Free: Contests & Raffles.
Guys this is a really great thread, I took a look because the plural "bears" in the title caught my eye. I know about 10 guys I wish would read this. You guys that offered to take time off from your busy schedules to get out in the bush and search for an animal, other guys trying to be respectful but help someone to learn a lesson about sticking with it, and other guys letting readers know how real hunters feel about how unacceptable it is to go around plunking animals and hoping you find it.In the south a lot of guys have lousy attitudes towards finding animals when the blood trail runs out, and figure there are enough deer running around that they can just shoot another one. I actually had people laughing at me when it happened to me, and I wouldn't let it go. I screwed up on my first bow kill and hit the deer too far back, two days and nights crawling around the bush after the blood trail ran out in 100 degree heat, missing the rest of my hunting trip to search, putting myself in serious hock to plunk down $400 to hire a blood hound service, making my wife so mad that the sofa was my best friend for a couple of days, but I found the deer, (not 400 yards from where I shot it it ended up, walked by him 100 times in those two days). Heck I got a taste for it again for about an hour when I thought I messed up a shot earlier this week, ended up I didn't when we found the elk 100 yards from where I shot it, but at least I felt like throwing up when I thought it was a bad shot.It is damn nice to see guys so passionate about doing the right thing, this is my second season hunting up here after moving to Washington from the south, and the hunters here are a breed apart. If we had more guys doing the right thing, hunting wouldn't have to struggle with as much bad PR.One thought I would like to add to this the missed learning experience. I made the bad shot, and went through the hell for it like many other guys have had to, but going through the hell was what taught me that I needed to get better at it. Not wanting to risk that experience again is what makes you let down on the bow string when you are not sure, instead of doing something stupid. I think young hunters can hear the message, but you need to go through the hell to have it stick, so maybe the pain of having so many guys let him know how they feel about his decision is painful enough to help him learn the lesson anyway.Nice to know if I ever find myself in a similar situation, there are guys who wouldn't know me from Adam that would be willing to help out! I think that as all that needs to be said about who hunters really are, would a tree huggers come running over a lost granola bar? Sorry had to throw that one in
Havent read most the posts but i feel the pain I shot one 2 years ago from a tree stand hunting deer and it was a little far back but looked to paralyze his back half...long story short great blood trail for literally half a mile but tappered out and never found him after one night and the whole next day until 3 and never found him...for now ill stick with neck and head shots with the rifle seems to stop them in there tracks and none of this tracking hard blood trails.
