Cripples.

bigmoosie

Active Member
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513
How long Do you guys think you should look for a crippled elk. My wife drew a non-resident late elk tag on the Beaver this year. We were after this 390bull that it seems like every body in town knew about. We seen the elk was watching it when one of the locals crippled it, he had two guys with him plus two spotters using radios.They spent two hours looking for it and then continued to hunt. Every where we went we found some of their people out looking for elk, is this that common there, or did we just run into some bad apples. The comment was also made that we will pick up the horns later. WTF.
 
I thought only archery hunters did that type of thing?
__________________________
"Life's tough, it's even tougher if you're stupid." - John Wayne
 
I know that in CWMU's if you draw blood on a bull thats it! You either track him down and shoot him again or go home...You don't get to go shoot another one and thats how it should be everywhere.....
4781a20d069cc615.jpg
 
i can guarantee that on the cow elk hunts, hundreds of cows are wounded and not sought after.



the only eagle with enough power and speed to kill and gut you with one shot
 
>I thought only archery hunters did
>that type of thing?
>__________________________
>"Life's tough, it's even tougher if
>you're stupid." - John Wayne
>

Nice....
 
>i can guarantee that on the
>cow elk hunts, hundreds of
>cows are wounded and not
>sought after.
>
>
>
>the only eagle with enough power
>and speed to kill and
>gut you with one shot
>


Hundreds????
 
>i can guarantee that on the
>cow elk hunts, hundreds of
>cows are wounded and not
>sought after.

You must run with the wrong crowds if you can GUARANTEE that hundreds are wounded and not sought after. Id find anouther crowd to run with if it was me.
 
How long Do you guys think you should look for a crippled elk.

That is a trick question, here is my reasoning. If you just nick him, ie. briskit, you are bascially waisting your time. I would try for that day.
If you fatally shoot him, then however long it takes. I wounded a bull archery hunting in '06. Broadside shot, 45 yards, down a severe angle though and only hit one lung, went below the far-side lung. We tracked him all the next day and day after straight till we lost him in the rain. I looked for him a couple more days that archery season and then again during the rifle season a month later.
I looked again this fall and found my arrow 13 months later.
Never did fill that archery tag, had the oppurtunity but just didn't because I wanted my tag on him. I got video of some other bulls later in the hunt that could have shot but didn't.

It all depends on that persons opinion for that specific circumstance and a lot of the time it's the wrong opinion :-(

Mntman

"Hunting is where you prove yourself"
 
LAST EDITED ON Jan-07-08 AT 12:12PM (MST)[p]That is a sad story about the "locals" whom I doubt were really locals. But, all anyone cares about is the opportunity to kill a big bull. With over 50,000 people with three points or less, you better make the most of your chance - cuz you aint gettin another one.
 
>I thought only archery hunters did
>that type of thing?
>__________________________
>"Life's tough, it's even tougher if
>you're stupid." - John Wayne
>


Just for your info ON the Monroe unit there were 8 bull elk found dead this year after the hunt was over 6 shot by rifle hunters and 2 by archery.
 
In my book you track him until you can't track him any longer.

If it is just a nick and he isn't leaving blood then you might not be tracking long. If it is a good hit and he is leaving blood then I would track him until found or until I ran out of trail to track.

I know from personal experience that the feeling I get from wounding an animal will push me a long way. I have run out of trail and given up after 3 days of tracking a spike elk and I have helped my brother find his big bull after 3 days and nearly 5 miles of tracking.


?Here?s to the hero's that Git-R-Done!!?
 
Thank you elk_horn

You will never kill a big one if you continue to kill the small ones.
 
Just because animals are wounded and not recovered by some on archery hunts , don't be so damned idiotic and lump all archery hunters negative that way...NICE....
 
This was a bull of many lifetimes shot twice with a 300 Win mag. went into fairly open country and was shot by a big name local guide and so called hunter.My wife that had the tag has drawn the Gila in New Mex. Area 7 in Nev. and now the late Beaver tag and hasn't pulled the trigger yet. Looking for the bull of a lifetime, says she isn't hunting anymore after seeing people hunting like this, and so hung up just about horns. By the way the Nevada elk hunt and this hunts were two of the best we were ever on and yes they were DIY.
 
I track until i find him or loose the trail. I've lost two because they quit bleeding. It's unfortunate, but it's part of hunting.
 
Just a little insight...I'm an avid archery hunter. I just get a little tired of hearing that it's the archery hunters that are wounding and loosing a majority of the animals. I just don't buy it. Does it happen? Yes. Does it happen more then with other weapons? I doubt it! Either way, stop taking idiotic shots!
__________________________
"Life's tough, it's even tougher if you're stupid." - John Wayne
 
bigmoosie,
That really has to be frustrating for your wife to have 3 great permits like those and not even fire a shot. Were the hunts really tough or were you just waiting for that once in a lifetime bull?

legacy,
I agree with the statement that archers are not to blame for the majority of woundings and loss.
How many times have you seen somebody shoot at an animal across a canyon and then turn and walk away since the animal ran off with no apparent hit. More shots like that are not followed up than a 50 yard archery shot.
I agree that archers loose animals, and that is a part of hunting, but they are not the only hunters responsible...
 
My thoughts are track tell you find it or there is nothing left to follow and then start circling, learn the track. Tracked a bull two years ago and lost the track 3 times. We circled and picked it up about 3 blocks. Then we lost it again and picked it up again about a mile out. We lost him again when he doubled back on his tracks what a mess that was sorting out. We finally got him about 15 miles from where he was shot the first time and two days latter.

Crap happens be ready.

Rock5150
 
>Just because animals are wounded and
>not recovered by some on
>archery hunts , don't be
>so damned idiotic and lump
>all archery hunters negative that
>way...NICE....

Hope My "Nice" comment was not misconstrued.
I was being sarcastic.
I absolutley love bowhunting too.
Got a little bent at Legacy's comment.
turns out he was being sarcastic as well.
Sarcasm don't play well on the internet.
HH
 
She is just very picky, seen some great bulls scouting and then she wouldn't kill a lesser bull. She has a lot more patience than than I would have or most men.All of these hunts were great, don't always have to kill a animal to have a great hunt.Like someone on here said if its too small the first day, why is it all right on the last, did it grow. Wish a few more hunters had more will power.
 
First whoever made the bow comment, I mostly bowhunt I am sure I wound less, miss less, and look harder then most rifle hunters.

This is a tough question but, for sure on a bull like that, 2 hours is not enough IMO. A lot depends on weather, where you think you hit, blood, size of elk (this should not matter - but I feel you shuold give a longer to a 350 bull then a small cow).

On a bull like that, if you have any reason to suspect you did more then graze him, that day and all of the next day.

As for stopping hunting, I would live with not having too, but I would still hunt if legal. I have not lost and big game in a long time, and am very very careful - but if it happens on my once in a lifetime tag, after a couple days I am hunting again if legal. That is my feelings.

That said in my last 25 shots at big game, 20 went into lungs, one hit a shoulder (bow, small doe I did not realize she was slightly quartering towards me, this was about 8 years ago I love her), one hit a tree (I was trying to shoot through a 3-4" gap, missed by 1/4"), one my limb caught a pine I was tucked into and one my arrow caught a tiny twig immediatly after leaving my bow and cartwheeled. one I hit back on a walking bull, got excited. One went into the lungs and liver, not perfect but a good shot. One animal lost in 22, 3 misses (bow) all because of obstacles not shooting accuracy.

DonV
 
I've seen and heard many discussions about crippling game-whether is be an elk, a deer, or a duck or goose-and some have turned really ugly. It seems there are many acceptable, though perhaps not ethical, personal resolutions on how to handle a wounded and lost animal. Here are my thoughts for what they are worth...

I do believe wounding is a part of hunting. That being the case, I choose to trust in faith that all of us want to limit lost game and are striving to improve as marksman, wheteher it be with a firearm or bow. What I do hear far too much of when I am around fellow bowhunters, or read through numbers of posted stories on hunting websites, are the recounted tales of "stuck" game that got away and are presummed to be "fine" as the hit was "non-lethal". Often, the story-tellers end up taking another animal and are applauded for their success with little to no concern about the one that got away.

The injured animal is forgotten and the misplaced shot dismissed as non-fatal simply because the animal wasn't found readily. Truth is, if a hunter buries an arrow into an elk and it runs off into cover and the arrow isn't found, limited amounts of blood is located, and then the tracks peter out...well, too many assume the animal is "fine" and they continue to persue another animal to put their tag on. How does that hunter really know? I don't think they do and their willingness to continue to hunt for another elk has to be driven in part by the growing difficulty in obtaining a permit and the pressure to make that long sought after permit count!

I live in Arizona and most of you know how how long it usually takes to draw an elk tag...5, 10, 15 years or longer. From the conversations I've over-heard and from some of the stories I've read, the need to wrap that permit around the antler of a worthy bull is strong enough to make some forget about the bull that ran off with the "marginal, non-lethal hit" and keep right on hunting.
 
I went out on opening morning with a friend?s brother this year on a spike rifle hunt. This guy bragged that his 338 lepua only had 26" of drop at 900 yards and more knock down KE at that distance than most deer rifles. He went out on opening morning and shot two spikes at 700 yards he said on the radio he saw one limping away and the other one go down. I was so mad he shot one and than had the gall to put another one down. Well he looked for about a half hour and never recovered either of them. He than went out the next day and kill another spike. Another friend of mine and I talked to the game and fish department trying to turn him in and they just told us it is part of hunting. Its all a bunch of sheet and I wont hunt with this individual ever again.

Archery is a year round sport!!
 
I had a arizona elk tag this year. When we were moving to a new area we ran into a guy tracking a bull. He said that it was the fifth bull he had hit and lost. He was guided and shot at nothing under 360. It made me sick!
 
Most people who wound a elk or deer don't find there game until after the hunt! That's when the love of bird watching comes out in those crippling hunters. They just love the sound and sight of crows and magpies, they know when they see this "JACKPOT" Then they come home and say look at this cougar kill I found,or after it's mounted in the family basement "Yah I found these Elk sheds last year and had them mounted, and for this Buck I found his sheds at the HEAD OF YOU'LL NEVER KNOW CREEK. ya ya ya same old story. I bet if you knew this hunter he could probably show some nice mounts that are sheds LOL just kidding.

Bigmoosie; Sorry about the hunt it's too bad!!!
 
Yikes some bad stories, IMO if you solidly hit an animal it will not live, infection, gangrene etc. Here in Ohio it is a zoo with hunters, I have taken a lot of game with old wounds, some healing some not. Anywhere from missing legs, to buried BH's in rear legs, bullet holes in antlers, to healed over the spine hits. I have seen many more other guys took. None have wounds that involved a substantial hit, like body, thick part of leg etc. I have heard of game hit "hard" being taken later and recovering/recovered but it is RARE. Considering I can speak from personal experiance (myself or a close friend) on about 20 deer taken that had been hit (ignoring grazed game) and exactly zero were hit hard I figure hit hard = not making it.

Bottom line is if you push through 10" or more of the animal it likely will not live.

Guy who wounded 5, 360 plus bulls should be shot in the leg, left 1 mile in alone, if he makes it out, take him back 1 mile again and shoot in the other leg. That is totally unacceptable.
 
Also when I said spine hits, I meant right above spine in bone that sticks up, top part of vertabre.

Also only one deer I took was not going to live (but I cannot be sure) he had been hit very close to good, front leg right below the chest. He had gangrene so bad I had to stuff my nose to gut him. I seriously doubt he would have made it much longer.
 

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