Thoughts on this shot? - Tim Wells

[DouglasR]

I’ve helped with one left overnight. It was shot right at dark, recovered early the next morning. Temps when we left the truck for recovery were -2. Smelliest elk I’ve ever been around when it was gutted. If I remember correctly about half was lost. As cold as it was much of the meat still had warmth in it at recovery

1. I’m not a hunter, I’m an asshole who heard Cam Hanes on the radio.
2. I shot one in Colorado the evening of opening day and didn’t find it until 12-1 the following day.
It was like 85 degrees and it was laying in the sun.
Oddly it wasn’t resting on one side, it was kinda like he just laid down and died sitting up.
I lost more than 1/2 the meat because I suck and something either snagged one of the rear q’s out of a tree or I just lost it when returning the next day.
But...
The front 2 q’s and rear that I got weren’t horrible.
Some of the ground was pretty funky, but I ate it all as chili and chorizo.

Again, I’m a moron for doing that, but it was a learning experience and I have no plans of attempting to solo a bull again anytime soon if ever.

If I was a better butcher and had a bit more of a plan I definitely would’ve taken and eaten more than half of the meat.

 

[rjthehunter]

What is this the 80’s? Hunting is about antlers, kewl kill shots, hot babes, and likes. #getwiththetimesbrosef


Seriously though people in Nebraska load elk in the back of their trucks like deer and drive them around for an entire day. Seen several hung like deer with hide still on in above freezing temps. Makes me sick that they don’t know what they are wasting.

Those guys are the same guys that eat the nasty meat and don't even realize. Or make burger out of it lol. There are lots that are dumb enough that they not only let it spoil, but then eat it once it's spoiled... Nasty.

 

[Deleted member 18333]

Has anyone left an elk overnight and not lost ~1/2?

Made a shitty archery hit on a bull a few years ago in mid sept, Wyoming. Could not find it that night. Found it the next morning after a few hours of looking. Not sure how long it had been dead but I don't think it had been long. Very little if any rigor. It was all good. Lost more meat from carving out the old bullet lodged in its back strap than from rot.

 

[DouglasR]

Those guys are the same guys that eat the nasty meat and don't even realize. Or make burger out of it lol. There are lots that are dumb enough that they not only let it spoil, but then eat it once it's spoiled... Nasty.

Unless there’s something medically dangerous about eating it, I feel like if you kill it you should eat it.

 

[rjthehunter]

Unless there’s something medically dangerous about eating it, I feel like if you kill it you should eat it.

I'm not a doctor. But if you're not sure about it and it smells bad. Don't eat it.

Whether you're prepping a steak, in the bedroom, or at taco bell, if it smells bad to the point you question it... Don't eat it!

 

[Irrelevant]

Made a shitty archery hit on a bull a few years ago in mid sept, Wyoming. Could not find it that night. Found it the next morning after a few hours of looking. Not sure how long it had been dead but I don't think it had been long. Very little if any rigor. It was all good. Lost more meat from carving out the old bullet lodged in its back strap than from rot.

I lost one three years ago in ID, actually a late morning shot, waited, bumped it, waited some more, searched all day, never found it. Went back the next morning and found it not 50 years above the highest transect we did, right as tree line (so much for wounded critters run down...). We found it from the smell. We packed it all off, and processed as much as I could, but it was not good. By the end no one else would eat it, even in a thick curry. I think it got worse in the freezer after a few months.

 

[DouglasR]

I'm not a doctor. But if you're not sure about it and it smells bad. Don't eat it.

Whether you're prepping a steak, in the bedroom, or at taco bell, if it smells bad to the point you question it... Don't eat it!

Elk meat’s elk meat bro.

 

[LuketheDog]

Even in subzero?

Had a client gut-shoot a bull last November, it was sub-zero at night and still below freezing during the day. It ran off but we found it a day after it expired laying in a spot fully exposed to the sun all day long, we tried to save some meat but it was 100% spoiled.

 

[Dsnow9]

Reminds me of two hunts I know about. First of all was Hushin’s chesser with the long bomb of a shot on the elk 90+. Editing made it look like that bull was tracked down the next day and killed when in reality it was days later when they finally killed it.

Another was a tv hunter that killed a deer my father in laws property in Fort Morgan CO. The tv show made it appear that the hunter dropped the deer on its feet (rifle). The processor said it had five holes in it. Only one of which in the vitals. On the show they never showed the first four shots. He said that over 50 percent of the meat was lost to damage.

The questions I have are, was it really that far? How many arrows did he shoot? And when did they actually recover it?

I agree with most others in that the meat was ruined. Always track your animal down!

 

[Deleted member 18333]

I lost one three years ago in ID, actually a late morning shot, waited, bumped it, waited some more, searched all day, never found it. Went back the next morning and found it not 50 years above the highest transect we did, right as tree line (so much for wounded critters run down...). We found it from the smell. We packed it all off, and processed as much as I could, but it was not good. By the end no one else would eat it, even in a thick curry. I think it got worse in the freezer after a few months.

That sucks! Its a risk even with the best of shots and everything goes right. Which is all the more reason why Wells' shot decision is trash, IMO.

 

[Irrelevant]

Which is all the more reason why Wells' shot decision is trash, IMO.

1,000,000%

 

[Deleted member 18333]

By the end no one else would eat it, even in a thick curry.

You know its rough when the hope is curry will make it smell better.

 

[Elkmagnet]

That sucks! Its a risk even with the best of shots and everything goes right. Which is all the more reason why Wells' shot decision is trash, IMO.

Too much goes wrong at reasonable distances!

 

[rjthehunter]

Elk meat’s elk meat bro.

Yeah? If it's rotten elk meat I'm not going to eat it. Knock yourself out if you want to eat rotten meat. I eat what I shoot, but God forbid I make a bad shot and the elk spoils. The solution to that problem is not getting yourself and others sick by eating it.

 

[Nick87]

Seen several hung like deer with hide still on in above freezing temps

I've killed a LOT of deer that have been hung hide on above freezing. Never any waste.

 

[Stocker]

I've killed a LOT of deer that have been hung hide on above freezing. Never any waste.

IMO deer are smaller and ok to be hung (under circumstances), I’ve done it, an elk is different, warm bones, hide keeps the heat. If it’s convenient I’ll prop open a deer and hang it, but generally I break them down and get them in a cooler or freezer ASAP.

Everyone told me how horrible antelope was, I’ve killed 1. I quartered it, washed it out and hung it. Best meat I’ve ever had. Now every critter I kill I get caped and meat cooled down ASAP and honestly it’s made a big difference in flavor and quality of meat.

I’m not saying I’m right but it works out well for me.

 

[Nick87]

I've killed a LOT of deer that have been hung hide on above freezing. Never any waste.

IMO deer are smaller and ok to be hung (under circumstances), I’ve done it, an elk is different, warm bones, hide keeps the heat. If it’s convenient I’ll prop open a deer and hang it, but generally I break them down and get them in a cooler or freezer ASAP.

Everyone told me how horrible antelope was, I’ve killed 1. I quartered it, washed it out and hung it. Best meat I’ve ever had. Now every critter I kill I get caped and meat cooled down ASAP and honestly it’s made a big difference in flavor and quality of meat.

I’m not saying I’m right but it works out well for me.

Agreed elk is different. I'm not talking temps in the 60s if it's under 45 I usually hang them hide on for a day or two.

 

[SaskHunter]

I've killed a LOT of deer that have been hung hide on above freezing. Never any waste.

It's fine for deer and they cool pretty quick. I wouldn't do it for elk or moose though.

 

[Schaaf]

I knew better than to click on this thread.

 

[DouglasR]

I knew better than to click on this thread.

For $700 and 1000 miles of driving I don’t care if I’m boiling hooves for jello cups, I’m eating something off that sob.