Did anyone lose a big bull in 328?

[bearhunter99]

Really glad to hear that this had a somewhat happy ending.  That is a great bull!

I have only lost one animal in my life.  I had a 300 yard steep downhill shot on a big bear (2nd biggest I have ever shot).  Had a great rest - boom - whop (that sound is unmistakable). he spun out of there and was gone over the ridge.  We looked for two days.  Never found a spot of blood.  I was second guessing the sound I heard.  A month later during modern we found him - he rolled into a small brushy washout.  I walked within 50 yards a couple of different times when searching for him but where he was at was basically invisible.  Still managed to salvage the skull and claws so it was a little bittersweet!

[hunter399]

Wow ! This is a great success story.
I've never seen or been helped in a recovery process, actually the opposite from a member on HW.This is a great story with a great ending.
Gives me hope that there is still a few good people out there.
Congrats to the hunter.
Congrats to mb for posting it up. 👏👍

[Guitarnbow6213]

We're all wondering,was this Brent's bull? Hopefully yes...I've only lost one animal,in 40 years,and it still bothers me.Ive decided to think it was a cougar,drug it off.lol...We practice,we take the "good" shot,we give the critter time to expire,then we track.. .  That's l we can ethically do...the % of lost animals is very low,and one more thing...WASHINGTON HAS PASSED A LAW ALLOWING TRACKING DOGS TO FIND ANIMAL...The decision is yours,however I would pay a tracker,whatever his cost,to find my Bull Elk...in fact,WSFW should now have a tracking dept.. for special cases,as finding Bull Elk..

[Guitarnbow6213]

 

[CascadeCruiser]

We're all wondering,was this Brent's bull? Hopefully yes...I've only lost one animal,in 40 years,and it still bothers me.Ive decided to think it was a cougar,drug it off.lol...We practice,we take the "good" shot,we give the critter time to expire,then we track.. .  That's l we can ethically do...the % of lost animals is very low,and one more thing...WASHINGTON HAS PASSED A LAW ALLOWING TRACKING DOGS TO FIND ANIMAL...The decision is yours,however I would pay a tracker,whatever his cost,to find my Bull Elk...in fact,WSFW should now have a tracking dept.. for special cases,as finding Bull Elk..

Negative. If you go back to page 4 you can read a line from the hunter who’s bull it was.

[Shoofly09]

Very cool story, hats off to all involved.      Nice bull.     Sorry you didn't get the meat, but the critters in the woods will make sure it doesn't go to waste.   

Took me two days to find my first archery bull.   I walked within 5 feet of it an 1.5hrs after shooting it.  It died and slid under a thick juniper.   Only found it two days later when I saw a magpie sitting on his horns.   Got the meat but out smelled so bad I couldn't keep it. 

[10thmountainarcher]

We're all wondering,was this Brent's bull? Hopefully yes...I've only lost one animal,in 40 years,and it still bothers me.Ive decided to think it was a cougar,drug it off.lol...We practice,we take the "good" shot,we give the critter time to expire,then we track.. .  That's l we can ethically do...the % of lost animals is very low,and one more thing...WASHINGTON HAS PASSED A LAW ALLOWING TRACKING DOGS TO FIND ANIMAL...The decision is yours,however I would pay a tracker,whatever his cost,to find my Bull Elk...in fact,WSFW should now have a tracking dept.. for special cases,as finding Bull Elk..

Negative. If you go back to page 4 you can read a line from the hunter who’s bull it was.

Elkstalker=Brent. It did end up being Brent’s bull.

[highside74]

We're all wondering,was this Brent's bull? Hopefully yes...I've only lost one animal,in 40 years,and it still bothers me.Ive decided to think it was a cougar,drug it off.lol...We practice,we take the "good" shot,we give the critter time to expire,then we track.. .  That's l we can ethically do...the % of lost animals is very low,and one more thing...WASHINGTON HAS PASSED A LAW ALLOWING TRACKING DOGS TO FIND ANIMAL...The decision is yours,however I would pay a tracker,whatever his cost,to find my Bull Elk...in fact,WSFW should now have a tracking dept.. for special cases,as finding Bull Elk..

Negative. If you go back to page 4 you can read a line from the hunter who’s bull it was.

The hunters name is Brent. He posted on page 1

[CascadeCruiser]

Well color me corrected. That’s pretty awesome.

[riverrun]

Thanks Huntwa member for reaching out and helping Brent find his bull!

[30.06]

This is where HuntWA truly shines. Thanks for setting such a great example for future hunters!

[Gonehuntin01]

Perfect example of a great community.  Glad you found your bull, sorry about the circumstances.  Good job to you all for posting and helping a guy out.

[high_hunter]

We're all wondering,was this Brent's bull? Hopefully yes...I've only lost one animal,in 40 years,and it still bothers me.Ive decided to think it was a cougar,drug it off.lol...We practice,we take the "good" shot,we give the critter time to expire,then we track.. .  That's l we can ethically do...the % of lost animals is very low,and one more thing...WASHINGTON HAS PASSED A LAW ALLOWING TRACKING DOGS TO FIND ANIMAL...The decision is yours,however I would pay a tracker,whatever his cost,to find my Bull Elk...in fact,WSFW should now have a tracking dept.. for special cases,as finding Bull Elk..

Great job HW community making the connection and bringing closure to Brent along with his recovered antlers.   

Tracking dogs are legal and their use continues to increase along with those offering services such as myself. Still they are not a guarantee for recovery and even the data from the Trakar App shows a 1/3 success which is in alignment with my personal experience. Useful but certainly depends on lot of factors such as weather, track disturbances, and timeline. Its another useful tool in the box but no saying if it would have changed this outcome.

[Roslyn Rambler]

Curious, how did you find this bull? Glass it up? Scavengers? Just stumbled upon it?

[elkrack]

Curious, how did you find this bull? Glass it up? Scavengers? Just stumbled upon it?

He smelled it then followed the nose. Lol