Elk shoulder thickness

[wyobackcountry]

I've always read the lost animal posts and always thought to myself, "I hope that never happens to me". Well regretfully it happened to me this morning and I'm completely sick about it. Not only for the loss of a trophy but also for the loss of meat that myself and my family love to eat, also any pain and suffering the animal is enduring. I shot my biggest bull ever at about 7:45 this morning. The bull was fully broadside at 35 yards in some thick timber and I drilled him dead center on the shoulder bone. I got 8-9 inches of penetration and 4-5 inches of arrow and the broadhead were left in the bull, the arrow hit 3-4 inches up from center. He ran about 30 yards behind some brush (no shot) and was wobbling pretty good and I thought he'd bed down, he held it together and moved out of sight. I did some cow calling to ease him and gave him an hour to expire. I have had two buddies help me track for 4 hours this morning and just got back from another 4 hour search. We had good light red blood for about 150 yards and lost the trail. My question is do you think I got enough penetration to get one lung? Do you think the shot was fatal? Just wondering what your thoughts were, regardless I'll be heading out again tomorrow before work as well as after work and will continue to do so until I find him or am satisfied that I've checked every nook and crany. Thanks

 

[Extrema1]

I shot my bull this last week and when cutting him up I was amazed by the anatomy of a big bull. With 8 or 9 inches of penetration I bet it lodged in his ribs and will be a bit sore for him for awhile but not fatal.IMO. What did the blood look like?

 

[wyobackcountry]

The blood was a light bright red and started in spots about the size of a dinner plate and slowly got smaller and less frequent over distance. Hind sight is always 20/20 and there are several things I would have done differently if I could do it all over.
Just so wer'e all on the same page my tag is cut and I'm done with elk for the season regardless of the lethality of the shot.
I doubt ill sleep much for a while and I hope I find him soon or see him on the winter range, cause he's a dandy!

 

[Extrema1]

Don't beat your self up over it we all at one time or another have lost or will lose animals to those unexplainable reasons. Elk are big animals an can take a near fatal shot and pull threw just fine. I hope you find what your looking for to to set aside all doubts. Good luck

 

[hoyt4life]

I lost a cow elk 4 years ago, I made a good shot it was a little high so there was zero blood. The arrow broke off in her and i got a good 16 inches of penetration ( it was my old pse nova not a real powerhouse of a bow). I found the bonepile 3 years later from her only 300 yards from where she was shot. Just really thick cover and no blood screwed me over. moral of the story is it happens. My dad lost the only bull he ever shot because he hit it in the shoulder. so I feel for ya.

 

[bowhunterb_3]

I had a similar experience last year, I put a shot on my first bull that I thought was a great shot. Excitement and rookie mistakes led to a four mile tracking job and several weeks of looking. Also punched my tag after the first day of looking. Imho you may have gotten a sliver of the onside lung, I say keep on it you may be surprised what you find.

 

[springbear]

I Doubt that you got 8-9 iunches of penetration. That would for sure be through the shoulder blade and into the lungs. At very least it (8-9 inches) would be through the ribs into the chest cavity. I have no doubt that you have blood and lots of it on your arrow where 8-9 inches of penetration would be. IMO if you got that much penetration in that spot, you have a dead elk pretty quickly.

I also have hit a bull in that spot, also a big one and the tracking issues sounds about the same. I was amazed at the amount of blood at the start, and how quickly it stoped.

Its your choice if you punched your tag. I would not have done that, but what ever.

 

[ADDICT]

$0.02--

Hes alive and well. That broadhead will hopefully work out and fall out of him, it will scab and heal over and he wont miss a step.

Did you see the arrow break? Did he break it on a tree or did his leg motion snap it off? If it were the latter you may have punctured his chest cavity.

Bulls are the TOUGHEST animals out there. One lung out and they still run for miles. Its amazing how well they heal and tough this kind of thing out.

"You skin grizz?"

 

[wyobackcountry]

Thanks for the replys fellas!! I absolutely got 8-9 inches of penetration if you like I can measure it? The arrow broke from his step which to me suggested it made it into the chest cavity! Thanks guys headed back up shortly!

 

[springbear]

LAST EDITED ON Sep-12-11 AT 03:10PM (MST)[p]Good luck.

What I was getting at was that I have seen several arrows that were broke off from hitting an animal. There was always a lot of blood up the shaft, making it look like it had penetrated that far, but the reality was it had penetrated much less.

A bull is not real thick through the shoulders. if you got that much, you got him killed. I am assuming a perfect broadside shot.

If you are headed back up to look for him, did you think about what you are gonna do about a punched tag in your pocket? I bet you a dollar that a fish cop is going to be pretty interested in your activities.

 

[wyobackcountry]

Springbear sorry to sound snappy! The arrow absolutely could have broke on impact but if it did the shaft stayed firmly planted until he bolted. It was a perfectly squared broadside shot. When I stated that I got 8-9 inches of penetration there was also an additional inch of blood on the shaft that I left out for blood running on it.
Also about the tag i miss-stated and apologize. It's as good as punched, but I left it open on the chance that I may have to finish him at some point. I will not hunt any other bulls but will search for him through archery season as well as rifle season. Wish me luck I'm meeting a buddy at the trail head in 15 minutes!
Thanks!

 

[wyobackcountry]

I know there is a million different variables and scenarios but what would be the minimum penetration needed to kill a bull (fairly quickly) on a broadside shot?

 

[wyoarcher]

wyobackcountry,

What area are you hunting/looking in?

 

[springbear]

Good Luck Man, I hope you round him up.

Smart planning on the tag.

 

[LRHF]

What did it sound like when the arrow hit him? My experience is animals hit in the shoulder make a really loud cracking noise. I shot and recovered a bull a few years ago that was a low shot and only hit one lung. The trail started good but petered out to small drips around 100 yds. Backed out and came back the next morning. The blood trail took 2 hours with lots of crawling around on the forest floor and a few "dumb luck" blood finds but did recover! The bull only went about 1/4 mile. I truly believe in giving marginal shots plenty of time and backing our as quietly as possible when it happens. Good luck and hope you find the bull and put closure to the hunt.

oh yea... I had 4" of penetration with a 2 blade mechanical broadhead.

 

[wyobackcountry]

Well I just got out of the hills and did not locate him. It was tough conditions; wet, rainy, fairly cool, and not so much as a mouse fart for wind. At one point I noticed a foul stench but didn't say any thing to my buddy (so as not to get any hopes up and cover some ground) and 4 hours later my buddy asked me if I could smell a dead animal and we were only about 20 yards from were I noticed it earlier.
Wyoarcher I'm in the Jackson area.
I was in auto pilot mode at the shot but my buddy said it sounded like I hit a brick wall.
Man the bulls are fired up and it sucks knowing I've got about 360 days before I can chase them again, live and learn!
The toughest thing about this whole deal is wondering if he's laying there meat wasted or how bad he's suffering.
I'll head back up tomorrow and try and glass from the opposite ridge to see if there's any birds or scavengers in the the area.

 

[LaGriz]

Best wishes on finding your bull

I have great interest in this thread as I shoot a recurve 51# at 27".I worry that a simular result could haunt me in the the feature. My partner arrowed a cow from a tree stand with an aluminum 2315 and a Bear razorhead, getting 14" of penitration. He punched through the scapula. The shot was quarting away at 18 yards or so and she only traveled 40 yards. Two years later and 100 yards away he stuck a 330 bull at 24-25 yards slightly quartering with penitration to the flech! His prize bull went down in sight after 70 yd. His 60# @ 28" Bear takedown slings an arrow pretty good. More importantly he hits where he aims!

I can't shoot more poundage as well. I have great arrow flight and use a two-blade scarry-sharp head. I will limit my shots to 20 yards or so. I have an aquaintance that took a 5X5 @ 20 yds with a 45#
recurve and got complete broadhead penitration and a short recovery.

The stories of loss concern me and, I feel your pain on looseing such a fine beast. Good luck on finding your bull,I admire your efforts to recover the animal.
Griz

 

[f8hasit]

same thing happened to me this year. The bull expired about 600yds from where I shot him and about 5 hrs later. See the story under ELK thread: Nevada BIG5 bull. I was using a G5 Tekan 3. Good Luck!!!

 

[mountainman]

I am the guy Hoyt4life (my son) talked about earlier that shot a nice bull in the shoulder. Similar to your story we had a good blood trail for about 150 yards - then the bull turned uphill and the blood trail stopped - we found my arrow intact and it looked like I probably had 6 to 8 inches penetration.

I am sick as all archers are that don't recover an animal but the one thing that bothers me the most about this situation is that I don't think I did my best in trying to locate the animal. We tracked the bull uphill and found the arrow but then the blood trail stopped. I was inexperienced in tracking animals that have been shot with archery equipment so when his tracks got mixed up with other Elk I kind of gave up.

To minimize the sick feeling you may have I would say do your very best to locate the animal - it sounds like you had more penetration than I did.

Best of luck to you - I wish I could get off work to help out.

 

[wyobackcountry]

Hey guys, just an update. I've been back in the area were I shot my bull 6 of the last 8 days, and most trips I've had help from friends. I have now checked all the creek drainages as well as all the finger canyons that feed into the basin with no luck. I wish I would have had my gps with me every time just to see how many miles I've hiked. Each trip is around 8 miles and I've been in there about a dozen times. Its crazy to think about the miles logged, but hunting is what I love weather or not I'm actually packing a weapon.
The problem is that some of this country is so thick you literally may not see a dead bull even if you tripped over it. I did find a nice year old dead 3x4 muley. I have looked for birds and predators with no luck, there is also a black bear in the canyon and I see fresh scat everytime but it looks like its full of berries only.
Even in this crappy situation it has been enjoyable. I've learned alot about archery hunting and alot of new country! I've seen 30 or so bulls since the day I shot mine, and a few great bulls to boot. I've called a few in under 30 yards (without a weapon in hand). Elk sure are neat animals to be up close and personal with. Only about 345 days until I can chase bulls again!