Hunting Washington Forum

Big Game Hunting => Elk Hunting => Topic started by: Coastal_native on September 27, 2016, 06:48:59 PM

Title: Rather be lucky than good...?
Post by: Coastal_native on September 27, 2016, 06:48:59 PM: At least that's what I've been told. Personally, I'd rather have made a good shot. Patience and a little luck made a for successful recovery. Hoping it was a deflected arrow because it was too close to miss that bad. Had to leave it over night. Fortunately and unfortunately it was a slow death which made for no spoilage. This was definitely an emotional rollercoaster of a hunt. When I started tracking the evening I made the shot I ended up blowing him out of his bed. Had no idea the shot was that bad initially, but I was still not very hopeful a recovery was likely after jumping him. My heart sank when I found where he swam across a slough. When I finally found a log to cross on, I found him laying on the opposite side in the tall grass. I'll take it.
Title: Re: Rather be lucky than good...?
Post by: muleyslayer on September 27, 2016, 06:56:33 PM: Nice bull
Title: Re: Rather be lucky than good...?
Post by: Boss .300 winmag on September 27, 2016, 07:05:42 PM: Quote from: muleyslayer on September 27, 2016, 06:56:33 PM
Nice bull

:yeah:

LUCK IS GOOD. :twocents:
Title: Re: Rather be lucky than good...?
Post by: deerhunter_98520 on September 27, 2016, 07:25:38 PM: Nice bull and way to keep on it and recover that bull :tup:
Title: Re: Rather be lucky than good...?
Post by: coachcw on September 27, 2016, 07:28:55 PM: glad that worked out . good looking animal
Title: Re: Rather be lucky than good...?
Post by: Igottanewknee on September 27, 2016, 07:58:54 PM: Rosie? Nice!!!!! :tup:
Title: Re: Rather be lucky than good...?
Post by: Muleyslyr on September 27, 2016, 08:14:59 PM: Way to keep at it and recover that fine bull.
Title: Re: Rather be lucky than good...?
Post by: SniperDanWA on September 27, 2016, 09:06:15 PM: Quote from: deerhunter_98520 on September 27, 2016, 07:25:38 PM
Nice bull and way to keep on it and recover that bull :tup:

:yeah:
Title: Re: Rather be lucky than good...?
Post by: Falcon on September 27, 2016, 09:08:56 PM: Great looking rosie :drool:
Title: Re: Rather be lucky than good...?
Post by: Turner89 on September 27, 2016, 09:20:08 PM: Awesome bull, I love the rosies :tup:
Title: Re: Rather be lucky than good...?
Post by: MLBowhunting on September 27, 2016, 09:22:08 PM: Beautiful bull
Title: Re: Rather be lucky than good...?
Post by: Fish4Fun on September 27, 2016, 09:23:15 PM: Nice bull, gotta love those big Rosie's they are pretty cool looking. :tup:
Title: Re: Rather be lucky than good...?
Post by: steelnducks on September 27, 2016, 09:28:13 PM: Great job. I've had that trophy that I didn't find and I'm so greatfull you did. Nice job tracking hard work pays off.
Title: Re: Rather be lucky than good...?
Post by: sled on September 27, 2016, 09:41:32 PM: Lucky for sure! Must have hit the femoral artery. What was the aiming point? Nice job on the recovery!
Title: Re: Rather be lucky than good...?
Post by: tgomez on September 27, 2016, 10:17:04 PM: A great bull!!!! Glad you found him.
Title: Re: Rather be lucky than good...?
Post by: bowhunterforever on September 27, 2016, 10:49:11 PM: Great bull :tup:
Title: Re: Rather be lucky than good...?
Post by: jmscon on September 27, 2016, 10:59:02 PM: That's a great bull, way to stick with it!
Title: Re: Rather be lucky than good...?
Post by: floatinghat on September 28, 2016, 07:10:42 AM: Good on you for the recovery. However, this thread is incomplete without a pic of you on the log crossing the creek. :chuckle:
Title: Re: Rather be lucky than good...?
Post by: jackmaster on September 28, 2016, 07:18:49 AM: Beautiful bull right there now !! Congrats...
Title: Re: Rather be lucky than good...?
Post by: jackmaster on September 28, 2016, 07:21:13 AM: Was that a Texas heart shot? You stuck with him and recovered him, awesome job coastal :tup:
Title: Re: Rather be lucky than good...?
Post by: trophyhunt on September 28, 2016, 07:23:42 AM: Lots of important blood vessels back there, nice job sticking with it. Sweet looking bull for sure.
Title: Re: Rather be lucky than good...?
Post by: pianoman9701 on September 28, 2016, 07:28:51 AM: Archery comes with the chance of something happening to that arrow after it leaves the bow. Good on you for sticking with it and harvesting a great animal. :tup:
Title: Re: Rather be lucky than good...?
Post by: PlateauNDN on September 28, 2016, 07:48:14 AM: Nice bull and congrats. I'll be honest, through all the practicing that's still my fear, bad placement. I can also say it's watching the animal run off after the shot. Eerie feeling...

Again congrats :tup:
Title: Re: Rather be lucky than good...?
Post by: Coastal_native on September 28, 2016, 09:02:15 AM: Thanks guys,

The understory was fairly thick, but I felt I had a good shooting lane for a broadside double lung shot at 20yds. It had to be a deflected arrow. I had a long calling session with plenty of time to get my nerves down. No way was I 3ft off my mark at 20 yds. I've also second guessed whether he came to a full stop or if he was still walking when he passed through my shooting lane. Even if he was taking a step, I can't imagine I'd hit that far back. I knew something was different about the shot though, because I didn't see the arrow hit and I didn't hear that distinctive sound on impact. After three successful archery kills, my confidence is still shaky. It seems like a lot of things have to come together perfectly when you're solo calling on the coast. I guess that's what makes it fun.
Title: Re: Rather be lucky than good...?
Post by: SeatoSummit88 on September 28, 2016, 09:25:26 AM: That's a great Bull! :tup: Do you hunt upper coast or lower coast normally?
Title: Re: Rather be lucky than good...?
Post by: DOUBLELUNG on September 28, 2016, 09:47:35 AM: Great job on the recovery! It is amazing what the tiniest twig can do to deflect an arrow. I was hunting with a buddy in closed canopy old growth, we were shadowing a 4x4 and a 4x5. He had a 40 yard broadside shot at the 4x5 bull, best part was he could see the entire rib cage but a big trunk obscured the guts. His arrow ticked a tiny branch at the top of its arc, and deflected down and right, disappearing out of sight - the bull lunged out of there with a huge limp, no sign of the arrow or blood. My buddy was able to watch him for about 300 yards to where he disappeared into thick brush at the edge of the old growth. He backed out, found me, and we decided to give him 8 hours (first shot was just before 9am).

At 5pm, we started in. We had decided to still hunt through the thick area where he was last seen first, 40 yards above and below, figuring in case he jumped that was the best chance of one of us getting a shot off. About 20 minutes in, I saw antlers coming right to left in front of me - drew, stood, and could see the bull about 30 yards in front of me: 4x4, 4x4, 4x4 - could not put a 5th point on him, it was the companion bull - I let him walk (I had not killed an elk yet!). Almost as soon as the bull disappeared my buddy yelled from above "Found him"!

The bull had been dead for hours. It had not leaked a drop of blood as far as we could tell, although there was a broadhead puncture through the lower left abdomen. When we opened him up, he had bled out internally - there was a basketball-sized clot of blood in his abdomen. After we cleared the guts, we could see the Muzzy 3-blade had sliced through both arteries to the penis, and broke the pelvis on the off side. We felt very lucky on that recovery. Rather be lucky? No, but we'll take it as a second choice!
Title: Re: Rather be lucky than good...?
Post by: 724wd on September 28, 2016, 10:51:30 AM: excellent bull coastal! glad you were able to recover him! :tup: :tup:
Title: Re: Rather be lucky than good...?
Post by: blackveltbowhunter on September 28, 2016, 11:48:36 AM: Great bull :tup:
Title: Re: Rather be lucky than good...?
Post by: swwaoutdoorsman on September 29, 2016, 02:54:02 PM: Great coastal bull! :tup:
Title: Re: Rather be lucky than good...?
Post by: Shawn Ryan on September 29, 2016, 05:25:07 PM: Way to stick with it. Even if he was walking, the time it takes for your arrow to arrive on target would not make your shot 3 feet off. Something else (unknown) had to happen. Luck is good to have on your side. Thanks for having the fortitude to post about a shot that didn't go as planned. It eventually happens to us all.
Title: Re: Rather be lucky than good...?
Post by: Mark251 on September 29, 2016, 08:29:18 PM: Nice job! Congratulations :tup: