MT District 302 lost Archery Elk found - Medicine Lodge

[KipCarson]

Whether you’re using a rifle, bow, or slingshot it’s obvious there are clowns in every genre of shooting.
While butchering my bull that I killed with a BOW this September I found lead fragments low down in his brisket and he had a divot in the backstrap with lead fragments from a bullet that clipped him there. 2 different shots, might have been one incident, or maybe 2 different crappy shooters at different times. So that obviously means the bow is the superior weapon!

My friends here who have tracking dogs, stay way busier during rifle season than bow season, so rifles obviously suck… or maybe it’s because they’re more people out in the woods hunting with a rifle? Any way you slice it, you can say whatever you want with anecdotal evidence to suit your perspective. all the armchair quarterbacking doesn’t help a thing. Crappy stuff happens to ethical and non-ethical hunters alike when you are out in real world conditions trying to kill an animal who is actively trying to evade you. But hey, it’s definitely more fun to argue about what’s best! Lol.

 

[BenhuntinMT]

My hunting partner shot a bull this year with an expandable broadhead stuck in the spine. It looked as if it had been in there a while, the right brow tines were deformed and a lot smaller than the left ones. It looked to completely healed with no damaged back straps in that area. These animals are very tough and resilient.

 

[4ohSick]

I’m not bias toward one weapon over the other but something that is increasingly getting annoying to me is the amount of animals that are getting shot and lost and always being chalked up to being hit in the “void”.

I do recognize that is a real thing but it seams everyone tries to use it as an excuse for a poor shot.
I shot a doe with a rifle 3 nights ago right at dark and never found a drop of blood or hair but knew I killed her. Walked 100 yards into the greenbrier and there she was. Big globs of fat instantly plugged the holes.

I just wonder how many times things like that happen and when people don’t see mass amounts of blood on the ground the immediately go to thinking it’s hit in the void.
When I was younger it was explained to me that hitting the void was about as rare as you could expect because of the small size. Now it seems it’s hit by every neighbor around and every person I encounter.

The void actually doesn't exist; I think most hunters who "hit the void" are just punching through the backstraps or it's a super high lung shot that doesn't bleed until the pleural space fills with blood and the hunter's already given up the search.

The Truth About “The Void” in a Deer’s Chest

No biologist, veterinarian, or medical professional believes the popular bowhunting claim that deer have dead space high in their chest. That void, it’s said, lets a broadhead pass through with little harm to the deer if it just happens to exhale as the arrow hits, supposedly opening the space...

www.themeateater.com

edit: the linked youtube video at the end of the article is a good watch

 

[tops911]

I go on about 8-10 elk tracks a year with my dogs and so far I've never went on track for a rifle elk but I did one rifle deer. I get close to 20 calls a year during bow season but I can't go on all of them. I did get a couple calls this year during rifle season to track but for what ever reason the hunters decided not to use us. I wish we'd get calls sooner, most calls are 2-4 days after the shot and a cadaver dog would be more appropriate, LOL. I did track for a hunter this year that had his act together, he saw the buck bed down after the shot. The hunter waited 9 hours and went back and glassed from about 700 yards trying to see the buck in the evening. Two does spooked the buck and the hunter backed out and gave me a call. We tracked and recovered the dead buck the next morning.

 

[more_cowbell]

I shot my 85th and 86th elk tonight, have never found a bullet in one that wasn't mine. Did find 3 .22 slugs in deer over the years.

But I just dont have your vast knowledge with elk.

Today was stellar, 5 cows and a bull. 2 tags left for tomorrow.

“And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death”

Maybe change your HT name to Buzz Reaper, or Pale Rider?

 

[OKED]

Out of all the elk I have killed, not one has had a broadhead in it. Plenty have had some sort of bullet.

Long range rifles are as hard on wounds as long range archery.

Exactly, how many people are shooting 600 to 800 yards at elk with a rifle that aren't capable of shooting that far? A few are very proficient at extended ranges but lots of them aren't but that doesn't stop them from slinging lead. There are nonethicial hunters in all areas , not just bow hunters.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

You guys talking about long range shooting are cute. Like there aren't people flock shooting running cows and calves and gun hunters who cant hit shit. How many stories are there of guys missing elk, with a rifle (how in the eff?).

The majority of hunters just suck at shooting, with any weapon.