Think I might hang up my bow for the season...

[LoganOregon]

So I'm writing this because I need to vent and hear some opinions.  Before I start my story I'll tell you a bit abiut me. I'm 23 years old. Been around hunting all my life and been hunting since I legally could at 12 so I know what I am doing. This is my 3rd year bowhunting. I shoot quite a bit so I am confident in my shooting, I shoot pretty well out to about 70 yards. But wouldn't shoot more than probably 50 in the woods. I know that some of you will probably give me a hard time about this, but most true hunters will understand and know that things happen. This year I have a brand new hoyt carbon spyder turbo at 70 lbs and 29.5" draw length. Shooting easton FMJ 340's, and I decided to try G5 Montec broadheads this year.

I'll try to make this quick and somewhat short and if anyone has questons I will answer them as best I can.

2 days ago I was driving up the road to go to a spot where I had a big 5x5 at 100 yards that morning. It was 330 in the afternoon and I spotted a smaller 5x5 bull standing out on the edge of a clearcut off the main road. So I backed up behind the timber, got all my stuff on and quickly snuck up through the timber closer to him. Cow called a little bit and hear branches breaking, then see him coming my way. Came to a stop at 42 yards, held my 40 pin on his vitals and let it fly, pretty sure my arrow clipped a tiny fir branch right before him and took the arrow a bit left right into his shoulder, did not look like much penetration. He turned an ran, then slowly wandered off. I stayed put for about an hour and waited for a buddy to come help. Started looking and there was nothing for about 40 yards and then found a little blood. Then where he stopped for a minute, there was a lot of great bright red blood all over the leaves and ferns but no bubbles in it. That lasted about 25 feet then he jumped over a fallen tree and after that blood was very sparse and hard to find. He went into some timber where underneath was all needles and a hint of moss. I was on my hands and knees searching and searching and only found a few tiny specks of blood then nothing and we lost his tracks and don't know where he went. Came back the next day so I had 4 different people helping and searching all over the area and found nothing in about 6 hours of looking. I felt terrible but there was nothing else I could do.
 So the next day (yesterday) I decide to go after the big bull I had seen 2 mornings ago. No luck with him but right before dark I came to this newer clearcut that's only a few months old, sat on the edge of the road and cow called, scanning the cut with my binos I spot a different 5x5 staring down at me about 200-250 yards away. He bugled and kinda hangs out over there.so I wait til he gets behind a stump and I move back a bit so I am out of his sight. I'm still just sitting off the edge of the road in the grass. Bugle to him and he starts coming right down towards me. So I start ranging things all around me. He crosses the road at 115 yards and let's out a bugle/chuckle and keeps walking up towards just on the other side of the road. Finally he is in range and stops at about 40 yards and I let one fly, making sure to aim a little bit back and not to hit the shoulder. Hit him pretty good but a little high in the ribs behind the shoulder, about mid body maybe a touch higher but I notice my arrow only penetrated about half way.  Wtf!? So he runs a little ways and then starts walking off with my arrow sticking out of him. By then it was starting to get dark so I made the choice to leave him alone til this morning to look for him.
 So this morning a buddy meets up with me and we go out right at daylight and begin searching for blood. It is a newer clearcut so it was all branches and sticks and logs and dirt, which made it very very hard to find blood and there were fresh tracks everywhere so following his were very difficult. He was not bleeding very bad either so it was a long back and forth process losing it several times. We pretty much gave up on blood and went into the timber and searched nearly everywhere in there, fresh sign and rubs and beds everywhere, but no elk and no blood. Then randomly my buddy finds my arrow broken off right at the timberline. Blood on the arrow to about the halfway point and about 6" plus the broadhead were broken off inside him still yet he managed to go 400 yards through the clearcut and who knows how far into the timber. But zero blood on the ground after the arrow. several sets of tracks going in the timber, then tons of tracks everywhere. Making it near impossible to know where he went. We searched all around in there busting brush for 6 hours with no luck. I even brought my friends jack russel terrier who is always hunting down critters in there in hopes that he could track it. But no luck either. I feel I did the best I could given the circumstances and the situation. I'm certain that most people would not have even made it as far as we did. The blood spots were so sparse and hard to find.

So anyways here I am. Back home. Feeling like complete *censored*. I don't understand how this could happen to me twice in 3 days. I basically feel like giving up and calling it a season. I have a heart and feel terrible for the elk. I am going to set up 2 trail cameras in the area to see if maybe he is still alive. I think I will be getting rid of these broadheads and never using them again. But i'm curious. What would you guys do in my situation? Would you give up or continue hunting? I just don't know what to do at this point.

[HUNTINCOUPLE]

Stay positive and keep hunting that area where you stuck the bullls. You will probably bump into them again and get another shot.

[SeaRun1]

That's tough.  At least you care.  Many people wouldn't even give it much thought until they had an animal down. 

Honestly I think you are the only one that can make that decision. 

SR1

[BOWHUNTER45]

What pound bow are you shooting and broad heads ? That's to bad but unfortunately it happens and it happens with rifles too .

[shorthair15]

i would go back to the area after thing's calmed down a bit you may run into him again. im sure you have a sick feeling in your gut but if it was me i would continue looking until ive did everything possible. good luck hope you find him. never shot g5 montec's before. so i cant comment on them.

[Eli346]

 I had a friend wound one a few years ago. I don't remember the shot placement as I wasn't there. He couldn't find it after searching for 2 days. He came back a week later and called a bull in and got it. He realized it was the one he shot a week earlier. Keep trying. It sucks to wound one but things happen. You may still run into one of these.

[Mike450r]

I would continue to hunt that area.   1.  You know there are elk there.   2.  You might still find one or both of those elk alive or dead and still hang a tag on the antlers.   If dead,  I recommend plugging your nose.

[LoganOregon]

Bowhunter45 I noted those both in my story but I realize it's a lot to read. Carbon spyder turbo at 70lbs.  G5 Montec broadheads. I will be going back to shuttle T's though. I will keep hunting the area and hopefully I run into him again, the other bull was about a mile and a half to 2 miles away. I work graveyard the next 4 nights so my hunting will be very limited this week. :/

[BOWHUNTER45]

  I have a bad habit of skipping lines when I read . Those are good broad heads ... But I like the 100 gr Wasp Boss...they are bad news on bone ...I killed a couple with the 75 gr and 85 gr and 100 gr .. and they all done the same ..but I have been sticking with the 100 gr the last few years ...Good luck 

[Crunchy]

Im a slick trick guy.  Shot this bull with 125 head broadside at 30 yds.  He only went 10 yards and tipped over.  This is the exit side.

[724wd]

a high hit on an elk leaves A LOT of room for blood in the body cavity.  and i'll be honest, after using montecs, i found their blood trail very poor.  bummer, but it happens.  had a similar situation happen with deer and a rifle when i was younger.  hit one opening day and lost it and one the last day and lost it.  it SUCKS, but giving up sucks, too.  i'd keep hunting the area and hope to stumble across one of them.  best of luck! 

[idahohuntr]

Logan- on your second bull, how far from where you hit him were you able to track?  A few years ago I was videoing a buddy of mine on a hunt and I had a perfect view of a shot he made on a bull at about 30 yards...absolutely perfect, maybe 6 inches higher than I would have liked but still definite double lung.  Arrow did not pass through and so the hole on one side was "plugged" with an arrow shaft and the higher hit left lots of room for blood to stay in body cavity.  We found 0 blood...and could not find the elk either...pretty thick country.  A week later we did find him dead, he had gone close to a quarter of a mile from where he was shot.  If you had a gps you may want to try and grid search using a 1/4-1/2 mile or more as your search area from where you shot    If meat is already spoiled maybe wait a week and search the area...crows/predators/smell will all make it easier to find him and see exactly what happened if he died, which is little solace but at least then you can see exactly what happened, how far he went etc.

Either way, sounds like you've got the right attitude and it is definitely just one of those things that can happen to the best of em...don't let it get you down too much.

[lamrith]

Bowhunter45 I noted those both in my story but I realize it's a lot to read. Carbon spyder turbo at 70lbs.  G5 Montec broadheads. I will be going back to shuttle T's though. I will keep hunting the area and hopefully I run into him again, the other bull was about a mile and a half to 2 miles away. I work graveyard the next 4 nights so my hunting will be very limited this week. :/

May seem odd with a new broadhead, but did you sharpen the Montecs?  I have read a few places that they need some sharpening out of the box to be razor sharp.

Keep your chin up, and keep looking.  I was helper on a AZ elk rifle hunt a number of years ago.  Solid hit on the animal @ 200+yrds. in the snow.  Thank GOD for the snow as she did not put out a drop of blood for 100yrds.  Then it was a matter of following the tracks, but the only places she left blood was where she would bed down for a min.  Followed her a solid mile before she broke treeline and the second half of our party put her down.  These are tough animals.

[Houndhunter]

Seen a bull lost with montecs last year and I've seen a few deer killed with em, I wouldn't use them for elk. Fly great but don't hold up good 

[erk444]

  Not sure why, but I have heard this many times when montecs are involved They look like awesome heads so its wierd