That sinking feeling....

[moocher97]

Anybody get the case of "Coulda,Shoulda,Woulda? Well it happened last night. I was hiking up with my bike in an area I've seen bear sign before and i take this skirt road next to a big cliff kinda thing surrounded by reprod. anyway I'm making my way down seeing scat everywhere when i get to an opening and instantly see movement and pull out my gun and see the bear stand up but was surrounded by thick blackberries and could only see its head neck and top of the chest. Within 50 yards. i made a split second decision and raised up and shot it right in the neck dead on. I was more then confident with the shot. the bear dropped instantly and waited 5 seconds then took off across the road in front of me just out of sight behind a knob and b-lined it down the mountain. I listened to it crash down and from what i thought stopped about 100 yards down the hill.

GREAT!! i just shot my first bear and was shaking like a leaf on a tree. I waited about 15 minutes and walked to where i shot it at and found quite a bit of blood one spot it looked like a water bottle filled with blood poured out in a straight line with spray and more blood in the immediate area. and was thing the bear is definitely down. I packed up and rode down the mountain so i could tell the news an get more people to help track as it was nearing dark. We get back on where it crossed and headed down hill following consistent blood with ferns painted red every 5 or so feet. we make it 100 down the hill marking the same consistent blood when all of the sudden it stops... nada....zilch....it was 1:30am and felt like we made good progress and made the executive decision to call it a night and head back in the morning with the lingering feeling of hope and second guesses. after a night of no sleep at all i couldn't wait and we left the house at 5 and got back on the last known blood searching for that next drop to indicate a direction. still....nothing.....we fanned out and searched every nook and cranny within 30 yards of the blood and still nothing. the bear just disappeared. we searched all day in the surrounding area boonie stomping through the thickest brush you'd ever see hoping to maybe see or a whiff of the bear. it got dark and we headed out with 20/20 hind sight vision and just the most ugly, distraught, terrible....sinking feeling....

What do you guys think happened to the bear? Im 99.99% percent sure i wont find it because we searched the hell out of 200 yard radius with not another drop of blood....Any more info or insight to what might have happened would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again. Another night of not much sleep.

notes****
1. Did not hear death moan after 20 minutes of waiting
2. The last drop of blood was 20 yards away from a road
3. Made consistent downhill or side hill movement heading towards a creek drainage 250 yards away
4. Definitely was living in the area because sign was everywhere!

[JakeLand]

Keep searching! They will try and " bury" themselves under logs and thick stuff at the road you speak of look for scuff marks .keep fanning out and get more help
 Good luck !  Jake

[csaaphill]

Could it of been like a clean through shot maybe? Meaning you hit him, but not his spine or jugular as your description? I mean I hit a deer a few years back hit him right in his spine and dropped him dead in his tracks, but if it just went through skin, or grazed something that let out a bunch of blood then hair or something got in it's way and dried up?
If your that confident it was a kill shot, I'd sure fan out more, as you say you last heard him from a creek, I'd sure go that far or more. I might want to go out 300-500 yards out maybe who knows. If wounded though, he's going to be peed off so be careful.

[Duckslayer89]

Man I did the same thing to a bear in Idaho this last October and we tracked on our hands and knees for hours he just stopped bleeding and went uphill forever. I guess if you don't get both lungs or heart they are gone. I was shooting a 270 with core lok ammunition I think that had something to do with it

[OutHouse]

With all the blood you describe, that bear is probably down but maybe outside your current search zone.

You need to find that bear.

You took the risk of a neck shot, now it's time to pay for that risk.

[tgomez]

I don't take neck shots on ANY animal for this very reason. However you looked hard for the bear and did what you could to recover it. If you never lost an animal or missed one, you haven't hunted yet. I lost one deer archery hunting and one with modern firearm. I know your feeling man, but lesson learned and good luck on the next bear.

[Gringo31]

When I run out of blood on poorly hit animals, I try to look at the route they were taking and just keep on that route and follow it out....

Often it's another 100 yards when you find them....

[h20hunter]

Keep looking.  We get two tags in state.  Maybe you find him are able to salvage something. Maybe all you salvage is your wounded pride!


I edited one comment above. Lets remember that being overly harsh or condemming ones actions is simply not welcome in a thread like this.  A bit of encouragement to get back out there may be all thst is neededed for one more push. Ive lost one animal and have helped track one that was eventually lost,  it sucks.  Lets stay positive, keep up the tips and encouragement because lets face it, next time it could be you or me.

[OutHouse]

Keep looking.  We get two tags in state.  Maybe you find him are able to salvage something. Maybe all you salvage is your wounded pride!


I edited one comment above. Lets remember that being overly harsh or condemming ones actions is simply not welcome in a thread like this.  A bit of encouragement to get back out there may be all thst is neededed for one more push. Ive lost one animal and have helped track one that was eventually lost,  it sucks.  Lets stay positive, keep up the tips and encouragement because lets face it, next time it could be you or me.

I see you edited my comment. I don't think it's harsh to say it's disgraceful to take a risky shot, and then not find the animal after said risky shot. I see a lot of inappropriate stuff on here that never gets taken down--particularly stuff about people's political beliefs. It's disappointing that a justified comment like mine got edited, yet blatantly disrespectful stuff lives on. The fact of the matter is I'm right. But, your sight, your rules.

[h20hunter]

I reviewed your post and believe leaving it the way it stands gets the point across just fine. I did the edit because A it included profanity and B i read it as a direct derogatory statement to the OP. If you wish to discuss it further please do so via PM.

[greenhead_killer]

My buddy shot a deer last year and took us 3 hrs to find it(second doe tag) I was on my hands and knees finding a pin drop of blood here and there. By the time we got to 20 yards from the deer, there was a pile of blood.( high shot but double lunged, he wanted to kill a deer with a bow) next day, he shot a md buck and again, tracked for 7 hours and called it a day. Found it the next morning. It had ran down a draw and back up the other side. Never know how these critters will react. Just pick up where you left off, worst case scenario, look for birds. Unfortunatly that's how I found the buck the next day.

[beaslayer6]

seen bears  do some crazy things. just keep going on the path he was headed on and look for birds if is piled up somewhere the birds will  find it before you do at this point. good luck

[moocher97]

seen bears  do some crazy things. just keep going on the path he was headed on and look for birds if is piled up somewhere the birds will  find it before you do at this point. good luck

now that you say that there were a few birds circling an area close to there. ill give it another go. its not for lack of effort hiking 15 miles up hill and crawling on your hands and knees probably losing more blood from stickers then anything is a valiant effort I think. it was a lot of blood for just a pass through shot is why I'm confident its dead but somewhere far far away...would the cape still be good?

[Boss .300 winmag]

Keep searching! They will try and " bury" themselves under logs and thick stuff at the road you speak of look for scuff marks .keep fanning out and get more help
 Good luck !  Jake

 

I HAD ONE BURY HIMSELF UNDER A LOG JAM IN A CREEK ONCE, ALL I COULD SEE WAS HIS PAW FLOATING UP AND DOWN ONCE I PUT THE F/L ON THE LOG JAM.

BEARS ARE DIFFICULT TO FIND AT TIMES. 

[mountainman]

When I run out of blood on poorly hit animals, I try to look at the route they were taking and just keep on that route and follow it out....

Often it's another 100 yards when you find them....

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