I think im cursed!

[Hilljackoutlaw]

went back into the Frank solo this weekend. Shot a really good bull Sunday. It was an unreal hunt and experience. This bull came from a long ways away and he was VERY VERY angry. I was kinda in a crappy spot in a bunch of brushy trees between 4 and 7ft tall. When he got close he was just plowing crap over and screaming challenge bugles. I seriously think he would of ran me over eventually if I didn't shoot him first. He was circling and trying so hard to find me all i could see was antlers above the brushy trees. Just awesome as all get out. Anyways I eventually shot him at 15 yards slightly quartering to me. He ran around to the other side of me and the blow down I was hiding in. He stopped 12 yards and was staring at me for roughly 5 minutes. I was trying to get another shot but he wouldn't turn his head. During this time I was watching the bright red blood pour from his side right where it should like a faucet. He finally turns walks to about 20 yards and I flung another arrow thru the brush at him and wacked his front shoulder with that arrow. He took off running after that shot and I hit the calls. I investigated the blood and went back to retrieve all my gear and settle in for a few minutes before the tracking. Then i heard a bugle close by so my curiosity peaked to see this other bull. Well I snuck up to the top of the finger and looked. Sure enough it was the bull I shot. Wtf???? So I unstrap my bow and nock an arrow. Sneak up there and can't get a shot. He starts moving tho be it very slowly across the side hill (cliff). I follow him calling with bugle and cow calls. He responds half the time and when he does the blood sprays from his side. I keep following him but he never turned for me to shoot. He was barely moving but moving and bugling none the less. It was close to dark by this time so I pulled out. Well I just spent the last two days looking for him in ridiculous terrain with zero luck! I'm mind boggled that I can't find him. Only thing I can guess is that I hit one lung because of the quartering to shot. The blood was by the buckets tho so its just crazy to me. Also buckets of blood at the spot of impact with first arrow. I may go up this weekend and try and look for him more tho the meat will be wasted i feel its something I need to do.

So the reason I say I'm cursed is because everything under the sun happens to me while elk hunting is completely unconventional. Nothing ever goes according to plan atleast when im the shooter. If im taking an out of state friend or family member its all rainbows and ice cream cones and the world is perfect..haha
I'm bummed and pissed but oh well the world keeps spinning and work still comes at 7am tomorrow morning. ☹

 

[Hilljackoutlaw]

This PBR in Salmon is cold tho and I got off the mountain just in time for last call. So I got that going for me!

 

[dcopas78]

That sucks. Hope you can find him although I know that will be bitter sweet with meat being ruined. I had a real similar shot on a whitetail one year. I waited about an hour to track, lots of blood. Walked up about 70 yards from him bedded on an old log road. He looked completely dead...fully stretched out, head on the ground, etc. I brought binos up on him and noticed his eye was open, so I decided to wait. After about another half hour, he got up and started walking away from me slowly and nearly acted like nothing was happening. He got in a thicket and I lost sight of him, no blood, etc. My dad ended up finding him that spring while shed hunting and he wasn't too far from where I last saw him in a bunch of old thick growth. I'm sure I had walked within feet of him during the search and just never saw him. Hope your luck changes

 

[Dave N]

That's a tough one. Knowing it's got to be somewhere has to hurt.
I guess you won't be adding any arrows to the owl downtown?

 

[teej89]

Dang man sorry to hear that, that's always a tough one to have happen. Unfortunately as hunters it's eventually going to happen at some point in time, nothing is ever perfect

Best of luck in your search!

 

[Western Traveler1]

Wow, sorry to hear. It sounded like the perfect set-up with a dead elk at your feet. Bugling while gushing blood. I hope you find him regardless.

 

[IEATELK]

went back into the Frank solo this weekend. Shot a really good bull Sunday. It was an unreal hunt and experience. This bull came from a long ways away and he was VERY VERY angry. I was kinda in a crappy spot in a bunch of brushy trees between 4 and 7ft tall. When he got close he was just plowing crap over and screaming challenge bugles. I seriously think he would of ran me over eventually if I didn't shoot him first. He was circling and trying so hard to find me all i could see was antlers above the brushy trees. Just awesome as all get out. Anyways I eventually shot him at 15 yards slightly quartering to me. He ran around to the other side of me and the blow down I was hiding in. He stopped 12 yards and was staring at me for roughly 5 minutes. I was trying to get another shot but he wouldn't turn his head. During this time I was watching the bright red blood pour from his side right where it should like a faucet. He finally turns walks to about 20 yards and I flung another arrow thru the brush at him and wacked his front shoulder with that arrow. He took off running after that shot and I hit the calls. I investigated the blood and went back to retrieve all my gear and settle in for a few minutes before the tracking. Then i heard a bugle close by so my curiosity peaked to see this other bull. Well I snuck up to the top of the finger and looked. Sure enough it was the bull I shot. Wtf???? So I unstrap my bow and nock an arrow. Sneak up there and can't get a shot. He starts moving tho be it very slowly across the side hill (cliff). I follow him calling with bugle and cow calls. He responds half the time and when he does the blood sprays from his side. I keep following him but he never turned for me to shoot. He was barely moving but moving and bugling none the less. It was close to dark by this time so I pulled out. Well I just spent the last two days looking for him in ridiculous terrain with zero luck! I'm mind boggled that I can't find him. Only thing I can guess is that I hit one lung because of the quartering to shot. The blood was by the buckets tho so its just crazy to me. Also buckets of blood at the spot of impact with first arrow. I may go up this weekend and try and look for him more tho the meat will be wasted i feel its something I need to do.

So the reason I say I'm cursed is because everything under the sun happens to me while elk hunting is completely unconventional. Nothing ever goes according to plan atleast when im the shooter. If im taking an out of state friend or family member its all rainbows and ice cream cones and the world is perfect..haha
I'm bummed and pissed but oh well the world keeps spinning and work still comes at 7am tomorrow morning. ☹

Did the blood quit?

 

[Hilljackoutlaw]

Did the blood quit?

Yea must of clotted up at some point.

 

[Sytes]

What a royal bummer! The blood rush with hot bulls moving in... Then blood squirting off to unknown land - must tear at you. I had a muley with similar setting... Searched like hell - 2 days later found it.

 

[rtraverdavis]

Man, that is rough. I hope you can go back and find him.

 

[COEngineer]

My daughter had that experience on a whitetail doe (first and only thing she has shot with her bow). My uncle (who has seen it all in the whitetail woods) saw the blood trail and said something like, "Well, this won't take long." 2 days of searching and they never found it.

I hope you do find yours and can do something of an autopsy, figure out what happened. Good luck.

 

[Hilljackoutlaw]

I was so sure I was gonna find him expired i had the llama whisperers at wilderness ridge on standby to come help me get him out of the hole where I thought he expired in. Had the cart in front of the horses there but wanted to be prepared to get him out in a timely fashion and not lose any tasty meat.

 

[JDH]

Yea must of clotted up at some point.

Did you check all around the area where last blood was? I shot a whitetail (one lung and liver) and the blood stopped but knew it was fatal based on the previous blood loss. I think he literally ran out of blood to lose and we found him piled up about 5 yards away off to the side of the blood trail.

 

[MTelkHuntress]

Well I just spent the last two days looking for him in ridiculous terrain with zero luck! I'm mind boggled that I can't find him.

The same exact thing happened to me this year, first elk I've ever shot too. Murphy's law strikes again it seems. It's amazing how tough those animals are. Strange things happen.

 

[Hilljackoutlaw]

Did you check all around the area where last blood was? I shot a whitetail (one lung and liver) and the blood stopped but knew it was fatal based on the previous blood loss. I think he literally ran out of blood to lose and we found him piled up about 5 yards away off to the side of the blood trail.

I gridded it pretty good. Its awfully thick tho. Just me its tough to cover all that ground. Very good possibility I walked right by him. Like you said based on blood loss I just don't know how he could of lived. Plus he could barley walk so he couldn't of gone far. Idk

 

[Stone_Ice_1]

I 2nd others opinions. If he really lost that much blood he is probably close by, even closer than you think. I had an antelope that lost a ton of blood, gave it a couple hours when I could see her bedded down from a long distance away. Walked up on her, head down and looking very much dead, even had my bow drawn just in case. Soon as I put the bow down she went from laying out flat to a dead run in no time. She didn't go far though as she had no blood left in her and tipped over. I walked up to her and put another one in her to end it. Gutting her out was the cleanest animal I have every worked with, there was no blood left.

 

[Mallardsx2]

Blood tracking dog anywhere nearby?

 

[Hilljackoutlaw]

Blood tracking dog anywhere nearby?

Closest I could find was in Utah.

 

[zpooch]

Nittany?

 

[JLS]

I know there are blood tracking dogs in Stevensville, vom de Berge kennels. Chris Blasowski is the owner. If he can't help, he may be able to refer you to someone closer.

Good luck. Been there, it sucks.