Help with Blood

[ZSD]

Public land elk hunting was tough this year. Most OTC units were packed with people and snow. We struggled to find elk in areas where we always do. In the end, we did find a few good bulls, and i got a shot at 45 yards after stalking in. Shot looked good. I was steady. But i didnt see the impact. We tracked for 4 hrs or so with minimal blood. Eventually, we lost the trail and never recovered the animal.

Here are the pictures of the arrow which apparently was a pass through. I found the arrow just passed were the bull was standing. What kind of blood are we looking at here? I can say for sure it wasnt too far back as there was no visible exit wound when he ran off. Again, what kind of hit is this in your opinion?

 

[rustednuts]

was there hair? Could have hit very low if the arrow was just past the bull

 

[IEATELK]

What broadhead???

 

[Bhoesl]

Like “rustednuts” said, possibly you just skimmed the bottom of the belly, would expect to see a lot of hair if that was the case. Doesn’t seem like very much blood on the arrow for a complete pass through?

 

[LuketheDog]

That looks like decent blood to me. You only searched for 4 hours? Did you do a grid search past your last blood?

 

[JT88]

Pretty hard to say based on just that, IMO. A lot of things can happen. How far away did you find blood? Was it consistent drips? Dark red? Was he headed uphill or downhill? I haven't seen many mortally hit animals go uphill if they can avoid it

 

[JT88]

Sorry btw, I feel for you man

 

[Borny1]

Pull the knock. Is the arrow full of blood? If yes, that is a dead bull. If no, it's anybody guess.

 

[Horse]

Looks like decent blood to me too, but depending on angle, you may have only got 1 lung. If sure it wasnt too far back, you may have hit top of lung and or the hollow spot between lungs and spine. If near area, I'd look more and watch for birds.

 

[elkhnter]

IMO, too much blood for a skim the belly shot. I’d guess you shot high and the cavity takes time to fill with blood. That animal is probably dead somewhere. Agree, look for ravens.

 

[elkhnter]

Pull the knock. Is the arrow full of blood? If yes, that is a dead bull. If no, it's anybody guess.

Please tell me how the arrow is going to fill with blood? Never heard of or seen that.

 

[Borny1]

I'm not exactly sure how it happens, but I've seen it happen quite a bit and have talked to others who have seen it. It's gross.

 

[elkhnter]

Been bowhunting for 35 years this year and owned a shop for 12, never heard of that before. I’d say there’s bigger issues with the arrow if that happens.

 

[Western Traveler1]

ZSD did you ever go back? Not to sound critical but I would invest a lot longer than 4 hours for an arrow that looked like that. Could it have passed through high? Sure, but it could also be a dead elk. It sucks coming across a dead unrecovered elk during archery season.