Cow elk found

[lee]

Greet'uns,

While out hunt'un during the Muzzleloading season in the Bumping Lake unit I came across the remains of a cow that had been shot during the archery season. The arrow was found in the remains. This cow had an ear tag and also a yellow collar. I recorded the ear tag number and the collar number and reckon I should call it in so the F&G folks can take her out of the books.

It happens but is still a darn shame ta see game get lost. One of the 9 hunters in our group shot a cow and never recovered her either. Lost the blood trail.

Lee

[NW-Eric]

that sucks, its a shame to see waste like that.

[X-Force]

Thats a shame...

[Dave Workman]

I beg to differ.
It's not a "shame."

It's disgusting.
It's an outrage.

Some years ago a guy gut shot this big bull I had been scouting. He used a muzzleloader and didn't recover the bull.
A week later, another hunter happened along, found the bull in a very bad way, maggots working on its belly wound..the bull was still alive.
This guy finished the animal and salvaged what meat he could. 

if you're going to hunt with a bow or front stuffer, you need to be able to hit that animal hard and track it. If it takes all night.

I watched one of those crummy television shows with some hot$H!T bow "expert" who shot an elk at about 15 yards, and the animal got away and he didn't recover it.  'Oh, well, I hate it when that happens" was kind of his reaction. And they televised that! 

[JoeVon]

if you're going to hunt with a bow or front stuffer, you need to be able to hit that animal hard and track it. If it takes all night.

Ok...I'll bite.
I suppose that Rifle hunters don't fit into this catergory?  The way you talk, Rifle hunters don't lose animals....Bull *censored*.  I'll say it.

[bigbeamhunter]

here about alot of rifle hunters do the same thinking they can shoot 500 yds and say oh i missed when it ran off .but did they. im not picking on rifle hunters so dont yell at me but things happen and we should all do our best to find what we shoot

[bow4elk]

Boys, this is a highly contentious topic, and it's easy to point fingers.  But we are in the business of trying to hunt and kill animals by way of our chosen means - bow, black powder, shotgun, rifle.  It's a fact that there will be losses.  It's ignorant to believe otherwise.  Let's not fight about it here.

Let's chose to govern our own individual actions with the highest code of field ethics first and foremost.  Then let's help those around us how to adopt them by setting a solid example.  And finally, when we hear of an animal lost, let's not rush to judge and make blanket statements.  This is futile and provides ZERO value to anyone.  If there's an opportunity to help someone out, then let's lace up the boots, grab a light and hit the woods.  If it's too late, let's reflect on the situation and learn from it.

Anyone who thinks they are above others, please turn your frustration into helping people instead of bashing them or their chosen means to hunt.

Having said all that, YES - We all have a responsibiity to only take ethical shots that are well within our personal abilities.  And we must be smart about anatomy, shot placement, tracking, field care and rocovery methods.  And we must do everything in our power to recover a hit animal, even if it means tagging a spoiled carcass.

I think Aldo Leupold sums it up pretty well:

"A particular virtue of wildlife ethics is that the hunter ordinarily has no gallery to applaud or disapprove of his acts, they are dictated by his own conscience, rather than a mob of onlookers. It is difficult to exaggerate the importance of this fact."

Aldo Leopold-Sand County Almanac


I don't know what else that can be said. 

[Little Fish]

I think you summed it up pretty well bow4elk. Thanks.

[NoBark]

Until your Adolph quote I was gonna tell Dave to get off the high horse.  People of all three weapon groups wound and loose animals.

The point is, we all have responsibility to the animal to make a clean, swift kill.  Showing distaste for anything else is good for the peer pressure affect but too much of it isn't good.

Let's all take this as a reminder to be sure we are efficient with our choice and to not 'stretch' our capabilities when the opportunity arises.

[bankwalker]

I beg to differ.
It's not a "shame."

It's disgusting.
It's an outrage.

Some years ago a guy gut shot this big bull I had been scouting. He used a muzzleloader and didn't recover the bull.
A week later, another hunter happened along, found the bull in a very bad way, maggots working on its belly wound..the bull was still alive.
This guy finished the animal and salvaged what meat he could. 

if you're going to hunt with a bow or front stuffer, you need to be able to hit that animal hard and track it. If it takes all night.

I watched one of those crummy television shows with some hot$H!T bow "expert" who shot an elk at about 15 yards, and the animal got away and he didn't recover it.  'Oh, well, I hate it when that happens" was kind of his reaction. And they televised that! 

that above all attitude is what gives certain groups of people a bad name. every time you shoot an animal there is a 50/50 chance you are gonna lose it. a perfect shot doesnt mean a perfect kill. there is only so much a person can do to find an animal. searching for a wounded animal for days and days is just rediculous. a wounded elk can live for days maybe even weeks, and travel extreme distances when pushed by hunters tracking it and other hunters who just might happen close enough to the wounded animal to spook it.

a few years ago my buddie shot a doe. ended up breaking its front leg and getting one lung. we never found that doe in 2 days of looking. tracked blood for 500 yards and it just stopped.
a few days later we seen some crows and ravens along a road side ditch about 1 mile away and sure enough there was his doe with his arrow still in her.

[bow4elk]

that above all attitude is what gives certain groups of people a bad name. every time you shoot an animal there is a 50/50 chance you are gonna lose it. a perfect shot doesnt mean a perfect kill. there is only so much a person can do to find an animal. searching for a wounded animal for days and days is just rediculous. a wounded elk can live for days maybe even weeks, and travel extreme distances when pushed by hunters tracking it and other hunters who just might happen close enough to the wounded animal to spook it. [/quote]

I respectfully disagree with this for a couple reasons.  1. 50/50 odds means you don't have a shot.  A well-placed bullet, slug, or arrow will dispatch any big game animal in North America in seconds.  Only the hunter can decide to shoot or hold off.  2. proper tracking/trailing skills are required.  Pushing wounded game is the wrong approach.  Waiting several hours and even overnight will serve you far better in recovering animals with marginal hits.

Not trying to nit-pick...

[bankwalker]

that above all attitude is what gives certain groups of people a bad name. every time you shoot an animal there is a 50/50 chance you are gonna lose it. a perfect shot doesnt mean a perfect kill. there is only so much a person can do to find an animal. searching for a wounded animal for days and days is just rediculous. a wounded elk can live for days maybe even weeks, and travel extreme distances when pushed by hunters tracking it and other hunters who just might happen close enough to the wounded animal to spook it.

I respectfully disagree with this for a couple reasons.  1. 50/50 odds means you don't have a shot.  A well-placed bullet, slug, or arrow will dispatch any big game animal in North America in seconds.  Only the hunter can decide to shoot or hold off.  2. proper tracking/trailing skills are required.  Pushing wounded game is the wrong approach.  Waiting several hours and even overnight will serve you far better in recovering animals with marginal hits.

Not trying to nit-pick...
[/quote]

yeah that is true for the most part isnt it.

alot of times waiting a few hours or ever night to track an animal is not an option. weather plays a huge factor. in your words with good shot placement an animal should be dead in a matter of seconds. so there is absolutely no need to wait a couple hours or over night to look for your animal.

a perfect shot does not mean a perfect kill. you can place that bullet, slug, arrow right in the sweet spot but that does not mean that animal is going down. it could drop in its tracks or live a days. a animal with a single lung hit can live for quite a while making any finding them that much harder no matter how well of a tracker you are.

what happens if you wait a couple hours, or over night. it rains that night and all sign, tracks, or blood is washed away. or its hot and your animal spoils.

i always have and always will jump at the chance to help fellow hunters when tracking animals. nothing hurts more then to lose an animal. and i have found some animals hit in places they shouldnt have been hit, and animals that have been right in the boiler room that when farther then they should have.

the drive to live makes these animals very strong. what would kill us in a split second wouldnt stop a deer or elk etc etc.

example. 4 years ago in vail i sat and watched a young ladie shoot a doe 3 times in the head. i seen brains blow out the backside of the does head. there was never a drop of blood, and after 4 hours the ladie and her family never found that animal. 1 shot to the head should have dropped that deer dead in its tracks?

and ill stand by my comments about that above all attitude. those people who get mad, and down talk anyone who fails to find an animal is beyond full of them selves. they are always they are always the first to start making excuses when they lose an animal. IT HAPPENS. not ever shot is perfect, not every animal dies that gets hit no matter how perfect your shot is. if you lose an animal its sucks.ive lost 2 elk, and 2 deer and 1 cougar in 12 years and ill be the first to admit 3 of them were due to poor shot choice (angles and such) although the arrows went where they should have. but ive learned from each lost animal what i did wrong and wont make those mistakes again.

[backyard bucks]

I have hunted with the main 3 weapons of choice in this state and in all of those i have come across people who have claimed to have shot at an animal and since it "RAN OFF" they took it upon themselves to figure they flat out missed and never checked for blood.
it is the responsibility of the individual who takes a shot at an animal to make sure that animal isn't hit in any way.
that being said no group is beyond someone loosing a game animal due to bad shot or even a great shot but end up loosing a blood trail for some reason.(weather or others pushing the game) all we can do is our best to find that animal and when we think we will never find it, take a deep breath and look a bit more for it.

[bow4elk]

Yes - agree that ridicule is not productive.  I stated that above.  Education is productive.  Experience is only gained by doing, and it's the "doing" that can and will go wrong at times.

I'm a IBEP/NBEF instructor, WDFW, and former ODFW hunter eduction certified instructor.  I've spend a lot of time talking to hunters about the "perfect" shot that resulted otherwise, guns, muzzleloaders, and rifles.  I'm not calling anyone a liar but in my own personal experience, when I've put my arrow in the kill zone of any animal I've taken, they go down quickly.  I have seen heart-shot whitetails run upwards of 200 yards before piling up in a full-speed collapse.  For some reason, heart shot animals tend to "panic" more and sprint to the death.  Lung shot deer tend to run, pause, stumble, fall over.  Just something I've noticed after years of field notes.  I've also been humbled by animals I thought I hit really well, when upon locating them I see clearly that my arrow was a tad further back, for example.  I think this is a common occurance in general.  People get excited and are fooled into thinking every hit is a "perfect" hit.  I now shoot bright fletching to ensure I can see where my arrows hit.  I think this is one of the most important tips for bowhunters.  Knowing where you hit an animal, and having a very well-tuned knowledge of anatomy is paramount.  And there's really no excuse for not learning the basics for the game we pursue.

[Ray]

rifle hunters do the same thinking they can shoot 500 yds and say oh i missed

  you got that right.