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.