Bow_Nut

I shot black bear tonight. The bear was lying down by a bucket of sweets covered by an old log, it was slightly quartering away. 23 yds from 18-20ft stand. Aimed at the middle and the opsite (right) front leg.
The arrow went pass trough, the bear jumped and bumped the the arrow perfectly vertical.
The blood was neither pink with bubbles nor dark red, and no slime from the guts.
Just heard a growl before the jump, no loud crack from the arrow, the bear came from the right and jumped left behind some bushes, the terrain is rising to the left, and not as dense as the right side.
I have no idea where I hit him, don't think I was high, because the arrow would've hit the log or go over it, I know I clipped some bone, hopefully a rib.
Problem is, I couldn't find a drop of blood in any direction, spent over one hour.
I'm going back at first light to do a systematic grid search.
Any hints from experienced bear hunters would be greatly appreciated.

Bow_Nut

Arrow pic, 1/2 of the the shaft from the muzzy broadhead was clean.

KBacon

Did you find any kicked up brush in the direction that he went? If you hit high.. did you check on foliage for blood.. not just on the ground. Sometimes if you get a high hit.. the body cavity has to fill w/ blood before is starts making it's way out of the body. From the blood on the arrow.. it looks a little dark which would indicate a possible liver hit to me.

The way we track difficult blood trails is that we start at the location where the animal was hit.. then one person stands there.. and another person or 2 circles the area till some sign is found. Then go to that sign.. and start over. Being very careful not to kick up the brush any more than nec. Like I said earlier.. make sure to look at more than just the ground.

Bow_Nut

KBacon,
Thank you for reply
I put my arror directly in my scanner, and it looks darker on the pic than it really is, unfortunately only the cock vane is grey, and the two other are brown, plus the camo shaft makes it difficult to tell. I don't think the blood is dark enough for leaver, a muscle maybe?
If I clipped only one lung, and muscle or leaver, what are my chances of finding it, and how far would the bear run, 500yds?

KBacon

It's really hard to say w/o more info.

Huntsalotey

Ive killed a couple bears and from my experience on alot of bear hits the fat from the bear can plug up the entrance and exit wombs. That would explain the lack of blood on the ground. Does not mean that the hit wasn't a good one. Just a possibility. I would look and see if there is any terrain that travels down hill that the bear could have possibly taken. Both my bear kills they traveled down hill. I found the first about 200 yards away and the second one was about 400 yards away. On the second one I hit the front shoulder though. That explains the distance it traveled. I don't know if its legal where you are but a good hound can lead you right to the bear in no time flat. I think with the pass through and aiming center that you have a dead bear somewhere. Don't quit. These suckers have been harder to track than anything else I have shot. I believe its out there waiting on you. Good luck.
Whitey

liquidorange

looks like liver to me. i second get a beagle or hound. they can go for a mile. good luck sounds like a good hit. get out there at sun up just in case it rains dont waste time.

Bow_Nut

Just got back from the search - bad news - no bear.
I was trying to get few experienced buddies to join the search party, but there was 2 day 3D shoot on the weekend, so they couldn't help me. So I called a friend who works on Indian Reserve 30 miles from where I shot the bear, he told me that he would try to line up couple of guys, gave him GPS co-ordinates where they can find my truck. I couldn't sleep last night, woke up at 4:30 am, jumped in my truck and got there at 6:00 am.
From the place where I saw the bear jumping into, I saw 3 bush trails he could possibly take (I didn't hear him charging through accross the thick bush), I got down on my knees and checked all the trails for about 100 yards, didn't find any blood. The guys from reserve showed up at 9:00, and we started grid search 200 yards in each direction in heavy bush - no luck, some old bear marks but no blood, we drove for lunch at 2:00 pm, they gave up, and I went back for few more hours, and then totally frustrated I took down my stand, and dismantled my bait station - no bear hunting for me at least this year. I'll go back to shooting foam.
It will take a while till I'll be able to put this bad experience behind, I keep second guessing myself, before I took the stand down I took another shot with Muzzy aiming at the log where the bear was, I hit the log where I wanted, busted the arrow and broadhead, but it gave me tiny bit of comfort by the fact that if I missed the spot on the bear it wasn't by much.
Still somewhere there is an abandoned dead bear or even worse he is still suffering - it makes me sick.

nubo

Sorry to hear you didn't find your bear,Sometimes these thing's happen for a reason . You'll have to mark it down to experience I guess and learn from it somehow .I'm not saying you made a mistake but you'll learn just how perfect you'll have to be when bearhunting and just how tough these animal's are to kill.

nubo

gibblet

glad to hear you are a human being and it hurts - and you're not just like - oh well - about it. i got a turkey last year with my bow - when i was going to pick it up it flew off down the pasture into the woods by the pond. i found it, but it took off again, but was badly hurt. i didn't know where it went and began to 'freak' - feeling terrible. i went down to the house for a smoke and a think and thought i'll take my girl's dog - he's smart. i took him to where i hit the turkey - stuck some blood and feathers in his face and asked him to find me the bird and damned if he didn't go right to where the bird flew by the pond and then just get puzzled. i put the feathers and bloody skin back to his nose and encouraged him and he found the bird about 125 yds away on another wooded bank and pounced it - knocking it down the bank - and was he ever surprised the bird wasn't dead - i got it, it tasted great - even the ground legs and thigh for turkey taco's - and i second the idea to get a dog to help + i learned no more 50+ yard shots at turkeys.