him last no blood no track. We decided to back out an give him more time, hopefully find him tomorrow but jus makes me sick discouraged, i can't say exactly where my arrow hit when I seem him the second time I didn't even see blood, I know their hair sheds it pretty good but still. Also the blood was real red, no bubbles, no gut smells. You guys have any suggestions, I'm in this area for a week for I'm hunting it all we have 3 more tags to fill anyways. You guys or gals have any suggestions..... There was also a little muscle tissue on my arrow shaft when we found it

 

[MOcluck]

Don't give up keep looking, try walking circles around the last bit of sign

 

[KMT]

If he was acting funny and you were still able to get off a second shot, he is hurt. Blood trails can Disappear fairly quickly, but that doesn't mean he isn't filling up with internal bleeding. The blood trail may pick up again 300 yards away from where you last saw it. Keep looking. I have seen them Make a 180° turn and in the behind me. Completely opposite of the direction I was tracking them

 

[BigAntlerGetter]

This is the only gulch with water so I figure he will stay somewhat close, to that me any brother hit a lone track going towards the water but cut off it cause the other 2 guys said they found something we were 100 yards from last blood, View attachment 10074 idk if that picture uploaded but there was a ton of blood at the last spot, it looked like he was dripping blood and it was squirting out, could I have hit an artery high in the shoulder an there was some meat that clogged the hole? Or is it jus no mans land I figure I hit behind the shoulder blade but high I was aiming for the heart at 30 and he ducked so I jus don't know what to think

 

[realunlucky]

He has allot of arrow still in him I believe it's a dead bull. Grid search time

 

[mtnwrunner]

He has allot of arrow still in him I believe it's a dead bull. Grid search time

I agree---grid it, especially if you have help. You'll find him.

Randy

 

[BigAntlerGetter]

So you guys thinking I may of hit an artery or what? There was a lot of blood more than I've seen on some other shots, I'm hopin he went to water but if he went further down the gulch it gets hard . We're down to 2 guys right now the others had to head back for work. Do you think he may have rejoined the herd or would he go off alone?

 

[dotman]

That broadhead is tearing him up inside, dead elk just keep searching.

 

[Rizzy]

He is probably too injured to continue going about his normal routine with the herd. An open shoulder wound with the object still stuck inside reopening it with every step could bleed a lot so go slow and use caution.
I think u will find him, stay patient and keep looking

 

[Hike&Hunt]

You will be amazed at how tough they are and how far they can travel even after loosing what seems like buckets of blood. Last year I shot a bull a little forward, great blood trail, multiple 10" puddles of blood where he had stopped, bloody hoof prints for a while only to diminish to a drop every 50 yards then gone like a stinking ghost. After a long day of searching, i called it. I have regretted it nearly every day since for a few reasons. 1. I owed it to him to keep looking and finish the job, 2. Being fairly confident you have shot and killed something without recovering it sucks, 3. It was the first bull I shot, would have been nice to take him home, 4. 340ish days of regret is a long stinking time. I chalk it up to lessons learned the hard way!

That is a long way of saying, keep it up!

 

[BigAntlerGetter]

Well guys we were in the area at 6 am we have been searching the area since the jus sat down for a lunch break, we gridded the area about a mile down the ridge came back up covered that whole side 3/4 of the other side of the gulch, and all the way down the creek a mile, we found track but never any blood or him. I'm jus out of ideas right now, we have looked all over below where he was and then yesterday we covered a lot of ground above and around where he was about a 200 yards circle with nothing. I just wish I coulda seen my shot hit better and known where exactly I hit.

 

[Rizzy]

Try tracking him. Keep in mind that Elk can cover a lot of ground easily and in a short amount of time.
You can tell just as much by the tracks as you can by a blood trail, and the tracks don't dry up. His injury will be reflected in his stride.

Elk have a about a 26 inch stride length, their back foot will be placed in about the same place as their front foot. Go back to the known tracks, get a branch and break it to be the same length as his stride. Now you have a measuring device to find the hard to see tracks. If you can find a couple tracks in a row then you can analyze them.

Whats the stride length? Shorter that normal he is not in good shape, about normal he is mobile.

Are there drag marks? He has lost full operation of a leg and is dragging it along. They can outrun or out hike you on 3 legs pretty easy most of the time, be sneaky.

The deeper the imprint the more weight that is being put on that foot, this could vary from one side of the footprint to the other (leaning). Is a front track or back track deeper on one side than the other? He's kinda limping, can't put full weight on the opposite foot.

When an Elk is standing stationary or walking and they turn their head, their front foot will slightly turn in the same direction. This can tip you off to 1) they are on to you and checking their back trail. 2) which direction they are thinking about going next.

Most of the animals I have tracked, whether injured or not, circle downwind after being bumped or shot. If they are in bad shape they will circle downhill, otherwise they head for the high ground.

If he headed downhill then he is probably dead by now. He is not heading downhill for water, he is heading downhill because it's easy. If he lives long enough then he will probably end up in a cool canyon bottom near water. Magpies, ravens, and eagles like dead meat. Scrub Jays will squawk at Magpies, ravens, birds of prey, and predators (including you) and can be heard a long ways off. Keep an eye out for new predator tracks on the game trails also.

If he headed uphill then he is probably heading for the game trail on the main ridge. He can run out of gas at anytime and then start to head back downhill. If he makes to the top I would imagine he is pretty good shape so start glassing the hillside, drainage, or basin he may of headed in to.

After you've exhausted tracking, you might be best off to bivy up high at a vantage point and glass for Elk and bird activity. Birds have a fast metabolism, they will camp out on a carcass. Canines, cats, and pine marten will travel to and from because they don't usually want to see each other at the carcass. Canines use trails, cats use ridges or cover, and sometimes trails, look for them while glassing.

Good luck, hope you find him

 

[muleman]

Great info Ron.

Good luck in your continued search.

 

[BigAntlerGetter]

Ya thanks Ron that is some great info. The only tracks we could ever find we're from him running after the first shot. After the shot I started calling an that got him to stop for me to try and work around for another shot. All the other tracks we found looked normal to me specially the ones I thought were his going down the trail. We found a herd today in a deep bowl and from what I seem I thought I might have seen him, cause there was one feeding in the back with what looked like a blood spot high on his back, but he looked like he was moving fine. So tomorrow we are going to set up in that area an hope They feed through past us again an if its him in the back I can finish the job

 

[AGPank]

Good luck. I lost one about 4 years ago, it's a horrible feeling. I appreciate the earlier tips as I'm always tying to learn more. Another tip I had was to mark the trail with toilet paper so you can look back and see where you've been. I tried marking my trail with GPS and its doesn't provide the same visual.

Elk are tough. The first bull I killed with a rifle had a broad head in the shoulder with scar tissue around it, it also had a 22 slug inside. I've seen another with 2 500 grain muzzle loader slugs in the neck under the skin, later killed by a rifle hunter.

 

[BigAntlerGetter]

O always carry biodegradable marking tape for that reason, and I mark all the blood. With it and I almost lost a buck a 5 yrs ago thanks to a jumped shot then a forest service person bumpin him twice. After that he ran as far as he could found him 2 days later a mile from where I shot him. It killed me looking plus the rain didn't help I stumbled up on him by chance hiking to where I thought he would of gone, I got the liver on him and once that guy pushed him twice he jus went.