Lessons Learned

A

AaronJohnson

New member
Mar 4, 2014
240
I was really looking forward to this elk season (being my fourth season) and going in with a total of about 15-20 days of total elk hunting in the previous three years still seeking to draw on my first elk. Of my three previous seasons I\'ve experienced successful hunts with my partners on the first two.

I had a plan to hunt a new area in a different part of the state that I had not hunted previously. In a nutshell, the new place seems to be good with little to moderate pressure. On the fourth weekend of the season, I set out on Friday mid-day and planned to hunt through the weekend and even Monday if I needed it.

Brad\'s son Cole was coming up in the general area and we had plans to meet up mid-day Saturday, trade notes then go from there. We met up on Saturday both of us having opportunities at spikes only thus far and decided to throw up camp together and hunt Saturday night and Sunday.

Fast forward to Sunday morning.......

Cole and I set out to to work east/ north facing ridge. We worked two set-ups to no avail right off the bat. Third set-up at approximately 720-725AM. Cole and I scan the area and plan our set up. Cole looks at me and says \"rip a bugle off when we get set-up and then let\'s break into our normal herd chatter\". I say, \"Ok\" and I let a short locate bugle and we begin to talk to each other.

735AM. I hear a twig break straight ahead of me and a tattle-tale squirrel start going nuts. It was one of those moments that I\'ll never forget because I just knew it was an elk. Less than a minute later I see a bull! Not only that but a legal bull! (after having three opportunities at spikes in the last day and a half I was damn excited).

The bull comes straight between Cole and I still 40 plus yards out. Scans the timber looking for the source of the call. Cole can\'t see the bull at this point and still is hitting a few subtle mews.

The bull turns my my direction and starts angling towards me with the wind. I immediately go into \"kill mode\".

I\'ve ranged several trees already as most of us do and have a reference of 35 yards at a tree he looks like he will walk by. Sure enough, he stops for about a minute right by that tree and all I can see is his legs. I need two-three more steps and he will be in my small window to shoot. So he does just that and stops. If memory serves me right, Cole called and just happened to stop the bull right where I needed him before I could even get a sound out to stop him myself.

Arrow loosed......hear a thwack.....bull turns and runs about 20 yards.

We start calling and he breaks into a walk. I\'m looking for blood or some form of penetration. Nothing. Shot felt and looked good.
 
So Cole comes over to me and we talk. I tell him I think I hit the bull well and we sit for probably about 10-15 minutes only walking up to the point of impact. Immediately we find my fletching covered in blood. Good sign.

I tell Cole, \"let\'s give it some time\" but we are both pretty amped up. We talk and agree to only go look for more blood a little further up to see what it\'s going to look like. This is where the lesson is learned.

We find more blood. We find my arrow (the bull had worked it out on the trail) and go another 40-50 yards and the elk is right ahead of us standing in the brush and busts out going down hill probably 80-100 yards before stopping.

Blood we found up to the point we bumped the bull.
 
Cole and I watch where the bull goes. He stands in the same spot for another 10 minutes or so. Moves down the hill again and repeats. Finally he trots down the hill into the thick timber. At approximately an hour and a half later (after the shot) we hear a large crash down the hill. It\'s over except for the recovery, right?

This photo is looking down the hill right after we hear the crash.

 
This spot is exactly where we end up finding last blood. The initiative is still to stay on the blood trail. Long story short we don\'t find much more at all.

After we lose blood for some time and after hearing the crash we decide to grid search the area down hill. We grid and grid some more.

All of the sudden we smell elk. Strong elk smell. Then we bump an elk bedded but it only moves about 50 yards or so. I mark the spot. At this point, Cole has to drive back to school and I decide to back out for two hours or so if that is my elk.

130PM I come back and go back to last blood find a little more on a small pine tree and look even more on my hands and knees hoping to find where it picks up. Notta....

I continue the grid search and go back to the spot I bumped the elk. Grid it out and bump the elk again. Is this the bull I shot? I have no idea but if it is, he should have blood in his bed. Again, I scour the bed and nothing....no blood, no messy scat, nothing....

5PM... I\'m frustrated and tired but I continue. Remember... I heard the crash and have a good idea where it came from. At this point I\'ve only combed that suspect area at least five times. I go further down hill and nothing.

Daylight fading and losing light fast. I\'ll admit, doubt is creeping in big time and I\'m second guessing everything, my shot, the blood evidence, how quick I picked up the blood trail.
 
I head back to my truck exhausted, mentally and physically. I make a few phone calls including one to Brad and my wife and head off the mountain back home to get ready for the work week. It\'s going to be a long ride home.

The whole ride home I\'m confused with the crash and bumping that elk but not finding blood in the bed. It\'s not adding up. \"Is that the elk I shot?\" \"Where could this elk have gone?\" \"Did I hit higher than I thought?\" \"It was a 30+ yard chip shot, how did I screw up?\"

Disgusted.
 
Fast forward to the following weekend. I\'ve been sick since Thursday night (my 2 year old brought a virus home from school) and I\'m really wanting to go out and hunt at least Saturday night and Sunday. So I make it out and meet up with Brad and Cole. At the point I arrive, they have found my elk passing by that area and got a whiff of it. It was in an area that was very thick dense cover and frankly a spot I would not have looked. Very disappointing but at the same time I was somewhat glad to get some closure. I notched my tag and that was it.

A lot of questions were answered at that point as well. One of them being the elk I bumped late morning and again in the afternoon which ended up not being my bull. The pieces were all together now.

To sum this whole story up and the lesson I took from it was not to not let emotions or overconfidence get the best of me. We resumed that blood trail too quickly and confidently. Although unknowingly that he was standing 60 yards from the point of impact, we pushed that bull unnecessarily and it cost me.

When Cole shot his bull the last day it was an eerily similar situation though we handled it differently, much better and we all know how that ended.

I try to take all of my experiences and apply them towards future hunts. This is one that will stick with me forever and will not be forgotten.

 
I\'m sorry to hear about the hard lesson learned, Aaron.

At least you were able to have some closure though and I know how huge that can be.
If you would have never have found him period, your mentality would probably be shot until next season and potentially into next season.



Have you created yourself a new standard for once you take your shot?
Like are you waiting X amount of time before you even start moving?

Or will you base it off the shot? (Whether you know it was a good hit or not)
 
Aaron
A tough situation for sure with an ending not what we strive for.

I realize this post wasnt easy to post or re-live but the BTO community can learn from what happened.

Thanks for sharing
 
Dan,

I think every situation is different given its own circumstances. I\'ve hunted long enough to know that. That said, I will gauge every situation going forward more cautiously. It was still probably 40 minutes post shot when we bumped the bull.

We both agreed not too go too far but when we kept on blood our anxiety got the best of us and although it wasn\'t far, we went a bit further than we agreed.

If we would of gave that bull over an hour I think being on the fringe of good bedding cover his intent was to bed where we bumped him.
 
20/20 hindsight.

I will take this story to heart. I try to learn from the experiences of others.

I always say \"If he\'s dead now, he\'ll be dead in 45 minutes,\" but sometimes it\'s tough to live those words. This will help keep me honest.
 
Man, I\'ve had to learn this on the hard way as well. It\'s so easy to let anxiety get the best of you in these situations. Hopefully by posting this you\'ve saved somebody from making the same mistake.
 
Aaron, sorry to hear about the tough luck. We had the same situation happen last year with a guy in our camp. We tried tracking too quickly and ended up bumping the cow he shot. After bumping her, the blood trail basically disappeared. Tough lesson for sure.
 
\"AaronJohnson\" said:
Dan,

I think every situation is different given its own circumstances. I\'ve hunted long enough to know that. That said, I will gauge every situation going forward more cautiously. It was still probably 40 minutes post shot when we bumped the bull.

We both agreed not too go too far but when we kept on blood our anxiety got the best of us and although it wasn\'t far, we went a bit further than we agreed.

If we would of gave that bull over an hour I think being on the fringe of good bedding cover his intent was to bed where we bumped him.
Click to expand...


What makes this even more difficult is the difference of how WT bleed out verse elk.

I helped with 3 elk tracks this year. All 3 seemed like the animals should have bedded down at a certain point, but they never did. It was very unusual. Each track I followed blood for over a quarter of a mile and they never stopped.

For WT I usually waited 30 mins to 60 before I would check impact points and blood. But after attempting to recover those 3 elk for the guy in camp, I may even wait longer...?

It\'s definitely going to be situational like you said. It\'s just crazy how tough these animals are.
 
Sorry Aaron... Know how you feel... Good to get it off your chest...

I\'ll say this now, I hope all will have good luck and easy tracking during their next hunt... :D :D
 
Aaron, you made a lot of good decisions and did a lot of things right. When we are not sure where we hit an elk, normally I think backing out for a couple of hours is a good idea if weather permits. I just need to remind myself of that, especially when I shoot one in the evening. I saw where I hit my cow this season and still waited 1 1/2 hours before going after it.
The \"crash\" you describe bothers me. Was it the bull going down, or is it likely he was on the move? I tend to think he was moving away because I have never had one get up after \"crashing\" to the ground. I have had a couple bed, then get back up, but not after they crash.
These things are a tough experience, but they are experience. You will do better next year.
 
Thanks for sharing Aaron. Sorry it did not turn out the way we all hope it will. I have been there myself once and it is not easy to get over.
 
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