Help me find that elk

[hunter tyson]

put a bul let in a 4x4 elk today at 4pm, sadly i diden't find him, i gave him lots of time befor tracking him as i walked back to where i parked my bike to retrive my gps and some flag tape then walked back to where i made the shot, probaly 45 minutes
there was a good blood trail to start,lots of blood for about 1/2 km. but then nothing, i tied a peace of flag tape around the tree where i last saw blood and started doing circles around the spot about 4or 5 meters at a time but nothing, does anyone have any tips on how to find this animal because i difinatly dont want to loose him, i hate to have an animal go to waste like that, im heading back in tomorow morning to try again to retrive him

also im confident in shot placement, he was standing still, perfect side on, only 40 m away, i was calm and took my time shooting at the boiler maker so i thaught i might have knocked my scope off some how. after i got back to the truck i went to the gravel pit near by and sat up a target at 40m to see where i would hit and the scope is fine

any tips will be apreciated, boy i sure hope tomorow night i can get on here with good news

[Elkaholic6]

Make a circle in the general area you think he may be. If he is on a game trail, follow it. Most definitely look for the magpies and crows, and maybe even eagle(s). Good luck hope you find your trophy!

[Stop Staring at my Rack]

By morning, watch for magpies, if not just keep looking he has to be nearby. Good Luck and hope you find him!

[Sooner]

Sounds like you hit him good, keep at it, sometimes they fall into tall grass or beside a blow down. Sometimes you almost have to step on it before you see it. I hope you find that elk. Good luck tommorow.

[hunter tyson]

you would not belive how sad i am siting here thinking an animal may be wasted needlessly by my hand, sleep will be hard to find tonight and tomorow morning a long time coming, thanks for the coments so far and my plan so far for tomorow is a grid search, i have looked at the area on google earth and im going to put waypoints in the gps at four corners of where i think he maybe and use lots of flag tape so im not searching the same place over and over:(

[chicken]

Hello Hunter Tyson,

Did you find your Bull yet?


You said the conditions were fine and the Elk was only 40 meter away.
Shoting @ 40 meter should put him right into his tracks.
I'm just curious how he can run so far with a bullet placed at 40 meter distance.

I'm not familiar with this part of the law but could you use a dog (don't carry your rilfe) just to find the trail? However it might be also taff for a dog even with an excellent nose after 2 days.

All the best!

Chicken

[harryones]

Hello Hunter Tyson,

Did you find your Bull yet?


You said the conditions were fine and the Elk was only 40 meter away.
Shoting @ 40 meter should put him right into his tracks.
I'm just curious how he can run so far with a bullet placed at 40 meter distance.

I'm not familiar with this part of the law but could you use a dog (don't carry your rilfe) just to find the trail? However it might be also taff for a dog even with an excellent nose after 2 days.

All the best!

Chicken

If you don't know what you are talking about maybe you shouldn't post.

[bushwackin]

Hello Hunter Tyson,

Did you find your Bull yet?


You said the conditions were fine and the Elk was only 40 meter away.
Shoting @ 40 meter should put him right into his tracks.
I'm just curious how he can run so far with a bullet placed at 40 meter distance.

I'm not familiar with this part of the law but could you use a dog (don't carry your rilfe) just to find the trail? However it might be also taff for a dog even with an excellent nose after 2 days.

All the best!

Chicken
Doesn't matter 40 yards or 400 yards. I've seen bullets change direction ie. turn 90 degrees after hitting a rib just the right way, not very often but seen it many times. It probably turned a bit and only got one lung if he went that far. Or maybe got it in the boiler room but just missed the vitals by an inch or two. Get lots of buddies together and good luck dude!

[johnnyfly]

hope this helps, my dad showed me a trick when i was younger....go to the place were you last saw blood, still do you circles around the end of your blood trail, but get down low with some papertowl or light cloth and pat the ground as you go, if there is a little bit of blood you will see it on the cloth that may not be able to be seen by your eye.

just my 2 cents!.
good luck !

[bessiedog]

That's a technique I never thought of. I just had a hell of a time blood tracking a mulie I arrowed through cutblock-blowdown full of fireweed and other such 'turns red' foliage.

I'm gonna pack white toilet paper in my pack again!

thanks

also.. you probably know this, but If you;re tape marking blood spots and run out, you usually can determine a fairly good direction of travel.... but take in obsticles and terrain into account as well.. I've often used this successfully to determine a fan shaped area to concentrate my search on. It works well.

good luck. I think we all know how you feel.

[Rem7]

A lot of times a mortally wounded animal heads for water....if there is a creek, pond, lake, etc... start looking in that general direction. Good luck!

[pintailslammer]

X2 on Water. If you have any small water bodies check them out.

Pin

[Trav]

What cartridge and bullet combo did you shoot him with. This could have a huge effect on how much penetration you got. If you used a big magnum and light bullets it could have blown up on impact and not penetrated and that is why you lost the blood trail.

I hate losing animals it really sucks. I sure hope you are sucessful and find him. Good luck

[AxeMan]

Stay confident. Search like crazy in the morning and all day if you have to. It sounds like you hit him well enough. You will find him.

[827rotax]

Well Young man did you find that elk?

[hunter tyson]

thanks for the coments guys and for the offer for help Diamonddave but i guess i hit him high or something, i went back yesterday morning to where i last saw blood and did a on my hands and knees search and i swear if dr henry lee and his team of forensic scientests went there they wouldent find another drop after the last spot,
i even went back today to see if the crows or magpies had found him but nothing, hopefully i diden't hit him as well as i thought and he lives to be masive and dies of old age
on a lighter note on my way home tonight i spoted a giant bull with a harim of cows, it was about a km away and past leagle shooting light but threw the binos i could see how masive he was next to the cows, i know where i will be tomorow, hope i can post some good news and good pics soon

Tyson

[Stop Staring at my Rack]

Sorry you did not get the elk, but sounds like you found a great bull, good Luck and hope you get him tomorrow!!!

[blacknorthernjk]

Sounds like you did everything possible and right to find it, very respectful of you...better luck on the next one