bubbles in blood

[grousetracker]

my partner shot a bull today and we found bubbles in the blood trail, but the bull ran atleast800yds and we ran out of blood. i thought when you see bubbles in the blood it was a lung hit. anyone know for sure?

[halflife65]

Usually.  What color was the blood?  Was it pinkish at all or real dark?

Also, it can go along way if you just hit one lung and don't get both of them...

[mossback91]

sounds like a lung hit.........


did you run out of tracks to follow too?

[PolarBear]

So you are saying that you lost it? 800 yds?  you must have been pushing it.  Sounds like a lung hit to me.

[adam.WI]

the lungs have multiple lobes in them and any animal doesn't need all of them to survive, if the wound closes up and air doesn't get in then it will never collapse the lungs.

[Crunchy]

It would be unusual to just hit one lung and not something else that will eventually cause the animals death.  Elk are tuff though so u never know. For sure a lung hit though.

[halflife65]

If it was a steep angle (quartering away or to you - hopefully, it wasn't a shot on an animal quartering to you) it could be possible.  Combined with a shot that was high in the chest cavity, it could've gone over the top of the heart and just hit one lung.

Was the shot perfectly broadside?  Was it a passthrough shot or was the arrow still in it (or do you know)?

[colockumelk]

Sounds like  you didn't give it enough time to die.  I'd go back in there and start where you left off.  You will probably find it somewhere.  Just keep looking.  You owe the animal that much.  Good luck.  I know  how it feels to lose an animal.  Most of us on here have  had that happen.  It's a horibble feeling. 

[AKBowman]

That critter is dead 100% positive.

the lungs have multiple lobes in them and any animal doesn't need all of them to survive, if the wound closes up and air doesn't get in then it will never collapse the lungs.

Not unless the elk has a surgeon nearby. If there were pink bubbles in the blood than it was a lung hit. If it was a lung hit than the animal is dead or going to die relatively quickly which is not to say that if pushed it wont be able to go miles. Most likely if you dont push an animal that is lung hit they will go downhill and lay down as soon as they can. If they dont get jumped out of their bed there lungs WILL fill with blood and they will die in their bed.

In the future I would recommend waiting an hour (maybe you did) than flagging the blood trail so you can see direction of travel. If the animal is traveling up hill for a substantial amount of time than he may not be mortally wounded (or recoverable) if he keeps heading downhill take your time, flag the trail and give him time to die. The animal you mentioned with the pink blood is definitely lung hit and surely dead now.

You should go back and attempt to recover it. It sucks but it happens, best of luck.

[Michelle_Nelson]

I have seen many deer with collapsed lungs from bad shots live til the next hunting season.  Good chance it is dead but not 100%.

[NWBREW]

Go back and keep looking. That Elk is dead or will soon be dead. Get you mind in tracking mode, with a little luck you will find him..........If someone else doesn't find him first.

[MtnMuley]

Lung.  Dead animal.

[jackelope]

I have seen many deer with collapsed lungs from bad shots live til the next hunting season.  Good chance it is dead but not 100%.

huh?

[grousetracker]

partner got two arrows in the bull, dark blood . not pink or a lot of bubbles. i watched the elk go 500yds without even looking back, then simply stopped and waited for cows to catch up then just walked in the timber. the blood trail was a few drops here and then we saw only smear marks on ferns. spent over four hrs. moving 300-400yds. the shots were broadside at 60yds and 54yds. we followed the cow prints for another 300-400yds and never saw any other blood.

[wastickslinger]

I double lunged one with a bow years ago. Clean fast pass no ribs, sliced right through. Watched him bed down about 100 yards away. He sat there with just a trickle of blood on his side. At 100 yards with binos I could barely see blood on his side. I know it sounds cruel that I watched him lay there but I know better that to get them back up and running. 4 Hours later he is still sitting there like nothing happened. I knew 100% where I hit him. I waited till dark then I slowly crept in with a flash light, 5 hours later. Had to slit his throat when he got back up. It was a fiasco. Would he have died or healed up?  There was almost no blood on his sides, in fact he quit bleeding externally. WhenI gutted him there were two nice big full lungs with broadhead slice right through center of them both. Only thing I can think of is that he was so fat that it sealed up the holes in the ribs and allowed his chest cavity to act as lungs and keep them from collapsing.   Dont know but it took him a long time to die.