| Big Game Hunting > Elk Hunting |
| Elk Tracking Tips |
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| throttlejocky20:
Look for the animal as much as blood bumping an animal out of its bed makes the job a lot harder. Stay with it Mark the spot you shot from as well as where the animal was standing mark your blood as well so if it dries up you can see the path the animal was traveling. Never walk in the same trail as the animal so you dont step blood into the ground or wipe it off leaves on your clothes. If you lose blood stay with it and do circles I have picked up drops far from the last when i thought it was over. |
| WSU:
--- Quote from: brew on March 07, 2026, 08:37:42 PM ---Buddy arrowed a cow years ago in the Manastash. Liver hit but no blood. We grid searched for hours, no success. I went to the last spot he saw it and just said to myself "where would I go ". 200 yards later a single drop of blood on a white blow down about the size of my wrist. Could smell elk. Wife found her 50 yards later under a thick evergreen in a depression. If you didn't walk on her we wouldn't have found her. --- End quote --- I found a friend's elk once based only on smell. Had a decent, consistent breeze and I followed the smell for probably 200 yards. |
| tracksoup:
--- Quote from: WSU on March 09, 2026, 12:48:22 PM --- --- Quote from: brew on March 07, 2026, 08:37:42 PM ---Buddy arrowed a cow years ago in the Manastash. Liver hit but no blood. We grid searched for hours, no success. I went to the last spot he saw it and just said to myself "where would I go ". 200 yards later a single drop of blood on a white blow down about the size of my wrist. Could smell elk. Wife found her 50 yards later under a thick evergreen in a depression. If you didn't walk on her we wouldn't have found her. --- End quote --- I found a friend's elk once based only on smell. Had a decent, consistent breeze and I followed the smell for probably 200 yards. --- End quote --- :yeah: Those two are big, “smell”and check this depressions it’s amazing what they will crawl into. I’ll add: pay attention to any other wildlife in the area, birds in particular. |
| Kingofthemountain83:
I've shot a lot of elk with a .50 muzzy and they left no blood trail at all... Hit in the heart and lungs... When they don't go down in sight it can get tough tracking... Specially when they're with a herd... No snow... Pay attention for tracks that pull away from the herd cause they can't keep up but still way faster than you... Could be really obvious or on a hidden and it cut through waist high brush where it went off trail... You just have to slow down and take your time... Look for every little clue possible... My least favorite part of the whole experience is tracking wounded, hopefully dead game... But probably one of the best skills sets to have is tracking game and reading sign... And I've seen big bull elk run up hill for over 300 yards like nothing happened after being shot by .50 muzzy and not have a heart left and one lung functioning... Had a cow run 170 yards uphill with a .50 muzzy through the lungs and heart... And watched my friend shoot a raghorn rosey with a 300 Win 3 times in the lungs and it continued on it's uphill path till it died a few hundred yards like nothing happened... So they can go uphill if they want to... Tough animals that have a will to live like nothing else on this planet... |
| WapitiTalk1:
LOTs of really great tips being offered! I hope newer and less experienced elk hunters are taking notes. I’ll add another thing that has helped me in many tracking situations. Carry a small squirt bottle of peroxide in your tracking/kill kit. A small squirt of peroxide on a suspected blood spot will foam up if it is in fact blood. |
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