The worst recovery?

[iccyman001]

Where was the worst elk recovery you\'ve ever had?

I\'ve seen quite a few bulls that magically lodged themselves under blowdowns or roll directly down steep cliffs.
So where is the worst place you\'ve ever recovered a bull?







Mine would be my 2015 bull. He died in about 3 feet of mud and water.......
It\'s amazing how much heavier a bull becomes when he is soaked in mud.

 

[iccyman001]

Guess you guys are all killers and drop them perfectly next to the road

 

[F M]

I have had two really bad ones. The first one died in a pile of dead falls that was almost square. There was no way to work on him or move him. I went back to camp and got a block and tackle to winch him out.

The second is the bull in my avatar. Where I hunt is almost all scrub oak and when he went down I think he fell head first and landed with his horns buried under him and he was up against a group of trees that kept him from rolling over. I had to cut trees and brush for a hour just to get him on his side. That is why my face is beat red in the pic.

I have a couple of buddies from CO that hunt the same area and have helped me pack out quite a few elk and they hate it because they say that every one of my elk all ways die in what they call hell holes.

 

[iccyman001]

I have had two really bad ones. The first one died in a pile of dead falls that was almost square. There was no way to work on him or move him. I went back to camp and got a block and tackle to winch him out.

The second is the bull in my avatar. Where I hunt is almost all scrub oak and when he went down I think he fell head first and landed with his horns buried under him and he was up against a group of trees that kept him from rolling over. I had to cut trees and brush for a hour just to get him on his side. That is why my face is beat red in the pic.

I have a couple of buddies from CO that hunt the same area and have helped me pack out quite a few elk and they hate it because they say that every one of my elk all ways die in what they call hell holes.

Yikes!!!! :crazy:
Those sound horrible :shock:

 

[cnelk]

This bull

2003

A cow and him came into calling. The shot was angled back and I got one lung and clipped the other one. See hole in pic
The bull ran off 100yds and bedded down
Watched him for about an hour thru binos.
His head would go down and then it lifted up
About the time I thought he was dead, he would lift his head.

Finally I snuck arund thru some thick stuff on his right side
I got to about 15 yards.
He was looking the other way when I drew and let another arrow fly

Well with him laying down, his shoulder was bunched up and I hit the scapula square.
No penetration! Arrow was sticking out a lot.

The immediately stood up
I nocked another arrow and let loose again.
Whap! Full penetration

The bull staggered and fell over and broke both arrows.

I learned many things that day

 

[iccyman001]

Did the scapula hit ruin your arrow, Brad?

 

[cnelk]

Did the scapula hit ruin your arrow, Brad?

Nope.
The BH was embedded in it.

 

[Eyeeyecaptain]

Been pretty lucky with elk except for a trip through some nasty downed timber... hiking over logs with a full load gets old pretty quick.

Had a deer I shot on a ridge go tumbling to the bottom of a steep ravine that was no fun though. The whole time I watched it fall I was wishing it would stop, knowing every yard it fell would be one we would have to hike it out... Surprised the antlers didn\'t end up breaking on that one!

 

[Tdiesel]

Had one similar to fancis\'s had a bull die on his belly between several trees tight next to him if you can imagine a bucking chute that is how he was I was solo for a while and my brother was a mile or two away I cut the back straps off but had to horse him over the logs that were about even with the top of his back I was so worn out finally getting him out of there I was gonna have to rest but luckily my brother showed up about the time I finally got him out and he did most of the butchering. I still think he was up in the trees watching until I got the hard part done then strolled on down the hill just at the convenient time

 

[Tdiesel]

A sheep we had about 100\' rope holding him on the hill so we could process him about all you could do to hang on the side of it then someone hands you a knife and your supposed to start processing :?

 

[iccyman001]

Had a deer I shot on a ridge go tumbling to the bottom of a steep ravine that was no fun though. The whole time I watched it fall I was wishing it would stop, knowing every yard it fell would be one we would have to hike it out... Surprised the antlers didn\'t end up breaking on that one!

I\'ve seen quite a few videos where the deer would be rolling down a nasty ridge and the horns never broke off!
The funny thing is, I\'ve also heard of people shooting deer (mostly whitetail) and them just running through a few trees and snapping a tine or antler off.

 

[iccyman001]

A sheep we had about 100\' rope holding him on the hill so we could process him about all you could do to hang on the side of it then someone hands you a knife and your supposed to start processing :?

That must have been interest!

 

[cohunter14]

I haven\'t had any really terrible ones yet, but I can tell you the \'worst\' one. I was 13 years old and it was my second year of hunting. One of the guys in our group dropped a cow in an old burn area with a bunch of blow downs. That was my initiation...a quarter strapped on my back with a pack frame. I still remember going two steps forward and one step back and trying to negotiate those blow downs that were thigh height for me at the time. Funny thing is I wouldn\'t trade that experience for anything! :lol:

 

[elky McElkerson]

my first and only elk died in a tiny stream trickle..it was like a big elk shaped beaver dam.

and it was just a tick short of a million miles from my truck..steepest downhill of my life.

best time ever!!!!

 

[Coloradov]

My wife\'s bull this year was about 6 miles in on a trail then another mile up a avalanche chute to 12,000\'. She said she wanted a wilderness hunt!
In hind sight we should have waited a day and got horses but instead due to the hot temps called 6 friends who thought it was going to be a 3-4 mile pack out instead of a 12 mile round trip death march. Even my 73 year old father walked in to help out. Good to have friends and it took until after dark with the bull shot at first light but we got it all out in 1 day and into a walk in.

It will be fun to see what this years hunts bring.

 

[Ucsdryder]

Pretty much any story that starts with ... I was by myself...


My most physically demanding hunt was a duck hunt in Klamath falls (Tule Lake). Right on the Oregon/CA border. The \"lake\" is filled with 3 feet of mud and 2\" of water that sits on top. Running mud motors at full throttle on plane keeps you from getting hung up in the mud, but running solo to conserve weight while racing to the best spots turns into a mess when you beach yourself at 4am in the middle of nowhere. Took 45 minutes of heaving to get back into the water and of course I couldn\'t get back on plane so I was forced to get out and put the boat 100 yards through 3 feet of mud. I got back to the ramp and my buddy and dad were asking what took so long. My legs were jello and I was having mouth sweats. Ended up getting fluid in my lungs and was sick for a couple days.

 

[VTHOKEE]

Some of you have had some grueling recoveries. My only one was pretty dang easy. I was literally able to drive my truck to her. I will never be that lucky again.