I need answers

muledeernut · Sep 27, 2005

Bucksnort and I went to Arizona Unit 27 to help my mom and dad hunt elk. One morning my dad and I got an answer from a bull and went after him. We got close to where we heard him bugle and we stopped to listen and heard him bugle about 60 yards away and we got set up. I started raking a tree with a stick and the bull came in. My dad ranged a spot where he thought the bull would come out at 26 yards. The bull came to that very spot and my dad took the shot. He hit the bull just behind the front shoulder and just below center line of the body. The arrow went in about 18 inches and broke off around and came out about 40 yards later. I figured a dead bull. We waited a while and started tracking the bull. We found little blood at first but found where it looked like the blood was squirting out of the bulls right side. The trail got slower and we had to get onour hands and knees,when we came up on a spot with a pile of blood about 3 feet long and 1 foot wide with bubbles in it. To the right of the blood was a 2 foot circle of what looked like somebody stood there for a couple of hours spitting on the ground. We found one other spot of blood about 20 yards up a hill and we lost the blood. Five of us got together and started making sweeps up and down the hill looking for the bull that we knew was dead from a lung shot(bubbles in the blood). We searched for 4 1/2 hours with no luck. We went back to camp to eat and get the others in our camp and went back to find the bull for another 3 hours, still with no luck. I know that I covered and area of around a mile square and found nothing. I don't know what happened. If any of you have heard of this happening before, let me know what you think might of happened. I know that nobody took the bull,because the bull was big and we would have heard somebody down there. They also wouldn't have had the time. Thanks Muledeernut

nfh · Sep 27, 2005

if there is bubbles dosent that usaully mean a lung shot. do think he hit him in the lungs or not. wahtever happens goodluck if you try to find him or go after another one.

ELKMASTER101 · Sep 28, 2005

dead elk,
loosing that much blood he didn't go far.
you just over looked his trail.
there is a good chance you passed with in 5 feet of him and you did'nt see him.
get you butt off this computor and look again.

BigPig · Sep 28, 2005

Sounds like a dead bull to me. Sorry to hear about this. Good luck finding it.

Desertflinger · Sep 28, 2005

Dead elk. He is in the area. Salvage the horns and tag it. The ethical thing to do.

UGAhunter · Sep 28, 2005

How long of a wait (you said a while) did you give it? Definitely dead, hope your dad considered it a harvest and put his tag away.

baldbull · Sep 28, 2005

I've seen animals with so called "death shots" go for miles uphill. If he was going uphill and eluding you for that long, maybe it took days for him to die, a lung shot would be hell on a bull's lungs going uphill.

opportunist · Sep 28, 2005

We once had a hunter shoot a bull the same way and lost him. 2 days later we found him in a stock tank. Evidently he died in the deep end of the tank and we never saw him till drifted to the shallow end and we saw his antler tips above the water line.

nfh · Sep 28, 2005

if you spooked him and got his arendline going then he could go forever.

AZWALKER · Sep 28, 2005

If he didn't double lung him, he could go for miles. I've heard of single lunged bulls surviving. The right thing to do would be to continue looking until you find him or see him still alive, either way I'd put the tag away.

muledeernut · Sep 28, 2005

We had to back home for work, but my parents stayed, and they will be looking for him more. If we passed within 5 feet of him we would have seen him, because there wasn't a lot of blind areas where he could have hidden. I just don't understand it. We got on our hands and knees and couldn't find any more blood, so we figured that the arrow must have plugged up the hole. When we were there we looked really good. We were hearing lots of wolves in the area, so I am sure that if the bull died that the wolves got to him. As of last night they still had not found him. I don't know about today, I haven't gotten a call from them yet, but I am sure that he would have called if they found him. What a terrible deal. At least he is still looking. He should be able to look in the skies for ravens now. Thanks for the replies ya'll. Muledeernut

Desertflinger · Sep 28, 2005

I understand man. Been there, done it several years ago . It sucked. I did get the horns and called it a season.

bonefreak · Sep 30, 2005

the first bull i shot was a 5x5 and he turned as i shot and i hit one lung and the arrow was punching holes in his liver every time he turned or jumped or something [the liver was full of holes from my 3 blade head]
i waited 30-40 min and started trailing finding platter sized pools of blood that were 1 inch thick and bubbbly then the trail slowly disapeared i trailed him for a couple hours in west wash brush. he went through stuff that i wouldnt thnink an elk could get through let alone a nice bull. a couple times i thought i heard something but wasnt sure. finally i came to a spot and found only a little saliva on a log with a few specks of blood mixed in and i thought i heard something below me - he had been heading up hill the whole time.
i realizied that i must have been pushin him so i got out and came back the next day witha friend. i walked downt to where i heard something and immediately found a drop of blood and then he was dead in another 15yds.
sad deal was i lost most of the meat on him because he sat overnight with the hide on.
i was shocked how far he could go on one lung.
pure adrenaline.
look some more and try to out think him.
he is dead somewhere probably in the nastiest place around or maybe in his daily bedding area.
good luck

muledeernut · Oct 2, 2005

Well this sucks, my dad couldn't find his bull. He stayed till the last day of the hunt and couldn't find him. He and my step mom hunted the mornings and evenings for her and looked for the hit bull during the afternoons. No luck!!! Thanks for the replies guys!! Muledeernut

MuleyObsessions · Oct 3, 2005

Sorry to hear that, it happens sometimes though. Better luck next time.

MO

Oregonbowhunter · Oct 3, 2005

It's always hard to say but when blood stops for me and I can't find anything I will turn around and back track the blood trail and see if he did the same. I've had animals turn around back track and split off and go a different way. Sounds crazy but...also a single lung hit usually won't do it. I've had the same thing happen here too.

Hope you guys find it.