What did the elk do after the shot

[Lefty]

Not the kill shot, but hits and misses where you werent able to tag the elk.

[ElkNut1]

Wow, so many things come to mind with so many past years of hunting elk!!! Some run like crazy & do not stop no matter the sound used to halt them, others stop & are in cover where a 2nd shot is nearly impossible! Other times we get lucky & call them back in. A lot depends on what they've seen or not seen when they were shot at??

I remember one instance where we were working a herd bull, it was in thick cover & the bull was aprox 150yds above us warning us not to come any closer. My son was doing the calling which was mostly bull sounds, bugling & lots of chuckling! I was the shooter & about 35yds up front in the heavy cover. After about 2 minutes of Paul II trading sounds with him I see movement ahead of me & to my left, it was a 5-point slipping in unannounced to my sons calling. I watched this bull coming down, down, down until he was straight across at the level as me at about 22yds, I was at full draw & tried stopping him with a cow call then two & three, (this was years ago) he never heard me I guess or couldn't care less? It was one of the last times I ever used a cow sound to stop a bull too!! (grin) Anyway, the bull stopped on his own but was in 3' high chaparral brush, I felt I had a lane since he was so close to slip an arrow in, this bull never saw me but instead was focused on the caller! I aimed & shot, the arrow went a foot in front of the bulls neck as it caught a piece of the brush & glanced away from him, the bull bolted & left the way he had come! I kept up with some soft mews as he went up the hill through the brush & out of sight over a 150yds away, my son too kept up his barrage of bugles & chuckling, within a minute I see this same bull coming back but he did a 1/2 moon circle & this time was coming to my right side, I drew as he came & stopped once again at just over 20yds looking in my sons direction, this time I whistled one through him! That was a 2nd shot bull! (grin)

I know you said not the "kill shot" but this is the 1st one that came to mind! Just pretend I missed him on the 2nd shot! (grin)

ElkNut1

[buglmin]

A few years ago, I had a NM and a colorado elk tag, and was really wanting to kill two nice bulls...Sept 1st, in NM, on the evening hunt, I called in and killed a nice 290ish bull...packed him out the next morning, loaded camp and headed home, to unload, load and head to Colorado...dont know why, but I grabbed my Hoyt GM recurve instead of my DAS...so, the next morning, in Colorado, right at first lite, i got a bull cranking, and here he comes...he catches me in a bad spot, oakbrush and lots of underbrush...he comes down the lil valley and walks into view some 30 yards away, a nice 300ish bull, and doesnt stop. He is on a mission, and coming straight at me...my nephew is back behind me, maybe 12 yards away, turns his head, covers his mouth, and cow calls...at about ten yards away, the bull screams, lowers his head, and comes through the brush...when he is three yarsds away, he turns, opening up to me, and I suck the string back, touch anchor, and dump the string...and MISS!!! The bull quickly back peddles, spins and runs some 25 yards the way he came. Again, my nephew turns his head, cow calls, and here he comes...he comes in the same way he did the first time, and I see my first arrow flick up as he steps on it...again, at around three yards, he opens up, so I suck the string back, tough anchor....and MISS AGAIN!!! The bull whirls and crashes off through the brush as I cow call, and he stops, screams back at me, and starts to come back...I tell my nephew to stop calling and to leave him alone, he doesnt deserve to die that morning...

one of the coolest things I've ever seen happened several years ago. One morning, my dad and I are chasing bugling bulls, and as luck would have it, my dad gets in front of a nice 5 point and three cows....as they pass in front of him some 15 yards away, dad draws his lil Bob Lee recurve and sticks the bull perfectly...and the bull dont react, at all!! I quickly cow call and then bugle, hoping to stop him, and it does. The bull turns around, throws his head back, and a mist of blood sprays the air as he tries to bugle...the bull then just tuns to follow the cows, goes a few steps, slowly lays down, and he's done.

[idahoghost]

After I missed the first time, he pointed to a spot right behind his left shoulder. After I missed the second shot, he walked off shaking his head and giggling.

[Swede]

The incident that comes to mind is where I hit a bull late one evening. The hit looked a little low, but well within the lethal zone. The bull slowly walked on for about 20 yards, turned away and just stood. I tried to get another arrow into him while he stood facing away, but he walked off into some heavy brush before I could draw and shoot. Well I tracked him for about 1/3 mile. He stopped and bled twice. I found the arrow in a pool of blood about 100 yards from where I shot him. I thought he would be down very nearby. As he couninued to travel, the blood trail got more and more difficult to follow. Finally the blood stopped all together. I looked for him for another couple hours then gave up for the night. Early the next day I went back. I never found him until it was too late. He was a little over 0.6 miles from where he was shot. These are some of worst things that occasionally happen on a hunt. You try to move on, but they still haunt you. Thankfully, by being careful you can minimize these events.

[Lefty]

After I missed the first time, he pointed to a spot right behind his left shoulder. After I missed the second shot, he walked off shaking his head and giggling.

Whe must be hunting the same bull

[pikemaster]

One that sticks out in my mind I was muzzle loading 4 years ago with a good friend we were set up on a small clearing doing some calling when I noticed two small bulls moving across the hill side to are right. I stopped one of the bulls at 50yrds broadside I took the shot, the bull didn't even flench just stood there looking around. I quickly started to reload thinking somehow I missed. The whole time I am reloading I'm looking at this bull thinking what is he doing he's just standing there then I notice blood right behind the front shoulder right were I aimed so I knew he was hit good but he was still just standing there looking around. I was getting ready to put another one in him when all of the sudden it was like someone grabbed his legs and yanked them out from under him he fell like a ton of bricks. It was strange to me that this bull getting hit at 50yrds with a 50cal muzzle loader never acted hit untill he fell, just stood there looking around.

[ElkNut1]

pikemaster, yes that is unusual, I've seen elk get smacked with MZ & Shotgun slugs & man do they react when getting clobbered with them! Your experience was different? It's a lesson for all of us to check out each critter shot at, you never know a supposed miss can be a hit!!! Thanks for sharing that!

ElkNut1

[easeup]

my first bowkill bull, went almost a 1/2 mile and literally took me ~ 6 hrs to find him. He tore out of there on a sprint when hit.
there was no blood trail after the first 200 yds. It was just pure luck to stumble up on him.
the BH was lodged in his heart!