Please help bull lost!!

[huntingnut]

The morning started out awesome. Getting out of the car at our destination and getting ready to hike to our hunting spot we hear a few grunts. Game on the first sound we have heard all week. We work our way over to the bull with him bugling and screaming and me back. We make it to about 80 yards and there is another bull screaming at the top of the opposite drawn we started on. The bull we where on screams at us and I scream back. I then notice him moving his cows out of the draw above us. I get him to stop and connect at 50 yards. We give him sbout 40 mins but the other bull is still screaming and my brother is cow calling. We start to track it and go about 200 yards and he crosses a road. We wait about another 20mins and go up a hill to find a 3" blood pool with small bubbles. My brother goes after the car with all of our gear in it and my dad and I wait another 15mins. We go a little farther and start to see about 2" puddles that are starting to get really thick. We go a little farther and give him another 45mins. We folow it out of that finger and across a knoll but now the blood has gone to small drops. We find a little more but then its just tracks and he goes throught a tall grass field and we lose him it's now 12:00 and I hit at about 8:00. We looked all over for 6-1/2 more hours. He had been working his way up hill the whole time going in to the tops of draws and out higher and across the knoll into the top of another draw the do the same thing. This is the farthest I have ever had to track a animal as it is my first archery kill, either a 4 or 5 point to make it worse. Does any have any ideas or info that might be usefull. My dad and I are going back up in the morning to start where the last major blood was. Please help!!! This makes me feel like crap, I want to find this animal so I don't waste this kill.

[elkaholic]

Justr give it ypur all, start makinmg circles outbounbound from the last blood.  I helped track 1 years back where in the a.m. we found where he bed and it appeared that he clotted up?
Good luck, I know that feeling. Ill be praying you find him!

[wrangler]

sigh.... it must be archery season? i know im askin for it here, and it's nothing personal but it seems to be a fairly common occurrence around here. hate to see all the story's of all the lost, wounded animals lately. good luck, hope you find him.    

[huntnphool]

where are you hunting?

[bankwalker]

where are you hunting?

i would also like to know. im headed over the mountains in the morning and am more then willing to help look.

[Jason]

small bubbles in the blood sounds like a lung shot, the only thing I can tell you,and I know from experience is the more people you have the better chance you have of finding him, If you dont find him in the morning the meat will surely be spoiled.

[bow4elk]

describe the shot angle, placement, and if you found the arrow - pass through, smell?, covered in:

a) blood?  what color, bubbles?
b) blood and green fiber matter?  smell?
c) clear mucus like coating with pink blood?

Also, reaction of the bull?  and did you get a compass bearing of his general direction of travel based on the blood trail?

you don't want to bump a wounded elk in a bed!!!!  Your odds will drop dramatically if he knows he's being followed.  Get after it hard right at daylight and don't stop looking....

Good luck!

[DOUBLELUNG]

Go to your last blood with at least one other person.  Mark it as a GPS waypoint.  Take the scale down as low as it can go, probably 200' or so on the map scale at the bottom of the display.  Turn your track feature "on".  The guy with the GPS slowly circles outward, making a tight expanding spiral.  The others stay by him and search for blood - they can meander around the guy with the GPS a few yards, the guy with the GPS does nothing but keep you tight and parallel to the track line.  When you find new blood, mark it as a new waypoint.  Track from that blood.  Get your face all the way down to the ground, look parallel to the ground - it's amazing how well you can see an animal's track looking along it, that looks like nothing from above - even when there are tracks all over.  Keep marking new blood as a waypoint.  When you lose the blood, repeat spiraling out from that point.  

This can be really brutal, especially with heavy brush, blowdown etc., but is necessary - otherwise chances are good you will miss the animal.  It is amazing what they can auger into.  

Good luck - hope you find him.    

[huntnphool]

I know from experience is the more people you have the better chance you have of finding him,

Thats why I was asking. If he was local I could go help tomorrow.

[huntingnut]

Thanks for all of the tips guys. I am on Clemens Mountain off of Chinook Pass, south east of Bald Mountain the Umpatnum unit. It was an up hill shotentry looked to be just below mid line and just behind the shoulder at about 30 deg. The arrow has yet to be found, so we don't believe it was a pass through. The bubbles where just in the blood not much of a color. Just after we found that puddle we found one about 5 yards that was deep red, not purple, and pretty thick. My dad and I will be heading up in the morning and hopefully back with the animal, other wise we will be back on Sunday. Thanks again for the tips, any more would be appreciated.

[robodad]

I have seen whitetails back track on themselves so after you lose blood you might try to follow the trail backward for a while and see if the blood branches off indicating he back tracked then split off in another direction  I have had other animals do it so elk might as well !!

I really really hope you find him, I know the feeling you have in your stomach right now and it sucks, don't worry though we will all be tracking right along with you in our thoughts hoping you find him in a pile at the end !!!

Good Luck and stick with it !!

[bankwalker]

i lost a cow 2 years ago that back tracked and ended up only being a few hundred yards from where i shot it. but i had tracked the blood trail for about 700yds in one direction and in a couple circles throughout the process.

tracking an animal after the shot is always the hard part if they get more then 100yds between them and the location of the shot.

i may or may not make it in that direction. idk if my car will make it back that far. ill have my two-way with me and will try and get in touch with you guys if im in the area.

good luck finding the animal

[luvtohnt]

Let me know if you still need help. I will be free this weekend if you have not found him by then. I am always willing to go help people find animals they have shot. Just send me a pm and we can meet up somewhere in the general area.

Brandon

[saudog]

sigh.... it must be archery season? i know im askin for it here, and it's nothing personal but it seems to be a fairly common occurrence around here. hate to see all the story's of all the lost, wounded animals lately. good luck, hope you find him.    

I have two buddies that have lost bulls allready this year.  One of them thinks since he didn't find the animal, it will be fine.  I know people with rifles lose elk too, but it just doesn't seem like as often.

[bucklucky]

May have stuck him back further than you think, maybee a possible liver shot that clipped a lung?  He would go a long ways, and would probably end up circling back around towards where he was already heading, I have had that happen to me. If you hit it right where you said he shouldnt have gone too far unless bumped but still even if it was a single lung shot he shouldnt have gone over 4-500 yards. But I have definately been wrong before. Good luck!

[GoldTip]

From what you've said with the dark blood and some blood with bubbles in it, it sounds more like what Bucklucky said, most likely a liver and single lung shot.  Bull could live upwards of 6 hours with a hit like that, especially if pushed.  Go back to the last blood and start circling to find more blood.  If you did hit liver and a single lung, it will result in the animal dying.  I watched a whitetail buck I single lunged lie down 30 yards from my tresstand one time and keep his head up for over an hour before expiring, if I'd tried crawling down, he would have busted out of there. A single lung hit will most likely kill them, but it takes a while.  Did you see how much penetration you had gotten?

The last thing that needs to be said on this site is casting aspersions towards archery hunters and lost animals.  That only leads to infighting between hunters and is probably one of the single biggest threats to hunting in general.    By my saying this, do not think for one minute that I enjoy hearing about lost and wounded animals.

[Gobble]

From what you've said with the dark blood and some blood with bubbles in it, it sounds more like what Bucklucky said, most likely a liver and single lung shot.  Bull could live upwards of 6 hours with a hit like that, especially if pushed.  Go back to the last blood and start circling to find more blood.  If you did hit liver and a single lung, it will result in the animal dying.  I watched a whitetail buck I single lunged lie down 30 yards from my tresstand one time and keep his head up for over an hour before expiring, if I'd tried crawling down, he would have busted out of there. A single lung hit will most likely kill them, but it takes a while.  Did you see how much penetration you had gotten?

The last thing that needs to be said on this site is casting aspersions towards archery hunters and lost animals.  That only leads to infighting between hunters and is probably one of the single biggest threats to hunting in general.    By my saying this, do not think for one minute that I enjoy hearing about lost and wounded animals.

Agree 100%   

[GoldTip]

No shot from where I was at directed at his vitals.  He was visible but I did not have an opening from my treestand.  From where I was I could see he looked plenty alert enough to get up if I tried crawling down from my treestand.  I also could see the blood trail in the snow from where he was standing when I shot, to close to where he was lying down.  I did not know that the entry angle of the shot was so steep that it only caught one lung until he had died and I gutted him out.

[jackelope]

The last thing that needs to be said on this site is casting aspersions towards archery hunters and lost animals.  That only leads to infighting between hunters and is probably one of the single biggest threats to hunting in general.    By my saying this, do not think for one minute that I enjoy hearing about lost and wounded animals.

this is probably the most logical thing i have heard said on this site in months.
some people amaze me.

[M_ray]

The last thing that needs to be said on this site is casting aspersions towards archery hunters and lost animals.  That only leads to infighting between hunters and is probably one of the single biggest threats to hunting in general.    By my saying this, do not think for one minute that I enjoy hearing about lost and wounded animals.

Myy thoughts exactly ... all methods even rifle hunters loose animals!

[Intruder]

The last thing that needs to be said on this site is casting aspersions towards archery hunters and lost animals.  That only leads to infighting between hunters and is probably one of the single biggest threats to hunting in general.    By my saying this, do not think for one minute that I enjoy hearing about lost and wounded animals.

this is probably the most logical thing i have heard said on this site in months.
some people amaze me.

+1 !

I will add that for those of us who do bow hunt we need to hold ourselves to the highest standards when taking shots.  I'm in no way implying huntingnut acted irresponsibly.... just that the we all need to understand that it's a different ball game w/ a bow and that there are negative preceptions about bow huntin. 

I hope that comes off the right way... no casting aspersions intended!!!! 

[Slenk]

The last thing that needs to be said on this site is casting aspersions towards archery hunters and lost animals.  That only leads to infighting between hunters and is probably one of the single biggest threats to hunting in general.    By my saying this, do not think for one minute that I enjoy hearing about lost and wounded animals.

this is probably the most logical thing i have heard said on this site in months.
some people amaze me.

 

[bucklucky]

+1

[ICEMAN]

A touchy subject.

Casting aspersions? An aspersion is a false or misleading charge meant to harm someone's reputation. I really dont think that anyone here is trying to mislead or to harm anyones reputation, from either side of this discussion.

As a rifle hunter, I personally do not see as many animals lost after a shot. In our hunt group, only one confirmed lost animal with blood on the ground in thirty years. In general, I am sure it happens..... I just have not personally seen much of it.

The process of harvesting an animal is way different with a bow. Follow up shots seem seldom, shots at range are near impossible, and/or ineffective. The Bow versus rifle discussion will always carry on. Can't hide it under the rug...

It is always sickening when an animal is lost. Some of us rifle hunters have less experience with the bow hunters process of taking game, and do feel a bit shocked when we hear of game lost when significantly wounded.

[uncoolperson]

dang someone already made it... (scratch another great idea that's already been made.... someday i'll make my millions)
any of you bow hunters look into something like this
http://www.turkeyhuntingsecrets.com/store/store-recovery-trackmaster-system.htm

would this be legal in washington?

[Dakota Dogman]

I know he will be busy today, but anybody near him feel like going grouse hunting?   

God Bless

[cackle]

would this be legal in washington?

dont think any electronics are legal on archery equipment in wash think the luminoks are ever illeagal

[huntnphool]

Any word if he found the bull yesterday?

[Frank1949]

I happen on this web site while looking for hunting in Washington. I had read this account with intrest. SUre hope he finds the elk. Just trying to find on my map where is located.

[huntnphool]

Hi Frank, welcome to the site

[Frank1949]

Thanks

[Backstraps]

Shawn, I sure hope you found that bull!

[NoBark]

OK wrangler, just to make you feel good,  rifle hunters never wound or loose an animal. they are such good shots and always use more than enough gun to do the job.  Heck, the bull always just falls where it's shot.  At least archers retrieve the arrow and check for sign. Most rifle guys just assume they miss and move on.
Of course the archery harvest is so low the game dept. doesn't even consider them a useful management tool.


Phewwww!  feel good now?


Here's my point. whether archery of gun, follow up and if it's a mortal shot and you know the animal will die whether you find it or not. EAT TAG!

[LongTatLaw]

Last year I shot my 5x5 bull twice in the boiler room... one half shaft penetration on barried to the knock...he dumped gallons and gallons of blood and still made it about 3 miles.

I looked sun up to down for 8 days... He finally was found but thats a different story! Stay after it buddy. Do the on ur knees crawl for a day...then do the grid walk for a day...then do the terrain analysis (guess what a dying elk would do).

Stay after it buddy...!

Rifle versus bow... different sport! stupid to debate! shot placement always important... follow up and dedication after the shot very important... that said...   I have no interest in hunting elk with a gun... just deer bear and anything else...elk are bow for life for me!

[Crunchy]

Ive had more luck following the elk's track than blood.  Of course blood is choice one, but they dont always bleed.  Ive tracked three elk some 50-60 yards each with just their tracks and found all three.  None of them bleed more than a few drops.

[saylean]

Any luck finding the elk? Just wanted to check.

Sorry to hear for bout the loss by the way.

[huntingnut]

I'm sorry to way that we never found the Elk. We searched for two more days hard and hunted the area for the remainder watching for any thing.I only hunted for this bull but still had hopes of getting my dad and brother on one. I have learned a lot from this lose. This was my first archery kill, and it has made me second quess everything about the shot. It was a broadside uphill shot. It may have been at the limit of my comfort zone but not beyond. It still makes me sick to know that I didn't recover the animal. Thanks for all of the support, sorry for the sad ending.

[nw_bowhunter]

Sorry to see you were not able to locate the bull. What a bummer for you first kill. Don't give up on archery, practice and stay with it. Tracking can be very difficult even with the best shot. Animals do their best to hide and not be found. My first year I lost an animal and punched my tag. I was frustrated but with some good support from the guy who introduced me I was able to learn from the experience.

[huntingnut]

I concider my tag punched, I'm going to try to up this weekend and see if maybe some birds will give me an area to look in. Maybe I can salvage the horns and give him some recognition for living that long.

[uncoolperson]

Even if he didn't end up on your plate, he fed lots of other things... still a good cause.

[NoBark]

Huntinnut,  my hat is off to you!  A lot of guys would simply figure they would go shoot another one. 

You have set high standards for yourself and, in my opinion, are an example to the bowhunting community.

[Wea300mag]

I'm with NoBark 110%, you are a "true" hunter for considering your tag notched. I am truely sorry you couldn't recover it.

[M_ray]

  I'll agree with others that this is something that most won't do! I liver shot a little buck one year in the Klickitat with tmike and after 6 hrs of searching I was NOT going to keep hunting! I told him I'm either finding this guy or I'm done for the year!!!! My story turned out a bit better as I found him but as others have said like longtat did, stay after it! it's easy to get discouraged and quit. It ended up that I had to think like the animal and look around and I asked myself "If I were hurt where would I go?" With to many fresh tracks and no blood to follow I just walked the path of least resistance through the woods and ended up walking right up to him suffering in his bed and I was able to put him out ... not trying to rub that in just giving you something else to think about, I too have a couple that turned out your way as well and thats how I came to think of this tactic as a last chance try ... I have also had a Buck jump the trail it was on get in a creek bed and double back on his back track and was found close to where he was shot! It's almost like he knew he was goning to send me out on this wild goose chase 300 to 400 yards in one direction and he would be safe back where it all started. Good luck!

[rosscrazyelk]

Sorry I did not read this earlier I could of helped. I was over that way .. I had no idea. Guess I need to look harder next time. I had a friend shoot a buck I was trying to get this weekend and He cant find it. makes me sick . My advise now is to look for crows.