Your Personal Wounding Rate- Archery Elk
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FREAK
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Wow, I skimmed through some of the comments on that one. Easily 15+ people messaging the guy to see if it was their bull. That means there’s 15 guys that think that bull looks close enough to the one they hit but didn't recover. It's like a twisted Cinderella story with a bunch of grown men trying to match an arrow..
Did this chit always go on at this rate or am I just more away of it because of SM? I’d rather go back to not knowing.
And don't get me wrong, I've had a couple go wrong and get it can get messy in a hurry but no way I'm posting about it for the world to see. Now we have dogs, thermal drones, and SM to save the day, might as well send it...
cgasner1
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Now those people have a picture of a dead elk to show off saying I thought it was this bull. He was about this big when it was probably about 40” smaller
FREAK
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I went through a bad spell a couple years ago. Target panic or just being a chity hunter or whatever you want to call it. When I was younger I would pull back and had 100% confidence the deer/elk was dead if I settled a pin on them. I definitely got humbled later in my archery hunting experience and had to really take a hard look at the shots I was taking. Nothing worse than hitting an elk and spending multiple days/multiple weekends trying to make a bad shot right. Anymore, I try and compensate by getting close and taking really high probability shots. Had a nice 6 pt at 40 yards this last Saturday. Bumped him in his bed and cow called to hold him up. 40-45 yards but alert. I would've taken that shot all day 3-4 years ago but my recent experience made me hesitate and not take a rushed shot. Oh well, he's fine and I get to keep hunting. There's always another bull to chase so if it's not right I don't shoot.
Pretty sure it’s always been going on. I remember as a kid guys talking about wounding elk all the time. Nothing new
Bambistew
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Agreed. No way this poll is representative. I don't believe it. I've known lots of bow hunters and every single one of them has lost animals. Most have taken less than 10 animals.
I quit bowhunting because of wounding and losing animals. I used to practice 8-9 months out of the year. I shot a couple dozen animals with a bow, deer/elk/antelope. I lost 3 ~12%. None were "bad" shots, one deer the arrow deflected off the ribs (mechanical) (he probably lived), another bull was buried to the fletching mid ribs, never found it, looked for 2 days with 3 friends, the last was quartering away down hill, pass through, bled like crazy, jumped him 3 hours later and never found him, there was no way the bull lived. Likely hit one lung. Bowhunting is no where near as effective as a rifle. Sure is fun, challenging and you can kill them, but putting an arrow in the chest cavity and not finding them is just stupid, the margin of error is too much for me. I've lost one animal with a rifle out of ~130.
utah400elk
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In 35 years of elk hunting I have only lost one elk. I tracked it for over 9 miles and I am sure it lived. All other archery elk have fallen within 200 yards of shot.
cgasner1
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How was the hike back to the truck?
Irrelevant
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1. I'm glad it's not just me. But regarding the bold section, my response is "for some". That's never the case in WA, and for NRs we have like a 1-2 weeks, at best, somewhere with decent elk hunting, so while there may still be tomorrow, there may not be. I'm not trying to make excuses (irony because I am), but it's hard to avoid the stress and pressure of an out-of-state hunt that you've looked forward to for many years (or maybe just all summer), doing enough right to create an opportunity and then not trying to make the most of it. For me, being the shittiest of archery hunters (while my practice shooting is pretty good, and my hunting is pretty good right up until the moment of truth), that stress and the adrenaline of the moment were always too strong for rational thought and execution. As a person who values doing hard things, making difficult choices, and constantly pushing for personal growth, it was a real bitter pill to give up on archery, but the elk don't deserve the brunt of my continued failures as I pushed to be a better hunter in that final moment of truth.
utah400elk
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That was over two days. It sucked. Worst feeling ever.
Elky Welky
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This is spot on. If someone has only been bow hunting for two years and they wounded one, recovered another, then the odds would be 50%. The longer you hunt, the more likely that number will go down.
Great. So wound a few until you are experienced. mtmuley
hunter49
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I'm am avid archer and take things pretty serious. Thought most others were. Cause to be proficient you have to practice and it's takes a level of dedication.
Then I went out this Sept to a easy to draw unit. And let's just say. I had to reformulate my opinion on the matter a smidge.
Then I went out this Sept to a easy to draw unit. And let's just say. I had to reformulate my opinion on the matter a smidge.
OleRedbeard
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Same with what I have seen. Taking whatever shot they can and then pushing the animal or not looking hard enough for blood and or just a lack of woodsmanship
cgasner1
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Run a fine line sometimes between what is taught to let a liver hit animal expire without bumping it to losing the entire animal to spoilage from the warmer temps during archery
buffybr
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I started bow hunting in 1970 when I was still in the Army and stationed at Ft Sill, OK. I ordered a recurve bow and some fiberglass arrrows from Herter's. Prior to that I had only killed a few mule deer and 1 elk with rifles, so I didn't know much about bow hunting.
Several years later I was out of the service, graduated from college, and was back home in Steamboat Spgs, CO. On August 14th, opening day of archery season that year, I decided to try bow hunting for an elk just outside of town.
Still hunting in the oak brush, I heard some large animals moving through the brush toward me, so I crouched down and waited. The first animal was a spike elk and I let him walk by. The next animal was a 5x5 bull and when he stepped into the clearing 10 yards from me, I put one of my fiberglass arrows with a Bear razor insert broadhead right behind his shoulder.
I sat down to wait before going after him and heard the noon whistle blow in town, so I ate a sandwich. About 20 minutes later I got up to go after him and immediately a 3rd elk that had been standing there the whole time, crashed away throuogh the brush.
I don't think that my bull had run over 100 yards, but it took me about an hour to find him. I immediately dresssed him and propped open his body cavity with a stick, and I went back home. I didn't get back to him until 6 o'clock that evening when the landowner showed me the way to get my truck right to him. As soon as I got home I quartered him, and a friend let me hang those quarters in his garage. That was Saturday night.
Monday morning, my friend called me and said "Get that stinky thing out of here!" So I brought him home and startedto butcher him. The front and back quarters that had been laying on the ground had not properly cooled and had soured, so I essentially lost half of that elk.
He might not have soured if I had immediately completely skinned and quartered him and had hung those quarters off of the ground, but I personally think that those 80 degree mid August temperatures a just too hot to hunt elk, especially if you are hunting alone, and can't quickly get the meat into a cooler.
Now, every time that I see a TV hunting show where they shoot an animal late in the day, and they say "lets not push him, wi'll come back and find him in the morning" I think to my self that the meat on that animal will be soured.
Several years later I was out of the service, graduated from college, and was back home in Steamboat Spgs, CO. On August 14th, opening day of archery season that year, I decided to try bow hunting for an elk just outside of town.
Still hunting in the oak brush, I heard some large animals moving through the brush toward me, so I crouched down and waited. The first animal was a spike elk and I let him walk by. The next animal was a 5x5 bull and when he stepped into the clearing 10 yards from me, I put one of my fiberglass arrows with a Bear razor insert broadhead right behind his shoulder.
I sat down to wait before going after him and heard the noon whistle blow in town, so I ate a sandwich. About 20 minutes later I got up to go after him and immediately a 3rd elk that had been standing there the whole time, crashed away throuogh the brush.
I don't think that my bull had run over 100 yards, but it took me about an hour to find him. I immediately dresssed him and propped open his body cavity with a stick, and I went back home. I didn't get back to him until 6 o'clock that evening when the landowner showed me the way to get my truck right to him. As soon as I got home I quartered him, and a friend let me hang those quarters in his garage. That was Saturday night.
Monday morning, my friend called me and said "Get that stinky thing out of here!" So I brought him home and startedto butcher him. The front and back quarters that had been laying on the ground had not properly cooled and had soured, so I essentially lost half of that elk.
He might not have soured if I had immediately completely skinned and quartered him and had hung those quarters off of the ground, but I personally think that those 80 degree mid August temperatures a just too hot to hunt elk, especially if you are hunting alone, and can't quickly get the meat into a cooler.
Now, every time that I see a TV hunting show where they shoot an animal late in the day, and they say "lets not push him, wi'll come back and find him in the morning" I think to my self that the meat on that animal will be soured.
Irishman
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In the first 15 years that I bowhunted, I definitely wounded a few elk, missed others. In the last 20 years everything I've shot at has been found dead within 1/2 hour. In the first 15 years I didn't use a rangefinder, arrows were heavier, no release for years - advances in equipment has made archery much easier. Another difference is that I learned from mistakes that I made earlier, and know when to shoot. I've never taken long shots.
Bhoesl
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No offense to you, and congratulations on your success , however I feel the “half hour” or less statement could give newer bow hunters a bad idea. There are definitely situations where it is much safer to wait longer than that, even with a great hit, rather than pursuing an animal too soon…
kiwi hunter
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This is a great thread for trolls and antis.
