Hunting Washington Forum
Big Game Hunting => Elk Hunting => Topic started by: kalamasasquatch on September 23, 2013, 11:56:29 PM
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I'm sorry for the delayed post but here's the story on my 2013 rosie. I should have known it was gonna be a rough season when i broke the chain on my bike half way in! On the 5th day of the season after survivng 2 days of thunderstorms I finally got up into a higher drainage of the green river. He answered my bugle from about 400 yards out and down in a deep dark hole. I moved into where I thought he was and Called again he answered but was moving away. I let out a soft cow call and he came in hot! He came up out of the gulley head on to me, stripping limbs off of trees as he came. At 22 yards he turned broadside and I took the shot. This is where things go bad. His aggression and size threw me off and I forgot to stop him before the shot. I hit exactly 2/3rds down but about a foot too far back. I knew it was a solid liver shot so I waited an hour before trying to pick up the trail. I followed a very light blood trail for about 200 yards and lost it. I spent the next 8 hours wandering in expanding circles trying to find him. I never found him that day. I finished out the season hunting other bulls and had close calls but never loosed another arrow. On the last day of the season longstevo and I went back up and tried to find him by sniffing out a rotten stink and sure enough we found him. We followed the scent trail for almost 300 yards. He had travelled almost a mile with a pierced liver! I am sure some will bash me for wasting an animal, and I would deserve it, but every hunter will eventually loose an animal. Hopefully someone can and will learn from my mistake and have the honest drive to try to right a wrong by continuing to look even after its to late to save the meat. Its a bitter sweet ending but I'm glad to have found him.
BTW.... any guess on score?
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Great job man, and good for you for not giving up on finding him. Ive heard/read far too many stories of people shooting animalsthat they know they made contact with and doing a lazy search just to give up and search for the next one they can find. Meat is lost, sucks. The animal was recovered though and that's the most important part. The body will not go to waste.
Hey atleast you got something :chuckle: I didn't get squat. Thanks for sharing!
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Hey man kudos to you for being honest about your story... I no the feeling, it puts knotts in your stomack, can't eat, can't sleep etc... my dad has always told if a guy spends his life hunting and says he's never lost an animal than odds are he is lieing. That's the bad part about hunting but it happens. Sounds like you did everything you could so good job man.
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Nice bull! For sure bitter sweet. Guess him to be 248".... What's my prize :hello:
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Thanks for sharing. Bitter sweet but you're not the first and won't be the last. Glad you found him. As far as gross score, somewhere around 225" I would say. Nice job
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Dandy Bull man!! :tup: Way to push on! Curious, did you shoot him during the storm?
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Dandy Bull man!! :tup: Way to push on! Curious, did you shoot him during the storm?
The morning after. Second year in a row that thunderstorms kicked up action for me
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at least you got some closure and the horns. 239 1/8. dont be so hard on yourself it stinks but you are right it happens.
