scandalousbob
Active Member
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I just read the story in the dead head thread in the Utah forum about the guy who was able to recover his lost bull 6 years later. Similar thing happened to me this year, only I didn't have to wait that long.
Last year on a Utah late season elk hunt, I shot a bull that we were not able to recover. The shot was further back than I intended and there was very little blood. At first we were able to follow his tracks in the snow, but eventually they mixed with other tracks and we lost them. We followed tracks in every direction, but never found any more blood or any other sign of him. At that point, we figured there was a good chance he was still alive. We continued to hunt that same area, hoping he might turn up, but we never saw him again. Pretty tough pill to swallow when that hunt ended with my unpunched tag still in my pocket.
Fast forward 6 months. We knew there were several nice bulls that made it through, so this past May I decided to go back and look for sheds in the same area we had hunted. I thought finding a nice matching pair of sheds might make me feel better about not filling my tag. My younger brother joked that I would find my bull, but honestly at that point we all pretty much agreed that it was a bad shot and that he was likely still alive somewhere.
I hiked up from the bottom of the canyon, and actually did find an old broken elk shed. As I got closer to where we were hunting, I was watching onX and paying attention to where I was in relation to where we lost the blood trail. Just as I was making my last switchback to pop up onto the ridge, I came around a tree and ran right into an elk carcass. Very quickly I realized that this could actually be my bull. I took photos & marked the location. When I got home, I watched the video of the shot and confirmed that it was definitely my bull. I couldn't believe it.
Knowing that I couldn't just take it, I contacted DWR. They asked me to send them everything I had, including photos, location, video of the shot, and a copy of my tag. About a week later, after they had reviewed everything, they sent me a disposal receipt for after season recovery, which allowed me to legally go retrieve my bull. One week later, I made a special trip to go bring him home (600 miles roundtrip).
This is my first elk. Not exactly how I planned it, but now his Euro mount is just over my shoulder above my office door. After six months of telling the same sad story, now I have something to show for all the hard work we put into that hunt.
Last year on a Utah late season elk hunt, I shot a bull that we were not able to recover. The shot was further back than I intended and there was very little blood. At first we were able to follow his tracks in the snow, but eventually they mixed with other tracks and we lost them. We followed tracks in every direction, but never found any more blood or any other sign of him. At that point, we figured there was a good chance he was still alive. We continued to hunt that same area, hoping he might turn up, but we never saw him again. Pretty tough pill to swallow when that hunt ended with my unpunched tag still in my pocket.
Fast forward 6 months. We knew there were several nice bulls that made it through, so this past May I decided to go back and look for sheds in the same area we had hunted. I thought finding a nice matching pair of sheds might make me feel better about not filling my tag. My younger brother joked that I would find my bull, but honestly at that point we all pretty much agreed that it was a bad shot and that he was likely still alive somewhere.
I hiked up from the bottom of the canyon, and actually did find an old broken elk shed. As I got closer to where we were hunting, I was watching onX and paying attention to where I was in relation to where we lost the blood trail. Just as I was making my last switchback to pop up onto the ridge, I came around a tree and ran right into an elk carcass. Very quickly I realized that this could actually be my bull. I took photos & marked the location. When I got home, I watched the video of the shot and confirmed that it was definitely my bull. I couldn't believe it.
Knowing that I couldn't just take it, I contacted DWR. They asked me to send them everything I had, including photos, location, video of the shot, and a copy of my tag. About a week later, after they had reviewed everything, they sent me a disposal receipt for after season recovery, which allowed me to legally go retrieve my bull. One week later, I made a special trip to go bring him home (600 miles roundtrip).
This is my first elk. Not exactly how I planned it, but now his Euro mount is just over my shoulder above my office door. After six months of telling the same sad story, now I have something to show for all the hard work we put into that hunt.
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