idaho bound

[iccyman001]

dan, it was bright. and on one small pine tree that he went by that was caked with blood, there were several dried blood bubbles on it.

Gary, I am wondering if you clipped a single lung. Sometimes the blood will have tiny bubbles in it for a lung shot. Usually you find bigger bubbles on a heart or artery shot. If this was a heart or artery shot, he would have been done by the time you came back from camp.

 

[cnelk]

Gary
Were you aiming tight in the crease?
If so, you prob nicked the scapula and got one lung.

I wont hold tight to the crease anymore for that reason, there is still plenty of both lungs 4 inches back of that.

 

[Zpd307]

I hate to admit it, but.... without the ability to actually look through my peep, everything was actually guess. plus, I think my excitement wrecked my form. I was a puddle until I drew back.... I do recognize that a really good hit, the bull would have been dead after 3 hours when we came back to look for him...... but that\'s why I went back to camp first, I knew it wasn\'t the best

 

[bowhunter]

I had something simular happen to a whitetail. I am guessing you shot too high and barely hit the lungs just under the spine. I shot at a deer at 17yards from a tree stand. The shot was about where you put the green dot. I watched him bolt and stop about 100yards away. He bedded down then got up and staggered off after one hour. I decided to go home and give him plenty of time. I snuck down from my tree and left. I returned 4 hours later to track him and he jumpped and bounded off. I left for 2 more hours. When I returned I trailed him another 100yards from where he last jumpped and ran. I found him dead on a trail.

If someone had showed me a deer and said they hit it where I did and it lived 6 hours I would had thought they weren\'t telling the truth. Upon cleaning him the arrow entered a bit high in one side and had to have hit a lung on the other before passing through. The only thing I can guess is he had exhaled at the moment I shot and the lungs were dropped in the chest cavity a bit and I just nicked the top of one lung.

You said you had 6 inches of arrow sticking out so I guess you missed the scapula. You had plenty of penetration to kill the elk. You might have just nicked the top of a lung. They have been known to live with one lung. You can only hope he made it and move on but learn from your mistake. The next time you release an arrow you need to feel positive and not doubt yourself. I have found that if I doubt myself I don\'t make as good of shots . I am setting myself up for failure.

 

[Ol' Arky]

Just a suggestion but practice for next year without usin\' ya peep... Ya ancor at the same spot evertime... Ya eyes see the same area evertime... Find how ya bow shoots where ya eye is lookin\' in relation to ya top pin at colse range... Adjust from there for different yardage... Of course I\'ve always liked usin\' the top pin anyway... :upthumb: :upthumb: It\'s almost like shootin\' instenctive but aimin\' at the same time... Ya will find after practice ya are just as accurate as ya were with ya peep sight...

Like I said just a suggestion but it\'s another tool in ya tool box... :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

 

[Zpd307]

phil, that is a great suggestion! I will definitely be doing that. I am curious to see what happens when I retry that shot. terry, I was bummed when I drew back and didn\'t have my peep. but after checking my angles and making some calculations, I was positive I could have pulled it off. if I had any doubt, I would have dropped back down.....