Elk Tactics 101 - Scenario #3

[WapitiTalk1]

Date/Time: 13 SEPT/5:30 PM
Location: Somewhere in the elk woods
Hunt Pressure Status: Not too bad; a few small camps in the area you’re hunting
Terrain: Mostly timbered with some 5-7 year old clear-cuts mixed in
Tag: Archery season; branched bull (3 point or better) or cow

Almost at the exact time you arrive at the edge of an old NE facing clear-cut, walking slowly along the fire break trail, you hear a bit of cow chatter up the slope to your left and realize there are elk up and moving! A quick check of the wind confirms you have the advantage where you stand. A very quick set up puts you just off the trail in what you think is a good position to have a shot opportunity if the elk continue on the game trail that leads out of the clear cut. A few quick range finder checks reveal that the rotten stump just off the trail is 37 yards from your position. Sweet! You hear them moving through the tightly spaced fir and within a minute or two, the first cow appears and slowly moves out into the fire break trail. At full draw now, you touch off an arrow. At the EXACT MOMENT you squeeze the arrow off, the cow takes a step forward and you see and hear your arrow bury itself into the cow’s paunch. She wheels around and disappears back into the thickness of the old clear-cut and you hear the rest of the elk bust and move away. It sucks but it happens.

What do you do here to maximize an opportunity to recover the cow? What's the next move?

[DBLGBL]

Mark the spot and leave without disturbing the area . Pray a lot and come back in the morning. Listen and watch for Ravens when you return to the area the next day, you might get lucky . Hopefully she bedded and expired close and didn't stay with the herd.

2gbl

[Swede]

DBLGBL X2. I think I would be praying a lot that night and up and back into the area before day break. If you leave the cow alone, you have a better than even chance to recover her, and to salvage all of the meat.

[cohunter]

I'd specifically be praying there was no rain or snow!

[Swede]

Cohunter, I don't have much experience yet with gut shot elk. I rarely get any significant blood unless I have a pass through in the boiler room. Do others care about rain or snow? I am thinking that snow especially might help both seeing the critter and keeping it cool. Other thoughts?

[cohunter]

Several years ago I apparently made a bad shot on a cow with a rifle, early in the morning. The shot looked decent, but after finding a small amount of blood at first, we could find nothing more. It was bone dry and had been for quite some time and the tracking was difficult to say the the least. After following tracks in the dust for 200 yards or so, we were sunk. The tracks were so faint and scattered and there were so many equally-fresh and equally clear tracks in the area we eventually had to spend the rest of the day making increasingly wide arcs from the last blood. To make matters worse it was a thick oak brush jungle. We never did recover that cow and I had tag soup that year. My thought in this scenario was that having any sort of trail to follow would be a huge help - even if the trail was just tracks. I'm pretty sure a solid gut-shot elk wouldn't go hundreds of yards unless it was pushed in which case it could probably struggle for miles. In my mind the rain and/or snow could wipe out any sort of trail and you'd be left searching arcs or a grid from the point of impact - this would make a bad situation worse!

[GobbleFarmer]

Since I'm at the edge of the old cut and timbered area, I would climb the nearest tree while keeping my eyes in the direction that the cow went, maybe if I get high enough I could see her moving through the brush or even bumping against brush and jostling it around, hopefully its not windy. If nothing, I'd quietly back out and come back the next day. Climbing a tree in the heat of the situation may sound goofy, but anytime I need a better vantage thats what I do.

I would think rain or snow would make it way worse, how are you supposed to find an animal under the snow? Any sign and possibly the game trail itself could be gone. Plus it would be less familiar.

[Swede]

Every animal I, or a hunting companion have hit too far back has laid down nearby (under 1/4 mile). I have not had a lot of these, but have dealt with about three. All bedded down nearby. I was thinking, if it snowed, the body heat might make the brown hide stand out in the white surrounding area. Certainly tracks would be covered or lost, but I often lose them pretty fast. If the tracks are lost and there is no blood trail, then I end up making circles and looking for a downed elk body. Hopefully with its summer coat, the heat would escape enough to melt any 9/13 snow.
Anyway interesting discussion. I would like to hear more on this.

[cohunter]

Listening to what you describe, swede, I think the snow in that situation would be very helpful. I imagine a poor blood trail is common with far-back hits, so maybe one needn't be too concerned about that trail washing away. And you're right, it would take a lot of snow to not melt off an elk's body quickly in mid-september! Let me ask another question: When you make a poor shot and you mark it well, would you mark only your location, or the location of the elk at the shot as well? IF you did mark the elk's location, would you check quickly for blood? And IF you saw good blood, would you decide to go after it that night, assuming you caught the liver, kidneys, femoral artery or some other relatively speedy fatal shot? OR do you just wait overnight regardless? Thoughts, elk nuts?