Shot In The Dark 6 Point! FOUND!!!

[ElkNut1]

Was out with my son Paul II this morning in an attempt to fill his 2nd elk tag. We received a response from our bugle 1/2 hour before light. We slip in the direction of the herd bull as he's aprox 1/2 mile away. It's just getting light & feel we are getting close so I toss out a bugle with 3 chuckles, we receive an immediate response & realize he's still 250yds out or so & above us slightly, maybe 75 yds higher. We move in to about 150 yds where there's tons of tight cover with 2 shooting lanes out to 45yds & closer. My son sets up as it's right about 7:35am. we are 45yds apart & I'm elevated above him 25'. I let out a short bugle, nothing, I wait 10 seconds & send out 5 soft chuckles, I rake a tree some, still no response. A minute goes by & no sounds, I feel he's slipping in silently. At 1 1/2 minute I send out a bugle with a bit more cadence to it. I was just done with the bugle & I hear my sons bow fire & I can hear the "thump" -- I quickly bugle & chuckle several times trying to stop or slow the bull down, then I get to where I can see my son & he's attempting to nock a 2nd arrow, no shot! I get over there & he tells me he shot the bull at a hair over 30yds, only thing is the bull had stopped for a second & when Paul II released the bull took a step forward & in a downward motion, bummer! The arrow hit high & back, not sure if partial liver was hit but maybe, no guts or smell of them on the arrow. The arrow passed through & was coated in blood. We had good blood as usual for 100 yds, this is typical on a liver or partial liver hit. We tracked the bull 500 yds, did not bed at anytime nor did we ever smell that gut shot odor, this excludes gut shot.

We glassed this bull a week ago as he & his cows got up from their beds but they weren't ready to call to yet. The tracks & scant blood trail was heading right for that area this morning, my gut tells me he may have went back to there & hopefully expire! We have a vantage point of the area aprox a mile away where we glassed him in the 1st place. We are heading back there this evening giving him time to die & hopefully locate him with the Razor 85 20-60 Spotter. Yes, it's a "Shot In The Dark" Fingers crossed! Crap does happen & we just have to deal with it & do the best of our ability to recover wounded game! I'll post findings!

ElkNut1

[Ghost]

Wishing you bloody hands and a heavy pack!!!

[zpd307]

same here....

[Indian Summer]

Good luck Paul.

[WapitiTalk1]

Best of luck on this bull! I think it'll work out.

[Duck-Slayer]

Stuff happens too everyone, good luck, hope you find him expired,
Matt

[ElkNut1]

Thanks guys but no dice! We glassed for two hours till dark & found nothing to hang our hat on! We'll check back out for critters or birds in 2-3 days. Thanks!

ElkNut1

[Huntrgathr]

Hey Paul, I have to do some work in the morning but would be more than willing to come up and give you guys a hand tracking/looking for that bull tomorrow afternoon or Tuesday. If you're getting all the rain we are here in town then there's probably no possibility of tracking but just more boots might turn him up. You've got my #.

A few things you might try :

Calling for coyotes/wolves at night in the area you think you went.

Find anyone who has a blood tracking dog...

Search all the creeks/ areas of water and brushy bottoms. Some think only "gut shot" animals go to water but I think almost all wounded animals will if they go past the 3 hr mark...

Stuff you probably already know but, man I'd hate to hear you didn't find that bull. If you don't take me up on the offer will still have my fingers crossed for you guys.

Chris

[redtop]

That's a bummer Paul. Hope you can find him. It's a horrible feeling losing game. Best of luck.

[ElkNut1]

Thanks guys, I appreciate your thoughts & concern. It means a lot!

Chris, that's darn cool of you to offer your assistance but we should have a pretty good handle on things as you mentioned in eventually locating him. Yes, we are being pounded with rain at this time but we had exhausted any blood trail that was there beforehand. Crows in this area are notorious for finding game, it's most likely our best bet to watch for from our vantage point. Thank You!

ElkNut/Paul

[Duck-Slayer]

Too bad you didn't find him.... good luck in anymore future adventures in recovery of the bull
Matt

[ElkNut1]

We found the bull!! How sweet it is to be able to push forward & not give up, it was a Shot In The Dark but we got a bit of luck & located him!

After hours of searching we caught a break & heard a crow way off in the distance, it was coming from the right area but could barely make out if it was a bird or not. It was over a mile away as the crow flies & a bit over two miles away to get over into the area, even then we had no idea if it was a crap shoot or not. We decided to give it a shot & headed that way, over an hour later we were blessed with his recovery! Wow, it was awesome to track him down with the help of those noisy crows! We actually didn't hear them well until under a 1/2 mile from the dead bull. 1/4 mile away & we could hear their fussing big time & our hopes escalated that it had to be my sons bull. When we layed eyes on him we could hardly believe it was real, we were very fortunate to have recovered & tag him!

ElkNut1

[WapitiTalk1]

Awesome! There's no "give up" in team Elknut.

[redtop]

Great! We all like a happy ending. I lost a bull one year. Luckily I had an extra cow tag that year so got some meat in the freezer anyway but that bull still gnaws on me.

[Lark Bunting]

Pardon the novice question but I have to ask...

What do you do once you've found an animal that has been expired for this long? The meat is bad, but regulations require us to take the quarters, back straps and possibly the loins. And, in Colorado, we have to bring out evidence of sex. In this instance do you just take the head? Do you pack out the required pieces/meat and then dispose of it at home?

[twinkieman]

Good job! It sucks, but it happens. Way to not quit, and congrats on the recovery.

[ElkNut1]

Thanks guys, we were very fortunate for sure!

Tom, there was no meat that was salvageable, it was pretty much toast after a good week of heat & critters on it. You pretty much had to breathe out of your mouth to remove antlers & ivories. The crows had done a serious number on him as well, there were no intact quarters to mess with. It is state law here that when antlers are removed you must tag them, we did that. Thanks.

ElkNut1

[Lefty]

Always a good feeling to find him

[elkmtngear]

Congrats, Paul. Way to stick with it!

[elkaholic]

Way to keep after it and find him fellas.

[Duck-Slayer]

way too stick with it, congrats.....
Matt

[MTLongdraw]

Paul,
How close was he to the area you glassed the night you guys shot at him? Were you able to tell what kind of hit was put on him? It just amazes me how resilient these animals are. Sometimes no blood and they're piled up 100 yards down the trail. Sometimes blood everywhere and they are never found.

[ElkNut1]

Josh, we found the bull about 700-800 yds above from where I'd originally spotted him the previous week. Birds & critters had him pretty well dismembered in the shot area so nothing exact there. I'm still thinking partial liver hit or there abouts. The bull went aprox a mile after the hit. We walked a bit over two miles to where we thought we could faintly hear the crows. It was dark by the time we got back to the rig with the rack. You can see how light it still is in the one photo & how dark it is in the 2nd photo & we still had about a mile to go. My son is in the dark photo a bit left of center, I was 10 yds from him when I took it, the flash barely shows him.

ElkNut1

[wewarev]

Congratulations on the recovery. Way to be persistent!