MHKen

I made what looked like a perfect shot at a nice Roosevelt Elk yesterday (35 yards uphill, 2" behind shoulder, mid level) and seen the arrow penetrate. It bucked and then ran off with 20 or so other animals. I thought for sure it would be down in minutes. Although after 15-20 minutes and then looking for a blood trail I was suprised to not find any at first and then picking up only a light trail, no lung blood or bright artery blood. I followed the trail (tedious) for approx half mile before I lost it in a clear cut. Anybody else ever have this experience? I am shooting a 435 grain carbon with a 125 grain Muzzy at 260 fps.

Discusted about loosing a nice animal!

Ken

Belle Island

First I would ask if you got a pass through. If not, the arrow could be stopping the entry hole and there may be no exit hole. I've had this happen before. The only way I have found to recover animals like this is to do a LOT of foot work. You may have to walk every inch of the area where you think the elk may have died. However, half a mile seems like a long way for a double lung hit like you described. Is it possible that you may have hit a little further back than you think? Sounds a lot like a gut shot to me. On the other hand, freaky things sometimes happen. A few years ago I made a perfect heart shot on big buck with a rifle. There was not one drop of blood. Luckily I saw the deer drop after about 150 yds. Good luck man, losing an animal is a horrible feeling.

Hunt the thickets

BOW HNT

Sorry to hear about not recovering the elk.

The first deer my brother shot was a big fat doe. She was walking down a steep ditch quartering away, with a two blade broadhead. The arrow did not pass through and there were only a few drops of blood. He watched her go up a hill and marked where she walked/ran into another ditch.

She probably went 150-200 yards with only a few drops of blood. When we found her the arrow had taken one lung and clipped the heart, but she had so much fat, it had held the blood in the cavity.

sprintflyer

I had a small buck go 150 yards with a one lung/liver shot and almost no bloodtrail last year.

The shot angle went in behind the ribs and did not exit the sholder.

The arrow broke off but a gut pluged the entry hole.

It took a while but with some help we recovered the deer.

cardeer

Sorry ,I know how you feel,that will be on your mind forever

ruttnbuck

im sure you did not get much sleep that night, sorry to hear that. I too have been there once. As my luck would have it, the first week of hunting last year i called in a nice eight pointer popped him what i thought was a good shot and never did retrieve him, very upsetting.

WV Hunter

Sorry you didn't get it, but OBVIOUSLY it wasn't a perfect shot. Perfect shot animals don't go over 1/2 mile....ever. I think if it was me, I'd still be looking for it. Hope you find it.

Willisalb

it happens to us all that is why they call it hunting not killing

Hunt with your kids, not for them!

trapperDave

Been there,done that. Sorry about your luck.Keep looking though,especially around water and heading downhill.<img src=icon_smile_dissapprove.gif border=0 align=middle>

CLOUD 9, MN

How long did you wait before tracking it? Push them and the job gets really hard. For deer, I wait 2 hours if possible 1 hur minimum.

PRACTICE....PRACTICE....PRACTICE......SUCCESS!