Elk Tracking Tips

[WapitiTalk1]

Allrighty, that looked like a pretty darn fine shot. Arrow flight looked good, distance was within your effective range, and you visibly heard and saw the broadhead tipped arrow impact pretty close to that (>) pocket behind the shoulder. Upon impact, Barney bull took off like a rocket up the hillside through the sporadic brush and pines and disappeared over the top of the finger ridge. You make a mental note of the last physical sighting of the bull before he dropped over the ridge, mark the spot you shot from with a piece of flagging ribbon, and ...........

What do you do now? Take us through your method of tracking an arrow hit elk from now in the scenario to tagging the bull.

[Magnum_Willys]

Walk to where he was standing, find tracks look for hair blood.   Listen.   Start the waiting game.    20 minutes minimum if you are sure he's piled up 50 yards away.  Really should be 45 minutes.   2 hours even better !
Start following tracks.  Mark your trail with tissue, go slow.

[HAGEMANIAC]

If I didn't see or hear him crash, I'm giving it a two hour minimum. If he is already over the ridge, I would go to where he was shot and look for arrow/blood. Heart/lung blood, we are pressing on with the track, liver/meat blood we are sitting back down for another 3 hours and calling for backup. Of course, as soon as I crest the ridge he is piled up and then it's time to post it on HW.

[mcrawfordaf]

Just wanted to throw this in there with the new rules change this year - we can now use dogs to track large game. So keep that in mind for this scenario 

[7mmfan]

I try to solidify everything that I know while it's fresh in my mind. I walk to the shot location and mark it. I then walk to the last spot that I saw him, confirm it, and mark it. Then at least I can focus on the ground between the two marks and look for sign, tracks, blood, hair, arrow, etc...

Since you know he is out of sight over the finger ridge, you have no issues tracking to that point. In that distance you should be able to get a good idea of the quality of the hit and whether you should press on or leave him be a little longer.

I mark every piece of sign I find with flagging ribbon. Some folks use TP so they can just leave it, I like flagging ribbon because it's so visible. I just have to pick it up before I leave.

The last time I had to track an animal, I kept losing the trail in one particular area of thick fir saplings. I could back up to the edge, line of sight the ribbons and continue on but never could find sign on the other side. At this point I started circular gridding out in tight circles and within 10' found where he had turned inside the fir trees and went down hill before falling and sliding down off the edge of the cut bank below me.

[KFhunter]

If the wind is right, and I can sneak ok, I'll go 3/4 up the ridge, maybe to the top if it feels good.  I wouldn't hear him crash since he peaked over the finger, but there's a chance he's just 'right there' over the top and I need all the time I can get to process and haul out. If the wind stays good I'll wait and listen on top.  If sketchy I'll back down to my side of the finger and give it 2hrs. After 2hrs I sneak down the track hanging tp listening for breathing or sticks anything, I go good and slow.  I've watched elk lay there dying with an arrow in the lungs and it takes awhile, so I'll be ready for a follow-up.

Then its a as it lays puc, a shot of pendy, and time to work