Tracking Wounded Elk

[JPhelps]

In my elk hunting seminar this weekend I talked about tracking elk as being the last step in being successful.  After some discussion with some attendees I decided I will post what goes through my head while tracking.

Before the Shot: Use the sharpest broadheads possible.

Seeing the shot:  If hunting with archery equipment shooting with both eyes open will allow you to see the hit better.  I want to see how the animal reacts.  I try to see how much penetration I got with my arrow.  Remember the location where the animal was standing.  Listen to the noise(s) made as the animal runs off.

Wait: I then wait the 30 minutes (unless there are special circumstances).

Examine the area where the animal was standing.  What general direction was the animal heading after the shot?  Pick up blood.  I use the shot placement along with blood to get an idea on elevation of the hit, entry and exit, etc...

I then began blood trailing.  I always keep track of last blood especially if the going gets tough (not much blood).  On multiple occasions I have had animals switch directions on me.

Keep track of the general direction the animal is heading.  If you can't find blood within a few yards of last blood go back and re-evaluate.  BE CAREFUL BECAUSE YOU CAN DAMAGE EVIDENCE BY BEING CARELESS.  Getting on your hands and knees may be necessary and examine every leaf, blade of grass, shrub, etc.... along the path.  Look for broken sticks, broken ferns, grass pushed the wrong way, etc...

If no blood can be found a good rule of thumb is that a wounded animal typically heads down hill and the direction it was heading is a good start.

Using a "grid" search may be necessary if blood is lost.  Look for blood on all the major animal trails.

In my experience, If you are on blood an animal usually starts to slow down and bleed more before the end of the trail.

We owe it to the animals we hunt to give it everything we have to recover that animal after we have put an arrow or bullet in them.

Is there anything else some of you do while tracking?

[Bob33]

Mark where you shot from, particularly for longer rifle shots. If you cannot find blood where you thought the animal was, you may need to go back to where you shot from and find better landmarks to start the search from.

[Tbar]

Where was your seminar? I would have liked to go.....

[huntnnw]

having a GPS has helped me in the past and 1 was just last season..using trace your steps..it can help a ton to cover a area in a grid search in thick cover and be able to see what you havent walked and where to head next.

I also use flagging tape to mark blood on tough trails

[JLS]

If there is no blood, look for patterns in disturbances.  Oftentimes you can't see the tracks, but if you look closely you can see disturbances in the duff that have a pattern to them and you can develop a "line" per se.   This helped me find an elk a couple of years ago.  Followed the line, hit a game trail, and quickly found more blood.

I like to follow the blood trail off on one side so that I am not disturbing it.

[idahohuntr]

Definitely have flagging and use it!  Its cheap but can be priceless in helping re-create the scene.  In the excitement of the hunt you can quickly forget important details.  I like to mark exactly where I shot from, where the animal was standing, and then any blood or other sign as I am tracking.  Many times when i look back along a well flagged blood trail i can get a much clearer picture of where the animal is headed. 

The biggest mistake I have seen is when guys think the recovery is going to be easy, they don't mark anything and they wander over to where they thought they heard the animal fall and there is no elk...then they go back and start trying to piece everything together and it's a lot tougher. 

[DoubleJ]

Definitely have flagging and use it!  Its cheap but can be priceless in helping re-create the scene.  In the excitement of the hunt you can quickly forget important details.  I like to mark exactly where I shot from, where the animal was standing, and then any blood or other sign as I am tracking.  Many times when i look back along a well flagged blood trail i can get a much clearer picture of where the animal is headed. 

The biggest mistake I have seen is when guys think the recovery is going to be easy, they don't mark anything and they wander over to where they thought they heard the animal fall and there is no elk...then they go back and start trying to piece everything together and it's a lot tougher. 

I have about 4 dozen of these:
http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/product/3-2022514?utm_source=GoogleShopping&utm_medium=organic&sa=X&ei=B-J3UYOqAYKGjAKsj4FA&ved=0CD0Q-RIwCA

Invaluable.  A definate must have

[deerhunter_98520]

One thing i have found out with deer and would assume elk would do the same thing is they take the path with the least resistance or easiest path possible.....i shot a 3 pt years back that had a 10ft long blood trail and there was no other sign of him...there was about 6 trails leading away from his bed so i got on the easiest trail to travel and found him 100yds away laying alongside a fallen log with his head down trying to hide and was still alive but not going anywhere....also they will head towards water when injured

[Bucks2Ducks]

Good thread, thanks Jason! Try and remember to always stay as confident and calm as possible, I've had Elk that were shot great and didn't hardly loose any blood yet were piled up within 100 yards of the shot. The worst ones that I've had to track were in the rain and surrounded by several elk, taking it very slow and consistently flagging have made the difference for me.

[Elkpiss]

I agree with most your tactics, however i feel 30 minutes is not enough time unless you see the elk drop right in front of you... Even though it may be dead in 5 minutes, the worse thing you can do on tracking an elk after the hit and i mean the worse thing is kick him up out of his bed..  My motto is when in doubt back out, give the elk time to die so you don't kick it up.. "weather permitting"..  And i totally agree with you on knowing where you hit the elk "shot placement", it just irritates the piss out of me as the caller asking the shooter "where did you hit it at" "I DONT KNOW, THE AAROW WAS GOING TO FAST"...    I think well chit, then i well error on caution and back out...  That's a reason i think fast bows are over rated, its not all about feet per second, i try and slow my arrows down now and use heavier equipment so i can see my meat missile make contact...    We hunt the same crap hole country side so you take the words right out of my mouth most of the time with all your advice... keep it up on your elk tips bud!.. spot on!..

and my last tip or advice, " DONT BE AFRAID TO BACK OUT, BE PAITENT IF NEED BE!!! DONT BUMP YOUR ANIMAL, THE CAN RUN ALONG LONG LONG WAYS ON ADRENALINE WITH A FATAL HIT IF BUMPED OUT OF THERE DIEING BED!".......... 

[mrmoskillz]

Definitely have flagging and use it!  Its cheap but can be priceless in helping re-create the scene.  In the excitement of the hunt you can quickly forget important details.  I like to mark exactly where I shot from, where the animal was standing, and then any blood or other sign as I am tracking.  Many times when i look back along a well flagged blood trail i can get a much clearer picture of where the animal is headed. 

The biggest mistake I have seen is when guys think the recovery is going to be easy, they don't mark anything and they wander over to where they thought they heard the animal fall and there is no elk...then they go back and start trying to piece everything together and it's a lot tougher. 

I have about 4 dozen of these:
http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/product/3-2022514?utm_source=GoogleShopping&utm_medium=organic&sa=X&ei=B-J3UYOqAYKGjAKsj4FA&ved=0CD0Q-RIwCA

Invaluable.  A definate must have

You used those a couple years ago to help find my Son's deer.  Gut shot deer not leaving much blood and we had to let her lay overnight.  In the morning the little bit of blood that was there was now gone from the dew but your flags were still there.  Its the deer in my avitar.  Thanks again DoubleJ

[Johnb317]

I agree with Elkpiss in spades!  30 minutes isn't long enough unless you see him drop.    First Elk I got was an uphill shot... full pass through.... heard the hit, saw major blood splash  and watched him walk/stop/walk stop  (high country in the open).   Waited a couple hours to start tracking he lost lots of blood but managed to walk a long way... had I pushed him I may not have had meat in the freezer.

[jackmaster]

idk if this was mentioned but i always have a roll of orange lathe....ALWAYS... to me it is just as important as food, you can use for countless things, but it is awesome for ribboning a blood trail or any other kind of trail, i am to stubborn to use a gps because you gotta be a nasa scientist to figure that damn things out

[Labs07]

I use flagging ribbon to mark blood when I find it, it really helps extablish direction.  I also look on the underside of leaves and branches for blood, this works well for Elk when they are going through thick stuff.  Like others have said disturbances in the soil and other things help put the puzzle pieces together.
Your tracking on hands and knees has always seemed extreme to me but I had to do that with my WY cow last year to find first blood.

[rtspring]

Labs07. What would you know about tracking?  You shoot and they seem to die in their tracks!!! Ha.  Love it

[BULLBLASTER]

If I lose blood and track's sometimes I will just take a break right there and listen look and smell. I have found numerous bulls by smell alone. Always slow down! Never trail too fast.

[throttlejocky20]

I have yet to try it but a buddys old man told me about slightly daluted hydrogen peroxide in a spray bottle. If you loose the blood and cant find another drop mist the proxide in front of you and look for the foam. i was told it will foam up instantly even if the blood is almost completely washed away by rain.

[Elkpiss]

I have yet to try it but a buddys old man told me about slightly daluted hydrogen peroxide in a spray bottle. If you loose the blood and cant find another drop mist the proxide in front of you and look for the foam. i was told it will foam up instantly even if the blood is almost completely washed away by rain.

Good you brought that up, works good!...

[gaddy]

interesting, had never heard of that.

[JPhelps]

I guess I should have stated "I wait for 30 minutes until I go to the location where the animal was standing".  I then evaluate the blood trail, tracks, etc... and make my next decision based on what I see in the first 20 yards.  If I know it was a marginal hit I would wait 1-2 hours.

[Elkpiss]

I guess I should have stated "I wait for 30 minutes until I go to the location where the animal was standing".  I then evaluate the blood trail, tracks, etc... and make my next decision based on what I see in the first 20 yards.  If I know it was a marginal hit I would wait 1-2 hours.

 

 You got to assume were all retarded and only get what you write, paint the picture buddy!.. haha... I figured thats where you were going with that...   

And by the way, i went out this weekend huntin turks and the calls worked great, the reeds worked the best for me this weekend, it was wierd, they wouldnt hit the slate then i would hit them with the reed and they hammered it... close but no cigar, heading back over Monday!..

[Labs07]

LOL RT.....they do seem to fall over dead don't they?  The smoke pole sure put the stink on him last year!

[elk247]

I agree with most your tactics, however i feel 30 minutes is not enough time unless you see the elk drop right in front of you... Even though it may be dead in 5 minutes, the worse thing you can do on tracking an elk after the hit and i mean the worse thing is kick him up out of his bed..  My motto is when in doubt back out, give the elk time to die so you don't kick it up.. "weather permitting"..  And i totally agree with you on knowing where you hit the elk "shot placement", it just irritates the piss out of me as the caller asking the shooter "where did you hit it at" "I DONT KNOW, THE AAROW WAS GOING TO FAST"...    I think well chit, then i well error on caution and back out...  That's a reason i think fast bows are over rated, its not all about feet per second, i try and slow my arrows down now and use heavier equipment so i can see my meat missile make contact...    We hunt the same crap hole country side so you take the words right out of my mouth most of the time with all your advice... keep it up on your elk tips bud!.. spot on!..

and my last tip or advice, " DONT BE AFRAID TO BACK OUT, BE PAITENT IF NEED BE!!! DONT BUMP YOUR ANIMAL, THE CAN RUN ALONG LONG LONG WAYS ON ADRENALINE WITH A FATAL HIT IF BUMPED OUT OF THERE DIEING BED!".......... 

I'll agree and also add 1. Be quiet when tracking. No need to be shouting to your hunting partner "Blood over here!" You could bump an animal. 2nd be prepared for a follow up shot, keep a shooter near the front of the blood trail. It can be very helpful to have another set of eyes on a blood trail but never let someone jeopardize the recovery of your animal.

[MLHSN]

Thanks for the info.  This will be my first year hunting so I appreciate threads like this.

[Landowner]

Everyone has to figure their own way. 

Here's my way.  Wait a few minutes.  Then go hard after them. 

Same when you never got off a shot after seeing a herd moving ahead of you.  Go hard after them.  I've got back on elk a number of times that way.  Otherwise, kiss 'em goodbye.   
 

[Mudman]

It seems to me that they will often veer off or backtrack towards the end.  Follow blood slowly and dont disturb it.  Bears are tuff.  30 minutes double lung cow and she got up.  Then fell for good.  Ya never know.

[kentrek]

Everyone has to figure their own way. 

Here's my way.  Wait a few minutes.  Then go hard after them. 

Same when you never got off a shot after seeing a herd moving ahead of you.  Go hard after them.  I've got back on elk a number of times that way.  Otherwise, kiss 'em goodbye.   

hope this doesnt sound rude but im just curious, are you part of the "older generation" ?? and how your dad taught you ?? thats the style my dad an uncle go bout killing elk but there is def a trend with the "younger gen" to stop an wait 3/4 of a day just to walk up on a elk that died 5 minutes after the shot...everyone is different but i know when an elk is dead after ive shot it  i havent killed as many as some on here but for my age i feel pretty good bout saying that..im thinking confidence in your shot has to play a huge role in the amount of time one waits to go "after em" and im thinking this has changed with the younger gen

hope this makes sense lol

30 minutes double lung cow and she got up.  Then fell for good.  Ya never know.

with out a doubt,critters can do amazing things when so so close to death

[Landowner]

Yeah, I'm older than younger now. 

Mostly, I learned by hunting with characters who are just plain bad shots. 

I really don't care to pull the trigger anymore.  But it seems I'm inevitably in the middle of helping someone track one down.

[DeerThug]

Not archery but muzzle - I shot a cow a couple of years ago, sure that it was a good hit - rest for the shot and everything.  this was like right after sun up.   no blood nothing.  Went back to stand and just kept replaying it over and I knew that I hit her.  went back up to where she was a few more time and circled  and circled, still no blood.  finally it was later in the morning so i went back to where she was standing and just started making ever bigger circles.  Kept doing this till i was probably 250 yards away.  I was in a really thick patch of small fir trees about ready to give up again when my hand brushed up against a fir limb and i felt something wet... Blood...  from there is was little drops for a few yards then it got sparse.  More circles and I walked into her.   this was at about 12;30  Come to find out my 'good shot' was as about as poor as it could have been.  i hit her in the back legs above the knees but luckily got both arteries in both legs.

this elk started down hill but from what I could tell went across and then straight up for a long way then got weak then zig zagged.  There were no tracks or other signs to follow.

So 1) dont give up if you know you hit an animal
2) just dont look on the ground for blood - in may be waist high on a tree limb or over a log
3) look for the smallest of blood drops
4) dont give up..
5) put in the time it takes

[JPhelps]

A hunter also needs to be in GOOD ENOUGH SHAPE to give the animal the effort it deserves.  I have been with people that give up because the blood trail is getting further away from the truck or the animal is heading straight down.

Don't shoot if you aren't prepared to track through whatever terrain is around you.

[DOUBLELUNG]

I second using a GPS if you lose the blood; you would think you could do a tight spiral out from the last blood without one, you cant.  Also, don't put too much faith in conventional wisdom - if it's not working, try something different. 

My toughest - and most satisfying recovery:  At 10am I shot a bull at 42 yards.  I watched the arrow sink in right behind his shoulder - perfect double lung shot!  I had a plan to meet my partner for lunch, so marked the spot with flagging tape and headed to the rendezvous.  He had killed a bull too, so I went back to find mine. 

At the shot, he whipped around and ran back the way he came from, down into a drainage between trees.  I quickly found the back 10" of my arrow - with stomach content in the broken shaft!  WTF?  I was sure I'd seen the arrow enter; for it to hit stomach, he had to have wheeled before the shot, so the arrow entered where I saw, but angled back, not straight through the lungs.  Still confident he was dead, I proceeded downhill and began to search the drainage - nothing.  This area had so many elk, it was like a feedlot - tracks everywhere.

Baffled, I returned to the shot location.  I got down on hands and knees, and found pinpoint blood and flecked of bloody stomach content.  I began to work those out.  About 4 hours had passed, and with the sun behind me I could follow the tracks of this particular elk - they had a shine in the grass the older ones did not, and I occasionally found little bits of sign - each of which I marked with orange flagging.  Though gutshot, that elk went UP the ridge, crossing over into the next drainage.  I was still on hands and knees, after 260 yards on the GPS, heading down into the next drainage - I saw antlers bob in the aspens ahead of me.  He was bedded, and though his nose kept dropping, he was still alive.  There was a rimrock closer to him to my right, I removed my boots and stalked up onto the rimrock.

Despite my stealth, he was standing as I crested the rimrock, arrow nocked and ready to draw.  I could only see his pelvis and about 10" of his back in front; I drew, aimed to the side of the spine, and released.  The arrow sank to the fletchings forward of his pelvis; he shook like an electric current ran through him.  As I nocked a third arrow, he ran - I shot after him, and heard my arrow rattle through the aspens.

After 30 yards, i found my last arrow - 100% covered in bright red blood, I couldn't figure it out.  I followed the few sparse blood drops, and when I lost them, I used the GPS to circle out until I found another. It took a couple of hours to cover the 110 yards from the second site, and he was stone dead on his side. The second arrow was sticking partway out of his back, and the third shot, I discovered, had passed through his rear shank (calf if you prefer).

As Mr. Phelps stated, be in shape, be persistent, and don't let conventional knowledge of wounded animal behavior cloud your mind to the possibility your animal may not act like the majority.

Total time to recovery AFTER starting to track was 4 hours, in which time I covered 370 yards as the crow flies.  The first shot?  He had turned to nearly facing me in the time it took the arrow to reach him - it entered behind his shoulder but didn't pierce the ribcage until his 2nd to last rib - went through the rear of one lung, and penetrated the diaphragm and liver after passing through the rumen.

[billdo5]

I hope you wait longer than 30minutes on a big bull

[billythekidrock]

A hunter also needs to be in GOOD ENOUGH SHAPE to give the animal the effort it deserves.  I have been with people that give up because the blood trail is getting further away from the truck or the animal is heading straight down.

Don't shoot if you aren't prepared to track through whatever terrain is around you.

I agree.

[JPhelps]

I hope you wait longer than 30minutes on a big bull

I waited 42 minutes on last years archery Washington bull and 10 minutes on my Montana Rifle Bull.

On the Washington bull, I knew I had hit the bull in the heart, saw blood right off the bat, good blood trail, found my arrow (had 26" penetration), heard the bull crash, etc...  If all these things hadn't added up I would have waited longer.

[billdo5]

Yeah i just hate when u spook them out of the bed and they go on that death run

[brianmtsinc]

Some really good points on this thread.   

I ALWAYS have a small spray bottle of hydrogen peroxide in my pack.  It works GREAT!!   

My only other point is this:    It is better to wait then it is to hurry in and risk pushing a wounded animal.  Of course there are a couple of factors that may change this (weather ... other hunters in the area) but I never will understand people rushing in.  Most of the time it plays out just fine and they get their animals.  However, I have seen several cases where an animal was lost after being jumped out of it's bed - and I for one, won't risk that happening if it is my animal.  I have always taught my kids, "No harm can come from waiting, but harm can come from not being patient.   

[Bookworm007]

I would say waiting can be key. Of the three animals I have shot two dropped dead in their tracks, but one of them fell over after the shot and then got up and proceeded to walk away........

It was the first animal I had ever had to track and had very little experience. There was a ton of blood where I shot the Elk but no blood trail. I did not wait 30 minutes to start tracking and just started following tracks in the dirt. Ran into the herd of elk, but mine wasn't with it. So I figured it had dropped dead somewhere in between and I had missed it. Well I end up stumbling onto the elk, I had what looked like a solid shot that was still bleeding a little, but rather than marking the spot and letting nature take its course (like an idiot I had ditched my rifle since I was hiking to heck and gone) I pushed it and it took off like a bullet. I proceeded to run into another unit that I was not allowed to hunt. So even wounded these animals are extremely tough!

This is the animal I think about every time I pull the trigger now. Losing an animal is a terrible experience and I never want it to happen to me again.......... So keep your gun with you and be patient! Also having someone with you to act as a spotter is very helpful.

[blackhorn]

Little trick I discovered by chance is to look for hornet activity those suckers are great at finding blood.  Another helpfull tip, have a second person with the tracker for situational awareness.   

[billdo5]

U really didnt have your gun.....

[billdo5]

Also i believe there is a law that you can track it 250 yards into an area ur not suppose(like a refuge) to be or something to that matter...

[JLS]

Also i believe there is a law that you can track it 250 yards into an area ur not suppose(like a refuge) to be or something to that matter...

There is no law that authorizes this action.

[billdo5]

Are u sure because a guy i know shot a buck and it went into the refuge so he called the game department and they said he could track it a certain distance into the refuge... hmmm 

[h20hunter]

I've no idea of the legality but if I was tracking blood into an area like was mentioned I would think that the blood trail would be enough to show a warden to allow tracking. Hopefully....last thing a warden wants is a lost animal under those conditions.

[JLS]

Are u sure because a guy i know shot a buck and it went into the refuge so he called the game department and they said he could track it a certain distance into the refuge... hmmm 

The officer might have authorized it, but there is no law that allows for it.

[billdo5]

The officer is the law now a days lol

[Bookworm007]

U really didnt have your gun.....

Yeah I used my pack and rifle to mark where I made the original shot, and all I had was my side arm and was never close enough to feel comfortable taking a shot. I tracked it for over 2 miles in rough terrain and was not going to risk getting hunting rights revoked and rifle seized by crossing into another unit. Also I was already 2 miles behind a gate when I shot the animal so even if I got the 4 miles back to the gate and then to cell reception to get permission from an officer the animal would have been long gone into the next unit. Like I said I was inexperienced and going through that has made me be 110% sure that my shot will take the animal down where it stands.

[blackveltbowhunter]

Great thread! Lotsa great tips And any/or all can prove useful on a difficult track job. Couple things I would add.....

 1) As has been alluded to.... NEVER track without your weapon. I have seen this happen on more than one occasion and the frustrating thing is... its such an easy fix.

 2) Practice dry tracking!! This is huge IMO.... Look at the hoof print and measure the stride of the animal your trailing if possible. Make note of any defining characteristics, is the track overly large, or round, one toe shorter etc...... Wounds clot, and blood spore may become minimal. Rain will generally wash blood away long before tracks, so being able to follow tracks and being confident your on the right tracks is important.

  3) Try to keep you target animal separate if possible to do so.

  4) Patience, persistence and determination even when things look bleak is the ONLY attitude to have. But remember its trial and error..... and no amount of experience will ever change that. Animals will throw you curves, and even when you have done everything you possibly can correct and the sorrow of losing that animal sinks in.... learn what you can, and walk away with no regrets knowing you gave it every ounce of respect it was due.

 3)

   
   

[JPhelps]

 2) Practice dry tracking!! This is huge IMO.... Look at the hoof print and measure the stride of the animal your trailing if possible. Make note of any defining characteristics, is the track overly large, or round, one toe shorter etc...... Wounds clot, and blood spore may become minimal. Rain will generally wash blood away long before tracks, so being able to follow tracks and being confident your on the right tracks is important.

  4) Patience, persistence and determination even when things look bleak is the ONLY attitude to have. But remember its trial and error..... and no amount of experience will ever change that. Animals will throw you curves, and even when you have done everything you possibly can correct and the sorrow of losing that animal sinks in.... learn what you can, and walk away with no regrets knowing you gave it every ounce of respect it was due.

Just some more of my experience relating to blackvelthunter's advice.

2) a lot of times if hit near the front shoulders a wounded animals gate will be off.  Whether they are taking an abnormal stride or digging in one of their hooves differently.  This can be huge if the animal runs back through an area littered with tracks.

4) I hit my biggest blacktail to date in the neck (with a rifle and not on purpose).  He was bleeeding good out of both sides.  When all of a sudden the blood trail and brush breaking stopped.  Did he jump, Did he stop bleeding were some questions going through our head.  After an hour of gridding the direction the buck had been going we finally figured it out.  He came to that spot turned 180 and backtracked 30 yards before darting off and since he left such a good blood trail we never even thought that was what happened.  We were able to track him down shortly there after and put one more in him.

[throttlejocky20]

Longest tracking job i ever had was a neck shot animal. I will never take that shot again either i have the vitals or i have no shot!