Help. How long after you shoot a bull can it go befor the meat spoils?

[bucklucky]

That throat bacteria will destoy a cape also, people wrap up a head and cape and dont plug the throat, that gunk will pool on the cape and cause bacteria to rapidly deteriorate the cape, more than likely it will slip.

[Big10gauge]

A gas lantern will show the blood better than a flashlight. The blood seems to "shine"

[coldsteel3d]

Unless your sure of the shot, I wouldn't go after him till morning. I have seen a lot of bulls that have been left overnight, and if you get the meat off the bone first thing, it won't sour. I have lost a bull and in hind sight it was due to pursuing him too soon, and only got one lung. 

[WAPITIHUNTER]

As allot of others have said...............you should be out there right now with lanterns and flashlights. I lost one to Bone sour and that was the last one as I will never leave one over night again. Consider looking in the dark an extra great memory for when you are old. It's kinda fun........till you get lost.

[Hunterman]

If you waited until this morning to go after your elk, congrats you wasted your elk. You might as well just cut the head off tag it and plan to shoot some 'yotes and cats off it. NEVER and I mean NEVER leave an elk over night without gutting, skinning, quartering, and hanging it. Been there done that. Hard leason to learn.

All these damn so called hunting shows that "Have to back out and recover the bull the next day"  sure the hell ain't going to eat the meat. Any out fitter that dose that just lost my money..

Hunterman(Tony)

[Pazn25]

So, lets hear an update.  There are obviously mixed feelings on this topic among all of us fellow hunters.

[ribka]

If a good hit on West Side where is does not get cold enough now  would go back that same night with a friend. Bring toilet paper to mark blood trail. As mentioned lantern works well. Get the animal guuted, skinned, cooled off ASAP. Have tracked many animals at night. If you see not a good hit. Wait until morning be out at first light.

[ScottyG]

I learned the hard way.  Even in freezing temperatures you are likely to be dissappointed in the result if you leave an animal overnight.  I have had it go both ways, but I think the one that was not sour did not expire until after midnight.  The other had a more efficient kill shot and was soured by morning.  Elk are just too big and too well insulated to leave the heat in them overnight.  It does a lot of damage and happens quicker than TV shows would have you believe.  I don't think it is quite as critical with deer.

For me, the right think to do is search for elk at night.  I give them an hour or maybe two, but then I get after them.  The few that I've blood tracked at night were recovered.     

[STIKNSTRINGBOW]

It is night again, what happened to this animal? I hope you are busy boning/packing but after this long it is probably not found......

[3dvapor]

shot a couple bulls with a bow and wasnt sure of the shot despite feeling good about the shot.  i left and came back at first light both bulls were dead within the first couple hours.  meat was still plenty warm underneath the hide.  so i took the meat immediately off the bone.  meat was fine and i found both bulls.  more elk are lost to guys that that go after them at night than anything else.

[markts]

It is night again, what happened to this animal? I hope you are busy boning/packing but after this long it is probably not found......

:yeah:Doesnt look good. Mark

[wapiti hunter2]

OK, here's the update.  Myself and a friend went out at first light.  I went to where I shot from and he went to where I thought the elk was when I shot.  We had to do some correcting but I got him to the spot.  Tons of tracks, poo, but no blood, no hair, nothing.  No rain overnight either.    So we started searching.  Concentric circles, grid work lots of toilet paper flagging. etc.  We worked out to at least 300 yards in all directions. nothing zip nada    We looked all morning but finally decided to call it at noon. 

But, I had to satisfy my self that I could have missed.  Believe me, I have been running this through my mind over and over.  Here's what I remember, don't laugh. This all happened ofer no more than 2 minutes.  Bad light, final 10 minutes of shooting time, getting dark fast, already pretty dark and grey.  Buck fever real bad due to the fading light and no way to close the distance.  Hurry, Hurry, breathing hard, Binoculars fogging-wiping, Scope fogging-wiping, both due to how hard I'm breathing, try to get situated, He sees me and looks like he will bolt, wipe scope, slightly  blurred due to the fogging and my bad wiping, rifle over log, solid.  Cross hairs half way up the body in the shoulder crease, fire.  Elk looks like he turns on a dime and is gone.  Took 10 minutes to get there.......

Today I looked through by binoculars over the shooting lane and there were at least a dozen bushes that I shot through.  No leaves so I didn't see them in the bad light.  Since we found no sign, I have to accept the possibility I missed.  I hope so.  I will still look more.  I was back out tonight too.  This is close to home.  Many lessons learned and lots of never do agains.

[Axle]

The good: sounds like no meat was wasted.

The bad: your tag is not filled and you may be forced to eat inferior meat from the store to satisfy your canine teeth.

The ugly: you need to drag your ass out there again and get that monster in spite of the pouring down rain, mud soaked roads, and miserable hunting conditions.

[ribka]

Sorry that it did not turn out as hoped.
Great that you made the effort to search for the animal. A lot of guys will spend a few minutes and they do not see anything move on. Good to see guys like you in the woods make the effort. I guess chalk it up to a learning experience. Have experienced similar.