bear down?

[sivart33]

so i went out today dear hunting on my 5 arces just down at the bottom ( i live next to 900 acre of state land), i hear something in the brush so i stop and wait about 30 sec, no closer the 10 yards a bear pops out. looks at me, i shot directly in the chest.  called my cousin and dad, went tracking for the last 3 hours. blood every where trail we fallowed for hard to have been 1 mile over everything from clear cut to old growth.  thought it was a good shot. found the arrow blood all over it, broadhead missing.  

going out tomorrow looking some more since it was getting very dark and our lights where starting to go out (it seemed)  marked the last place i saw blood with my jacket i know how to get to it.    any advice on finding this guy?  i think it was a good shoot,  lot and lots of very red blood, pools of it i swear in some places  and seemed to die out toward where we stopped?

i hope to god i killed it and didn't get a bad shot, i do not want a wounded bear running around that is very very unsafe in any manner.  so please comfort me or something the amount of blood is crazy but seemed to run a long ways.  looks like it stumbled in one place though.

[sivart33]

any advice? hints what to look for?  i know where i left off and i know where to start my search again...

[lokidog]

No advice, but bring a gun tomorrow to look....

I shot one in the chest at 10 yards once with the bow but it only ran 11 and piled up dead, lucky me.

Good luck and congrats.

[Todd_ID]

Bears are flat out tougher than any other animal when it comes to death.  They don't stop until biology says they have to if they were spooked at the shot.  You'll find it within 300 yards of where you lose the blood trail is my prediction; thye just can't run much farther than that once they are out of blood.  You may get lucky and find it got woozy and ran into a tree and couldn't get up not far from where you stopped.  Head on shots are tough to gauge longevity by; too high and you get one lung, too low and you get bottom of heart; both can bleed well but not immediate death shots.  Left or right are poor penetration, and that sounds like your case from your broken arrow description, and those generally only get part of one lung, which means a long run.

Go back in at daylight and find him.  From your description you were close and probably bumping him.  If that's the case, then coming out tonight was a good thing because he'll calm down and get sick and lay down and never get up again.

[carpsniperg2]

you should have a good chance of finding him. go to the last area where you find blood. if you can't find anymore blood just start griding make sure you look very good. also i say it a lot some people think i am joking but i am not. if you get down wind of a bear a lot of times you can smell them before you see them. that is no joke, follow your nose. spend sometime looking take a gun just in case. if there was a bunch of blood my bet is you got one lung and maybe the liver. depending on penitration of the arrow. just take your time and good luck.

[sivart33]

ya going out today, bringing a gun, and we are a ways in and maybe bumping it, last night in the dark we even brought 2 guns just in case it started charging sicne it was night time and all we had where flash lights, no bubbles in the blood at all so doughtfully the lungs unless that doesn't happen and just a rumor

[bobcat]

What are you waiting for? Get out there, it's been light for at least an hour! Hurry up and find it before it gets too warm. Good luck.

[bearpaw]

Bears are flat out tougher than any other animal when it comes to death.  They don't stop until biology says they have to if they were spooked at the shot.  You'll find it within 300 yards of where you lose the blood trail is my prediction; thye just can't run much farther than that once they are out of blood.  You may get lucky and find it got woozy and ran into a tree and couldn't get up not far from where you stopped.  Head on shots are tough to gauge longevity by; too high and you get one lung, too low and you get bottom of heart; both can bleed well but not immediate death shots.  Left or right are poor penetration, and that sounds like your case from your broken arrow description, and those generally only get part of one lung, which means a long run.

Go back in at daylight and find him.  From your description you were close and probably bumping him.  If that's the case, then coming out tonight was a good thing because he'll calm down and get sick and lay down and never get up again.

Agreed, I would have given him a few hours to die. If he is hit hard you will probably find him a few hundred yards from where you quit the trail. Take a helper to pack a weapon and mark trail, get on your hands and knees when needed to find blood. If he is dead, I bet you find him within 1/4 mile.  GOOD LUCK

[Machias]

Good luck, I sure hope you find him.  Look in every little depression.  It's amazing how small of a depression can hide a whole bear.  I was standing three feet from a dead bear once and could not see it, he'd rolled down into a tiny little spot.

[turkey buster]

hope you get him can't wait to hear

[saylean]

My advice....dont lose heart. Keep searching for him. Check the nooks and crannies....take it slow, bring a gun and be methodical.

Good luck, be safe.

[sivart33]

yup spent 3 hours at the end of the blood trail, nothing, we got 1 foot from last night, searched 100 yards each way and nothing.  looked in tree incase he tree'ed up.  nothing.   very sad, wish i would have found him, waist high or higher on all 4.  the blood trail was dieing up fast torward the end.  well now since i know he is not dead, i hope it ends up being a bad shot and its not injured just a surface wound.  well not happy about it but at least i got the bug, going out again tonight in the same area i know he is a regualr in my area since is poop is everywhere and the food source is right there maybe one day he will be back, but really looking for the dear atm.

[50CalJim]

When you go out tonite see if ya see a bunch of crows scavenging on something or just causing a raucous. More than likely your Bear is probably dead. Or take the family mutt with you sometimes they'll sniff it out. Good luck!

[sivart33]

ya ill be out hunting the same area for dear but my ears will be listening for anything.  hopefully he comes back soon i am the closest berry area to the dense forest so everything comes there for food, also don't have a dog.

[Todd_ID]

Sorry to hear this story end this way.  Wish I would have kept on my train of thought before; maybe it would have helped.  The continuation would have been telling you to keep looking for 3 days not 3 hours.  Giving up too soon is a major problem in bowhunting today in my opinion.  Couldn't cover a 50yd x 50yd square enough in 3 hours trying to find a dead animal: let alone a 3 sq. mile radius.  Next time try not to get discouraged as quickly.  Lots of blood means dead animal biologically and from experience.  Yeah, I've lost animals before that have died, but it wasn't from lack of trying.

[Snapshot]

I agree with Todd! The work on finding that bear shouldn't have stopped until the sun had set (at the very earliest). And when the crows help find him I would hope his skull will be tagged and the hunt ended.

[sea2summit]

Newb to the forum but lots of time with bears.  Don't underestimate where that guy could curl up and hide.  I shot one blackie 200ish #s ( with 12 ga slug) that went 30m and it took me most of a day to find him.  He curled up in some ferns and I walked right by him three or four times because it was right along side of his established trail.
Keep looking.

[lokidog]

I agree with Todd! The work on finding that bear shouldn't have stopped until the sun had set (at the very earliest). And when the crows help find him I would hope his skull will be tagged and the hunt ended.

I have to agree, most likely dead from your scenario.  I personally feel that my tag (for whatever) is a tag for shooting/killing one animal and I would call it an end to my season.  But, as something like this is a personal matter, I would not put you down for whatever you decide to do.  Good luck on the deer.

[sivart33]

ya there was 3 people with me when i went to look, no way i did that my self.  or at least the area, ill prob go out tomorrow again mid day after my morning hunt, i feel either i lost him or he lived, blood stopped and looked on every path/hole under a log/ and bush withing a good 50+ foot area.  trust me i feel horrible for not finding the bear, but i am not giving up that quickly but i am very disappointed that my shot must have not been good.    blood was great then slowed way way down to a few drops, one last little area one pile of it and then nothing with in any close area.  so no idea what happened the arrow only had blood for about 12 inches of it guess since i saw it last night with blood on it ( not a ton though).  broad head gone .... damn it this is frustrating. 

[Todd_ID]

Frustrating...YES.  Happens...YES.  You won't be the first or the last to punch a tag on an unrecovered animal.  A 330" bull or a doe puts the same sucker-punch feeling in your stomach.  The measure of a bowhunter is how they react to it happening to them on that day.  Your aces in my book if you look another couple days, feel bad, try not to repeat the lesson you learned, and punch your tag.

[bearhunter99]

I myself feel that this is one of the travesties that plagues hunters these days.  I am not going to say I have never lost an animal, because I have.  BUT I spent every waking hour looking for it.  I shot a deer with my bow a few years ago and lost the blood trail on a Saturday morning.  I spent the rest of the day walking back and forth covering every square inch of that place and did the same on Sunday.  I then spent every evening after work looking for it until the coyotes and birds showed me where it was.  It actually sickened me to lose it but I did recover the antlers and punched my tag.  The worst thing was I had walked past it probably a half dozen times but it had fallen in an old burnt out stump hole and wasn't visible unless you were standing directly over it, never even occurred to me at the time. 

That being said, it is the hunter's responsibilty to make every effort to recover an animal.  Spending a measly 3 hrs looking for it is a disgrace to the animal. The animals we hunt should be held in the highest regards and should be respected.  From what I read there was a considerable amount of blood so the bear is probably rotting somewhere. 

Bears are the worst for tracking because of the amount of fat they have that can seal up the wound channel.  The thing that bothers me about this story is that they did not spend near enough time looking in my humble opinion and then they go on to say that the bear probably lived and they would go on hunting and it is a real bummer.  I'm sorry I just don't buy it, spend the time looking for the animal prior to just giving up and resuming looking for another animal to wound. 

I am sorry if this offends the OP but I wouldn't quit looking until I found it, and I definitely wouldn't just pass it off as a bad shot.  "but really looking for the dear atm", so the bear doesn't deserve spending the time and effort?  Deer hunting is more important than the bear that is lying in the brush somewhere? "well not happy about it but at least i got the bug" so the bear is again just left by the wayside but it's ok because now you have "the bug"?  "well now since i know he is not dead, i hope it ends up being a bad shot and its not injured just a surface wound.", how do you know its just a surface wound and he is not dead?  Last but not least a 100 yd area is way too small, I have shot a few animals in my lifetime and they (especially bears) can run a couple hundred yards even with a heart or lung shot on adrenaline alone.

Sorry about the rant but I just can't force myself to treat this with "kids gloves" this just infuriates me  

[sivart33]

well to make all you feel better i spent a total of 8 hours today looking, heard no crows, nothing spent all day out there with my flash light, machete, and gun.  went everywhere.  went back and forth to cover every inch of area.  i like how you assume i don't care about the bear, i don't recall ever saying that.  assumptions make asses out of people.  i spent my time out there and ill be out there again after work. and maybe here in a bit went in for some lunch. still no blood trail or any signs.

done posting about this, someone lock it, its all going to become flaming of me since i did not spend all night after the kill to find it,  also if people read the post before today it was up to 6 hours in the woods at the end of the blood trail with 3 people.  1 today though.  well thanks for the help that people provided.

[bobcat]

Personally, the way I feel about it is that once that bear has been laying dead out there for more than 24 hours, the meat and the hide is not going to be salvageable, so I wouldn't feel too bad about giving up on it. I can see not hunting bears again for the rest of the year but there's no real reason it needs to be found at this point, other than just to satisfy your curiosity. Also, it will not go to waste. Something will eat eat every last bit of that bear (if it is in fact dead.)

[one more]

Fish n Wildlife is partly to blame.  They have it illegal to use a trained dog to follow a blood trail.  If it was legal, I bet we would have a network of people all around the state that would help find lost game.
Diane