Lost and unrecovered animals

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grizzmoose

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There is a post over in the elk section showing a nice bull that was shot and wasnt recovered. The amount of people that responded to this post suggesting they may have lost an animal is staggering. This one happens to be from a rifle shot. I know hunters using different weapons tend to blame the other guys for lost animals, but I hope we can agree that it happens with ALL weapons.

My question is, WHY do you all think this happens so much? Here are a couple reasons why it could happen:

1. Shooting from inappropriate ranges.
2. Not enough practice even from reasonable distances.
3. Placing a decent shot, but not working hard enough to recover the animal.
4. Not realizing the animal was hit.
5. @#$% happens.
6. Leaving an animal behind after discovering ground shrinkage

I'm sure there are other reasons, but which of these do you think cause the largest # of lost and unrecovered animals?
 
grizz,

Thanks for starting this thread on this forum. I wanted to comment on the young mans thread from his wasatch hunt but didn't want to throw gas on that fire. I do agree with your general comment about his obvious extension of his shooting capabilities. With that being said, there is a lot that can and does go wrong without ethics even coming in the picture. On my recent NM archery hunt I missed a bull high at 30yds because of the steep terrain and angle. The bull ran down hill and ended up coming back towards me and stopped broadside at 70yds. I had a long time to adjust my sigth to 60yds, level my bow, and get focused again for the opportunity for another shot. He walked into a clear opening and stopped again looking down hill at the other elk. I settled the pin and double lunged him, he only made it about 80yds straight down hill. That is the longest shot I've attempted on an elk and only took it because the animal was distracted and I had plenty of time to settle myself and focus. I was confident in my ability and my equipement to ethically take that shot. Now on the hand my oldest brother who is an even better shot with his bow than I am lost two bulls in the same day! Before you go off on how that should never happen and he should've punched his tag after not finding the first one let me explain. The first bull was broadside at 30yds when he shot, I called him in and watched him shoot. We tracked that bull with an easy to follow blood trail for 1.6 miles. The last .8 was all up hill and the bull never stopped to puddle or bed down. As we were considering our options I heard another bull bugle and just for kicks I let out an obnoxious estrus call and the bull screamed back and came in on a string. I kept calling the distance for my brother and had to keep telling him, his first bull was not dead and that he needed to shoot this one, even though he didn't want to. The bull stopped in an opening at 50yds down hill nearly broadside and he let the arrrow go. (this is an archer who can hit dinner plates at 100yds consistantly and doesn't even bother going inside of 5oyds to practice). The arrow hit a litle forward and a little high. He was practically in tears after the shot having never in his life lost an animal bow or rifle and here we were starring the possibility of losing two in the same day. We took his running track down to a drainage but lost it in the grass. We had a 270 class 6 pt bugling and breeding a cow 60yds away in the drainage and we never even contemplated moving in on it. We looked for blood for a few more hours and then returned the next day and did body searches for .7 miles (twice on each side of the steep drainage) hoping to find his arrow, blood, or any sign of the second bull. At the end of the day we took his first bull another .4 miles with decent blood and still no puddles or beds. He took it really hard when we decided to call it but IMHO both bulls were alive (for now) and neither shot was lethal. Looking back there is nothing he did wrong and there was nothing unethical about the sitaution to me in any way. It was a crappy situation for us and the elk and nobody can say anything to him to make him feel better or worse about what took place. He took two good clean ethical shots well within his effective range but at the end of the day he failed to execute a good clean kill.


I can't pick one of your 6 reasons as to why he didn't get either one of those bulls that day. I do believe that there are those people who just fling arrows or bullets, don't give there best to find an animal after hitting it, or simply don't care. However I do believe that the lion share of hunters give it there best but there are a lot of factors that can lead to wounded animals. The only thing I told him was continue to practice, continue to take ethical shots, and hope he never finds himself in that situation again...considering he's 40 and I'm 34 though...odds are it will happen again.
 
Wounding happens because it happens. How the hunter reacts to it happening is what should really matter. Shoot 2 bulls within hours? Or try to kill the first one wounded. Just goes to show that paper practice does not equal a proficient hunter. Everyone has different ethics.

The tag is good for one animal, so why do people think that if they wound one, it is ok to simply move on and shoot another? What hunter wants to fill his tag with an animal wounded by another hunter? If the wounded animal dies and a guy shoots another then he killed mulitple animals with his tag which was only good for one.

Imagine the possible increase in tags if hunters had the guts to stick to an ethic of 'hit an animal and don't shoot another'.

Way too many people taking too many risks or too much excitement in order to fill high pressure tags. The idea of the antlers on the wall makes people do things they normally would not do.
 
Get your popcorn because I know what's coming.

Grizz I believe you're correct in your assessment of why a lot of game gets wounded and lost. I would say 1 and 2 are the most frequent. Four years ago I lost the only animal I've ever shot And lost I found him 3 days later my fault. I allowed myself to stretch my archery range 10 yards past my confidence range and hit a buck low I then managed to screw up the recovery by moving too early and pushing him out of what probably would have been his last bed. To recount too long of shot for my ability as well as pushing a mortally wounded animal I learned from that and won't make those mistakes again. Some guys I'm familiar with never seem to learn and get caught up in killing and not finding, just my opinion.
 
I agree 100% with grizz! Well said!

Joey



"It's all about knowing what your firearms practical limitations are and combining that with your own personal limitations!"
 
It sure as fark ain't from useing the wrong bullet or broadhead! It's poor shot placement due to poor shot selection! I bet to a man all these guys with lost critters would admit that's what went wrong! The most important ingredient to success is where u put that bullet or broadhead! And just for u sage IMHO!
 
I have to agree with DW! Most people IMHO don't practice enough. I try to shoot year round and at distances way longer than I intend to shoot game at. Building confidence is key. IMO all the practice helps when the factors of the hunt come into play.
I also think that yes sometimes mishaps do occur and its part of hunting. I once was helping a buddy on a late muzzleloader deer hunt. We spotted a buck and made a move on him. My buddy got a good shot off as I watched in my binos. The bucks whole body shook and he stumbled off the edge of a ridge. I was sure the buck was dead. Get down and no blood nothing. Then we find the bucks antler on the ground. A limb had deflected the bullet. In this case thank goodness it wasn't worse.
 
Great thread grizzmoose! I would add to the list, "Rushing the Shot." That would include not having a proper rest (although some will argue that they can hit a running animal at 700 yards offhand:)), and not getting your emotions (adrenaline) under control prior to shooting.
 
Yes, some animals will be lost, no denying that, yet in many of the occurrences that turn out that way, they could have been avoided with good judgement.

For whatever reason, too many guys are shooting at game beyond their and/or their equipment's abilities.

Read below!

Joey


"It's all about knowing what your firearms practical limitations are and combining that with your own personal limitations!"
 
Bingo Grizz!!
I have heard of 3 stuck bulls lost in my drainage/area alone the last week. 2 of these guys filled tags on other bulls.
At least I haven't heard gunshots this bow season....
 
I'm glad I'm not the only one that gets frustrated by this. I certainly know I'm not beyond making a mistake. I've been fortunate enough not to lose an animal, though I do admit I have taken a shot at an animal that wasnt a good choice and missed. It wasnt until someone mentioned to me that my shot selection wasnt appropriate that I realized that I wasnt good enough to take the shot I did, and frankly, I probably never will be.

One of you did mention another thing that leads to a lost animal that it a good thing to add to the list: rushing in on a wounded animal. I was once with a cousin who hit a mule deer at 50 yards. We found a great blood trail and followed it into a thick group of cedar for about 100 yards. It was getting dark, so we called it off until morning. Found the trail again that morning and then found a place where he bedded down and lost a significant amount of blood. The blood was fresh enough that we thought we pushed him again out of that bed. Wasnt sure what to do at that point. . . wait longer or track him again. We chose to continue tracking, found a fresh trail again, though it was seriously sparse and eventually disappeared. Some other hunters said they saw a wounded animal, pointed us to the direction he went but we never found him. In hindsight, I wonder if we should have left the buck alone after realizing we pushed him out again that morning. To my cousins credit, he considered his tag punched.
 
Seems to happen to a lot of the same guys over and over. If you hunt long enough it will happen and its happened to me, but some guys seems like every year they loose an animal. I have stopped hunting with certain friends because they don't practice enough, stretch there range in the field and just give up too easily.
 
I think all of the reasons listed above are factors.

Another reason is that people become scared of their rifle. Some hunters think they have to have a "super magnum" and then end up scared of the gun because of the recoil that they know is coming. In the end they make a poor shot
 
I think the biggest factor in lost animals is people are so concerened with getting one that they will take any shot. They can picture themselves showing off pictures to all of their buddies before they even make the shot.

" can hit paper plates at 100 yards and doesn't even bother to practice inside of 50 yards " Where do I even start...

I would hope that #6 is never a factor.
 
Before the late 1970's - early 1980's when calling elk into archery range became the rage, it seemed that archers were those guys that took up archery because rifle was to easy and they wanted the challenge of getting close, spitting distance close, to an animal. Now it seems that the challenge in archery is how far you can shoot an arrow.
It also used to be that the vast majority of rifle hunters knew that you followed up every shot checking for a hit until it was determined that you hit the animal and were going to recover it or that you missed. And 400 yards was a loonnggg shot. Now it seems that to some rifle hunters if the animal doesn't drop in sight no matter how near or far, it was a miss! Also a whole bunch of todays rifle hunters "know" they can kill everything inside 1000 yards and some even further. The idea of stalking a buck or bull to get close for a gimme shot doesn't seem to interest some anymore.
I've rifle hunted, bow hunted and muzzleloader hunted. I have hit and lost one deer, I fired at it because I mistakenly believed that it had been hit. My wife hit and lost one deer, took a lower front leg off, coyotes got it that evening before we could try to recover it the next morning.
(My opinions only)
 
Regarding bowhunters, people don't understand anatomy and continue to shoot above centerline or behind the leg crease. High lung shots don't bleed for shiit and liver shots will take 6 hours for the critter to die.

Put the arrow in the right spot and you'll watch them fall.
 
Losing an Animal, is a bad thing, we all can agree on that. Those of you who know me, know I love to hunt and have been involved with all types of hunting for years and years. I have taught Hunter Education, written speeches for ethics, both general hunting and Archery hunting. Me and my Family shoot guns and Bows year round. We don't "practise" per say. Shooting is part of our Family time together. Its something we just do, and are lucky enough to live in an area that allows us to do it. We are all avid archery Elk hunters. We usually spend 10 to 15 days actually hunting. I do not take iffy shots. I do not take shots over 40 yrds. (this is MY personal limit) I am not suggesting longer shots are bad, this is MY personal decision for what I feel is my 100% range. With all this said let me tell you about a hunt from 3 years ago.
It was the 3rd day of the hunt, I had seen a herd of 10-13 Elk on the ridge I was hunting, The wind was in my favor and I began Stalking. After about 30 minuets a spike walked in front of me at 12 yards, I then noticed a cow to my left at 20 yards. I wanted to shoot the spike but he offered no shot. Following him next was a yearling cow. She walked passed at 12 yards and offered no shot, then walked out to 20 yards and stopped with a perfect quartering shot. I imagined where her off shoulder would be and loosed my arrow. I watched the arrow enter right where i aimed and as she reacted to the hit,I saw my arrow hit a tree about 15 feet passed her and fall to the ground. Elk exploded everywhere. I didnt move until it calmed down. I then walked to where she had been and stopped and with a tissue marked the spot. I could from this point see my arrow and looking in the direction she left, could see alot of blood on rocks and in the dirt 10 -12 feet away. I radioed my wife and 2 sons and after 30 minuets or so they all were with me at the first blood. We trailed the Elk for 80 or so yards without any trouble. There was an amazing amount of blood, I knew she was lung hit and all the bubbles made me confident any second we would find her.. Long story short 20 yards later we lost blood. We spent all the rest of the day looking for her , blood, anything... nothing. Looked with my wife and older son all the next day..nothing. re walked the trail and thought she must be dead close, she had acted like she wanted to lay down... nothing. I relived this in my mind over and over and to this day can not figure out how this elk was lost. I have killed a number of Elk with my bow and have lost only this one. We did find an Elk a week later that i assume was her about 300 yards from our last blood. I walked back to the spot to go over it all again and heard ravens and walked to her. I didnt move her ( she was in bad shape) but it looked like an exit hole was right about where my shot would have been. Weather this was my Elk or not.(I believe it to be) I still cant understand how she wasn't found dead within 50 yards or so. In this instance I have no excuse to give. I have relived this over in my mind time and time again. I have no answer. So I do believe that loosing an animal is terrible but it can happen
 
Advice from an old bowhunter who's lost a few. Practice, Practice, Practice! BUT, not just archery/rifle range/sit down/padded rest/known distance/3 or 5 shot group/mid day/mild weather/short sleeve/take your time/bull's-eye target practice. That buck or bull or ram or billy (or the female equivalent) isn't going to have a bull's-eye on his flanks nor is he going to be on level ground nor is he going to remain standing broadside for your fourth or fifth shot. And you're not going to have the sun at your back and the wind coming from your front. And the nearest bench will be in the cab of your vehicle 2.7 miles away. Get up in the hills or out in the flats and Practice, Practice, Practice under hunting conditions! And while you're at it, do some jumping jacks prior to shooting to speed your heart up to simulate buck fever, which wasn't listed, but which should be close to the top of the list.

Now, FWIW, the Mule Deer Planning Committee has recommended that the DWR instigate an educational campaign in brochures, their website and hunter safety courses to encourage hunters to fully investigate each shot and to consider "punching" their tag if they think they've mortally wounded a lost animal. Hopefully, that will happen!
 
LAST EDITED ON Sep-26-14 AT 08:35PM (MST)[p]Yep Elkantlers, that guy's post is so full of holes I don't know where I'd even start...shooting a second bull while tracking the first? Are ya frikken kidding me? I think the most perturbing thing out of all of it is that the dude doesn't take any responsibility for imploring his bro with such sh!t advice to shoot another animal; and nevermind not finding the second one either. Goddamn, the whole post is an illustration of a lot of the reasons listed in the OP...pretty frikken shameful

A wounded elk can go a hell of a long ways, I've recovered more of em than I care to remember for guys that made crap decisions/executions.

Stick an arrow in a big game animal, your hunt is OVER. Pretty frikken straightforward for anyone with any respect for the beasts they hunt.

**edit---funny how the dude doesn't bother with these gory details in his Glory post on my home state's forum...BAH!
 
Utards....

"As democracy is perfected, the office of the President represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day, the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be occupied by a downright fool and complete narcissistic moron."
- H.L. Mencken, the Baltimore Evening Sun, July 26, 1920
 
To clarify... based on blood and and the actions of the bull we had concluded to our best knowledge that the first bull had been brisket shot and therefore we would not recover it no matter how long we tracked it. I've never tracked an animal over a mile and 1/2 without having it bed down or at the very least show signs of weakness. This bull jumped logs, and went up a steep ridge for over a 1/2 mile showing no signs of being sick. I could've easily kept this info to myself and looking back maybe I should have. As a family (3 brothers and our father) this was our 16th elk hunt and most years we have at least 1 to 4 friends with us. Thats well over 64 tags that we've hunted on and until his year I was the only one who had lost a bull. It was in 2002 in colorado after hitting a bull good a storm blew in and we never recovered that animal. I was young and took it extremely hard. (literally walked 3 miles back to our camp in tears). To this day it's the worst feeling I've ever had in the outdoors. My brother had never lost and animal bow or rifle to this point and he's an excellent archer. If I had thought that we stood any chance of finding the original bull I would've never suggested he attempt to harvest the second bull. It doesn't change the end result and you are all certainly entitled to your opinions but I thought a little clarification on my mindset would shed some light on my actions.

Tee off boys...
 
ERASY there ZIGGER!

That kinda sshhitt Hurts!



>Utards....
>
>"As democracy is perfected, the office
>of the President represents, more
>and more closely, the inner
>soul of the people.
>On some great and glorious
>day, the plain folks of
>the land will reach their
>heart's desire at last and
>the White House will be
>occupied by a downright fool
>and complete narcissistic moron."
>- H.L. Mencken, the Baltimore
>Evening Sun, July 26, 1920
>












[font color="red"]From My Smokin Cherry Red Hot Barrel & My Dead Cold Hands I Shall go down Fighting for American Pride & Rights!
I Know I'm Out Numbered by Pusssies & Brainwashed Democrats that'll Throw Their Hands in the air & I know I can't Lick the U.S. Military by Myself when they Turn on us but I'll make
you one Guarantee,They'll be Enduring a Situation where I Hope to Hell All Americans become True Americans once again & Stand up for their Rights!
 
LAST EDITED ON Sep-27-14 AT 10:48PM (MST)[p]A deer here locally two years back was shot through the back straps. Everyone knows that a shot like this is not fatal.... At least not immediately fatal. This deer wandered around and slowly festered along it's back until there was no backstrap's left for a good 8 inches in the section it was shot. All that was there was a festering pile of maggots on its back. The deer began bedding on People's front porches and could care less about people walking within 5 feet of it. The end result was the deer wound up being put down because it was suffering so bad. In my opinion there should be more Hunter ethics involved with putting more responsibility and time into going after the same animal that you have hit. If it takes the rest of your hunt by doing that then so be it. at least you have a clean conscience that you tried everything to recover the animal that you originally hit. If you go on any hunting ranch and wound an animal, you have bought and paid for that animal regardless of if you harvest it. That will be the only animal that you will ever get to shoot at again. It should be the exact same in the wild. They really should teach that More in hunter education
Out of the 12 hunting seasons I have been around to hunt. I have managed to harvest 10 deer. 7 elk and a bear. I have as well hung my head in shame and remorse for wounding 4 animals. One of which I was able to recover when I began to smell it. The other 3The rest of my hunt was dedicated to that one animal I wounded. If I had opportunities at other animals I would pass. 2 of those 3 animals I know healed up and lived on. The other I never saw for the rest of my hunt.
Life is a valuable thing and it should not be taken lightly. Even on shots that are non vital, keep in mind that deer and elk aren't clean creatures. They roll in mud and sleep in dirt. Chances are even a non vital shot will become infected and still has the potential of killing the animal. Just in a much more drug out and painful process that you never get to see through necrosis, gangrene, and sepsis. I highly disagree with shooting a second animal within even a 48 hour period. It is ignorant and irresponsible. It should become your responsibility to pursue an animal you have wounded until you are for certain it is either dead or healed up. No if's ands or buts about it. Life is precious. Treat it as such.
 
>LAST EDITED ON Sep-27-14
>AT 10:48?PM (MST)
>
>A deer here locally two years
>back was shot through the
>back straps. Everyone knows that
>a shot like this is
>not fatal.... At least not
>immediately fatal. This deer wandered
>around and slowly festered along
>it's back until there was
>no backstrap's left for a
>good 8 inches in the
>section it was shot. All
>that was there was a
>festering pile of maggots on
>its back. The deer began
>bedding on People's front porches
>and could care less about
>people walking within 5 feet
>of it. The end result
>was the deer wound up
>being put down because it
>was suffering so bad. In
>my opinion there should be
>more Hunter ethics involved with
>putting more responsibility and time
>into going after the same
>animal that you have hit.
>If it takes the rest
>of your hunt by doing
>that then so be it.
>at least you have a
>clean conscience that you tried
>everything to recover the animal
>that you originally hit. If
>you go on any hunting
>ranch and wound an animal,
>you have bought and paid
>for that animal regardless of
>if you harvest it. That
>will be the only animal
>that you will ever get
>to shoot at again. It
>should be the exact same
>in the wild. They really
>should teach that More in
>hunter education
>Out of the 12 hunting seasons
>I have been around to
>hunt. I have managed to
>harvest 10 deer. 7
>elk and a bear. I
>have as well hung my
>head in shame and remorse
>for wounding 4 animals. One
>of which I was able
>to recover when I began
>to smell it. The other
>3The rest of my hunt
>was dedicated to that one
>animal I wounded. If I
>had opportunities at other animals
>I would pass. 2 of
>those 3 animals I know
>healed up and lived on.
>The other I never saw
>for the rest of my
>hunt.
>Life is a valuable thing and
>it should not be taken
>lightly. Even on shots
>that are non vital, keep
>in mind that deer and
>elk aren't clean creatures. They
>roll in mud and sleep
>in dirt. Chances are even
>a non vital shot will
>become infected and still has
>the potential of killing the
>animal. Just in a much
>more drug out and painful
>process that you never get
>to see through necrosis, gangrene,
>and sepsis. I highly
>disagree with shooting a second
>animal within even a 48
>hour period. It is ignorant
>and irresponsible. It should become
>your responsibility to pursue an
>animal you have wounded until
>you are for certain it
>is either dead or healed
>up. No if's ands or
>buts about it. Life is
>precious. Treat it as such.
>

You'll be happy to know that the Mule Deer Committee has recommended that the DWR instigate an educational campaign with the hunter safety courses, proclamations, brochures and public media to address this issue. It was originally proposed as a law, but was determined to be unenforceable per DWR's legal section. But we will, in fact, hear more about it.
 
>To clarify... based on blood and
>and the actions of the
>bull we had concluded to
>our best knowledge that the
>first bull had been brisket
>shot and therefore we would
>not recover it no matter
>how long we tracked it.
> I've never tracked an
>animal over a mile and
>1/2 without having it bed
>down or at the very
>least show signs of weakness.
> This bull jumped logs,
>and went up a steep
>ridge for over a 1/2
>mile showing no signs of
>being sick. I could've
>easily kept this info to
>myself and looking back maybe
>I should have. As
>a family (3 brothers and
>our father) this was our
>16th elk hunt and most
>years we have at least
>1 to 4 friends with
>us. Thats well over
>64 tags that we've hunted
>on and until his year
>I was the only one
>who had lost a bull.
> It was in 2002
>in colorado after hitting a
>bull good a storm blew
>in and we never recovered
>that animal. I was
>young and took it extremely
>hard. (literally walked 3
>miles back to our camp
>in tears). To this
>day it's the worst feeling
>I've ever had in the
>outdoors. My brother had
>never lost and animal bow
>or rifle to this point
>and he's an excellent archer.
> If I had thought
>that we stood any chance
>of finding the original bull
>I would've never suggested he
>attempt to harvest the second
>bull. It doesn't change
>the end result and you
>are all certainly entitled to
>your opinions but I thought
>a little clarification on my
>mindset would shed some light
>on my actions.
>
>Tee off boys...

FOOOOUUUUURRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!

Dude you was still on a fresh blood trail of a bull you had just shot hours before????? I dont care what you think you know you dont just shoot another bull while activly tracking a bull you have already shot. I've trailed a bull for 5 miles once with about 2 of those miles without any blood and just tracks, never gave up till we had no blood and couldnt find tracks anymore, and even then I went back the next day and searched the area.

I've had my fair share of wounded and unrecovered game, and in my oppion you dont stop looking unless you have nothing else to go on.




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