7 West Bull Elk hunt

[mulie hunter]

Well I'm back from my first Elk hunt ever, didn't get one, but it was a learning experience. We saw lots of elk and were on bulls almost every day just couldn't seal the deal! The rut never kicked in, even though we were praying it would!

On the third day of the hunt we saw two young bulls a spike and a 4x4 at the bottom of the hill we were glassing from. Since they wouldn't respond to calls we decide to work our way down hill and see how close we could get. On the way down the hill we got in the middle of a herd of cows we hadn't seen, they took off down hill and my hunting partner Steve starting cow calling. All of a sudden he says the bull is coming, the bull is coming! I'm waiting expecting one of the young bulls to appear, when this big 6x6 bull appears below me. My rangefinder is in my back pack. My mind says 40 yards down hill, so when he turns broadside I put my 40 pin on his vitals and release. To my shock the arrow hits high, about 2 inches below his spine!!!

Now the only reason I'm sharing this is, I have a question. This is my 5th year bowhunting. I pratice year round with my bow out to 60 yards.

The 2 guys with me say the bull was no more than 30 yards from me, a steep downhill shot with a strong wind in my face. Could that have affected my shot??? Or was it Bull fever????? I'm including some photos of the arrow and small blood drops.

The bull survived, I'm pretty sure I saw him 4 days later in the same area with his cows.

[Rembrant]

Steep downhill?

Gotta shoot low.

Mike

[GameHauler]

I have some other ideas but to start with,

to take care of the range finder problem.

 

http://www.coueswhitetail.com/bookstore/range_snap.htm

 

I bought 4

[BowNut]

On up hill or down hill shots you will take off yardage or aim low. You want to judge the target as it was strait out in front of you. On an step incline you may have 40 yards of ground between you and the target but if you were able to pick the target up so it was directly horizontal in front of you it may have only been 30 yards and that's what you want to shoot it for the horizontal distance. I have seen targets at 3d shoots that there is 50 yards of ground between you and the target but if you were to imagine that target directly in front of you and not down hill it would only be a 20 yard shot.

[mulie hunter]

I have some other ideas but to start with,

to take care of the range finder problem.

 

http://www.coueswhitetail.com/bookstore/range_snap.htm

 

I bought 4

Gamehauler, couldn't agree with you more. Sad thing is before the hunt I looked at them and almost bought one! I'm gonna get one now. I'd like to hear your other Ideas. I'm always looking to improve myself as a bowhunter.

[Heat]

Basic geometry. In a right triangle the longest side side is the hypotenuse, or the line of sight between the archer and the target. The horizontal distance is another side, and the height or vertical difference between the archer and the target is the last (forms a right angle). The true distance you should be shooting is the horizontal distance, not the longer distance (hypotenuse) between your position and the target. Think of it this way, gravity has no more or less effect on the arrow due to the angle of the shot, gravity is gravity, so you always shoot the horizontal distance whether you are positioned higher or lower than the target.

 

Hope that helps.

[bobbyo]

Mulie Hunter,

 

You missed once? Big deal. Best thing you can do is forget about it. I heard it was a real tough elk hunt. If it was a normal Elk hunt you would of had a dozen shot opportunities, not one. I know the lack of opportunities and the slight piercing you gave this animal magnifies the miss, but I bet it is a very small group of Archers that have killed a bull on their first shot. I know I missed my first 5 or six shots at bulls. I have seen 3D tournament winners miss 20 yard shots at ELK. I will never let them forget it either. Trust me you will probably miss again if you keep bowhunting. Having a rangefinder handy definitely helps, but many times you will miss out on shots because your ranging instead of pulling back your bow. Just need to practice and get the confidence back up. Hunting Jacks with the bow really helps me become confident in hunting situations. Hope you get drawn real soon for the redemption bull. The best kind of bull that there is.

Bob

[mulie hunter]

Bownut, The next time I have a shot on a uphill or downhill shot I will remember that! Shoot low!

 

Bobbyo, you are right I'm over it now! Of course at the time thoughts of retiring as a bowhunter and just becoming a rifle hunter entered my brain.

And I did pursue some tree squirrels during the hunt, pretty tasty critters I must say. First time I had ever eaten them. BBQ over the grill at camp!!

And most definetly that Redemption Bull is gonna be sweet!

 

Thanks everyone for your encouragement and advice.

[elkaholic]

hey bobbyo- he did not say he missed -

 

i see a picture of a bloody arrow - no broadhead attached thus one can conclude he has a wounded animal - the Question is did it live or die? Most elk are gonna have a good chance to recover if the hit did not hit any internal organs!! exactly where the arrow hit can make a difference here too! how deep did it penatrate (how much blood on the recovered arrow )? lots of questions to answer.! a lot of times - the elk will survive - if in fact the arrow didnt do any real damage he is still chacing the ladies ! sorry to hear you weren't able to make a clean kill shot!

 

you say you saw him agin chasin the ladies a few days later - hopefully that was the same bull ! Gary

[mulie hunter]

hey bobbyo- he did not say he missed -

 

i see a picture of a bloody arrow - no broadhead attached thus one can conclude he has a wounded animal - the Question is did it live or die? Most elk are gonna have a good chance to recover if the hit did not hit any internal organs!! exactly where the arrow hit can make a difference here too! how deep did it penatrate (how much blood on the recovered arrow )? lots of questions to answer.! a lot of times - the elk will survive - if in fact the arrow didnt do any real damage he is still chacing the ladies ! sorry to hear you weren't able to make a clean kill shot!

 

you say you saw him agin chasin the ladies a few days later - hopefully that was the same bull ! Gary

elkaholic- First post says it hit about 2 inches below spine. We concluded from the arrow and the blood we found as we tracked him it was not a fatal wound. We continued to hunt the area and did not see him again until 4 days later. I'm 99% sure it was the same bull. I too am sorry I didn't get a clean kill shot, but I've been hunting for over 30 years and know rifle hunters who have lost animals. So as Bobbyo said Get over it ! I'm moving on with some good advice from Coueswhitetail members.

[Flash]

Its a shame to hit and loose an animal for sure. Its happened to me once several years ago and still makes me sick. Sorry to hear the hunt wasn't real good. I have been hearing that a lot from the other units around 7W, but there was a few hot spots that the bulls were going pretty well the first 4 days of the hunt for sure. Draw the tag again and I will tell you about a spot that seems to be pretty good. Regardless, I hope you had fun and now you know what to spend your money on

[cbryant11]

when i had a hunt in 2006 my and my buddy were constantly playing different ranging games where we would take a guess then range it and see who was closer,,,, after doing that for 8 days all day every day i got to be pretty good at judging yardage, in fact when it came time to shoot, i didnt have time to use my new leica rangefinder and i had to guess him really quick,,, i shot him for 45 and when we ranged the shot it was 42 so practice practice practice and it will come in handy if you gotta make a quick shot...cbryant

[azgutpile]

when i had a hunt in 2006 my and my buddy were constantly playing different ranging games where we would take a guess then range it and see who was closer,,,, after doing that for 8 days all day every day i got to be pretty good at judging yardage, in fact when it came time to shoot, i didnt have time to use my new leica rangefinder and i had to guess him really quick,,, i shot him for 45 and when we ranged the shot it was 42 so practice practice practice and it will come in handy if you gotta make a quick shot...cbryant

 

I would have to agree with cbryant... Practice as much as you can in ranging distances and try to get away from the depending on your rangefinder, you will most likely won't be using it if your chasing elk.

 

Once you start practicing, you will see that you can get good at it really quick. You will also notice that its harder to range distances when you can't see the ground between you and the target.

[Coues Archer]

That really bites. Did you look diligently for the bull all the blood that is on the arrow seems to be alot you should look for him.

[mulie hunter]

That really bites. Did you look diligently for the bull all the blood that is on the arrow seems to be alot you should look for him.

The shot took place about 7am. We went back about 2:00pm to look for him. Based on the arrow we thought there was a slim chance it hit a artery. We followed the blood trail just drops like in the photo for about a half mile then it disappeared in a open meadow. We spread out and searched with out any sign of him. That was day 3, we hunted that area every day up until day 13 never finding any reason to believe the wound was fatal . As earlier stated on day 7 I'm sure I saw him again with his cows. Day 4-6 there was a smaller bull with the cows then on day 7, he's back and the smaller bull is out.

 

Thanks to everyone for the advice on judging distance, I'm gonna practice that!!!