No Blood ? ? ?

[SWMontana1]

Was with a buddy tonight that shot "at" a bull... he is using a 300 WSM and the bull was about 75 yards away, uphill. It was with another bull, the bull not shot ran off. We climbed the hill to find the bull in kind of a bowl. It was walking/ limping as it side hilled away. We waited about 30 mins then slowing and quietly followed it's trail. ZERO blood. The trail led us side hilling for just a little bit, then downhill into some real thick thornbrush- we heard a crash once, then the bull went to the bottom of a ravine and went uphill a little bit, sidehilled some more - we caught just a glimpse of hair as it sidehilled then went down into a real hell hole.... and that is where we left it for the night. All in all it probably went half a mile to three quarters

My buddy sad he felt great as he shot... perfect placement and everything. Obviously not the case..

No blood... a limping (front legs) and slow elk that wants to go into a hell hole but still went a little ways up and side hill. Any ideas where this thing might be hit and/or what it may do tonight?

Never experienced a wounded elk... and it would be my buddies first elk...

 

[SWMontana1]

No high, downed logs that his belly might rub onto either.

 

[JohnCushman]

The bullet probably didn't expand very well at that close a range. And, shooting uphill, it probably hit a bit high...so my guess is that the blood is pooling in the chest cavity and not coming out of the elk onto the grouund.

 

[belly-deep]

Bullets expand more at close range than they do at long range.

My guess is brisket/leg

 

[SWMontana1]

Thanks John! He said he might have hit it a little back/ towards the guts... but he's not really sure at this point.

I'm just worried since it did go uphill a little bit and side hilled a little ways... never seen a hit elk do that.... or travel three quarters of a mile.

 

[SWMontana1]

Bullets expand more at close range than they do at long range.

My guess is brisket/leg

If that's the case... pretty tough recover one of those animals wouldn't you think? more than likely won't die overnight and as far as the leg "stiffening" up, well, this chilly 45 degree won't help!

 

[----]

Thanks John! He said he might have hit it a little back/ towards the guts... but he's not really sure at this point.

I'm just worried since it did go uphill a little bit and side hilled a little ways... never seen a hit elk do that.... or travel three quarters of a mile.

Gut was my first thought. I've never dealt with a gutshot elk though, not sure if it would keep covering ground like that.

The deer I've seen gutshot would run if pushed, but bed immediately when backed off of.

 

[havgunwilltravel]

Sounds like a hit for sure, maybe near a bone, like a shoulder or lower down, limping normally means his structure has had some damage. I never worry too much about blood, normally if there is a bucket load of blood the animal is within spitting distance dead on the ground, however blood can give you some indication on where on the body the animal has an entry/exit wound and also the type of damage internally.
Lots of animals, especially big framed animals with decent hair covering have a habit of not leaving a lot of blood behind on the ground, unless of course you double lung them, heart shoot them or punch an artery and create a big exit wound for the blood to flow freely out the other side.

If there is no exit wound, or the exit wound is not in an ideal position or the angle of the bullet isn't exactly spot on then there may not have been a lot of blood to find on the dirt.

I always aim to shoot animals in the lungs, never mess around with fancy shots, they can live with broken bones but they can't live with decent holes in their engine room.

Why didn't you get a follow up shot when you seen the animal moving along the hillside? Normally if tracking a hit animal i like to minimise noise as they are generally on full alert and that means going on your own and being ready to finish what you started.

Sorry to hear about the wounded elk, never a good deal, but he might just be there somewhere in that thick stuff.

 

[SWMontana1]

I always aim to shoot animals in the lungs, never mess around with fancy shots, they can live with broken bones but they can't live with decent holes in their engine room.

Why didn't you get a follow up shot when you seen the animal moving along the hillside? Normally if tracking a hit animal i like to minimise noise as they are generally on full alert and that means going on your own and being ready to finish what you started.

Sorry to hear about the wounded elk, never a good deal, but he might just be there somewhere in that thick stuff.

It was a broadside shot at 75 yards, definitely nothing fancy for my friend... and when it was side hilling, more than likely I would have killed it right there- if it had been my elk. Unfortunately for my novice elk hunting friend, he didn't act quick enough and also was a little loud while trailing the elk.... he was very shook up.

We have a meeting in the morning but will head back up around noon tomorrow.... unfortunately, about 500 yards from where he went into some real thick stuff is private land. Hope we find him!! AND DEAD so my amateur partner doesn't have to pull the trigger again

 

[shoots-straight]

Shoot until they die, then shoot them again.

Elk are tough, and can go a loooooooong ways hit in some pretty good spots.

My WWII vet, uncle Buzz,(rest his soul) gave me that advice when I was a young kid. I never forgot it.

 

[MTPharmHunter]

Don't worry too much about the lack of blood. My brother shot a bull early this year that we heard crash a couple hundred yards around the hill from us. Its a good thing we heard him crash because there was not a single drop of blood between the place he shot him and where we found him in the brush. The shot was behind the vitals and ended up getting the liver. Good luck hunting for the bull, if you don't find him in the thick stuff, I would walk the very bottom of the draw/canyon/coulee or whatever it is the bull went into.

 

[SWMontana1]

Good luck hunting for the bull, if you don't find him in the thick stuff, I would walk the very bottom of the draw/canyon/coulee or whatever it is the bull went into.

Very good thought... there is actually a creek all the way at the bottom and I have found 2 dead bulls along the creek bottom that had died in previous years by someone else.

This video conference meeting can't get over soon enough!! (they wouldn't even know if I left!!) Looks as if my hunting buddy didn't sleep a minute last night!

 

[bjtc_brian]

Bullets expand more at close range than they do at long range.

That's not 100% correct. It all depends on the bullet composition, speed, impacts(bone, muscle, thin skin, soft skin).

Here is another thought on the blood. If you are shooting uphill, the exit will be high. So, as stated before the blood may need to fill the cavity before it can run out. Most entrance wounds don't bleed very well.

 

[SWMontana1]

That's not 100% correct. It all depends on the bullet composition, speed, impacts(bone, muscle, thin skin, soft skin).

Here is another thought on the blood. If you are shooting uphill, the exit will be high. So, as stated before the blood may need to fill the cavity before it can run out. Most entrance wounds don't bleed very well.

Great point... Just worries me that he ran three quarters of a mile while going about 300 yards uphill and sidehilled probably another 200 until going down into the hell hole.... I just don't have a good feeling but I'm staying positive for my buddy.

 

[bjtc_brian]

Elk are tough azz SOB's. They do weird things, and adrenaline does weird things! This year I spined my spike a bit far back, he was still trying to get away. So I sent one through both shoulders, completely busting them up and also through both lungs. When I got up there, probably 10 minutes later, he was still squirming around and I had to put one in the back of the head. Keep at it, odds are the bull is dead and will only take time before you find him. Keep to your senses of what you think he would do. Don't start getting crazy ideas, until the last resort. Might call the landowner and see about getting access to track a wounded animal. Odds are the elk knew it was a safe place and headed that direction for a reason.

 

[belly-deep]

That's not 100% correct. It all depends on the bullet composition, speed, impacts(bone, muscle, thin skin, soft skin).

No, that is correct. All else being equal, higher velocities cause bullets to expand more, not less.

 

[Ben Lamb]

No, that is correct. All else being equal, higher velocities cause bullets to expand more, not less.

Yep. it's why you want a heavily constructed bullet for the magnums.

 

[Straight Arrow]

The bull I shot Sunday in the snow never produced any significant amount of blood on the ground. He was initially hit high in the front shoulder. As he did not run off but tried to hide behind brush, the opportunity for a second shot put one through the ribs and dropped him. The upper shoulder shot did not pass through, so the Barnes expanded copper bullet is now in my pocket, along with his ivories. Even with both hits (7mm Rem Mag 150 grain Barnes TTSX) unfortunately he was still breathing when I got to him. As Brian said,"Elk are tough azz SOB's."

As pointed out earlier, it is better to shoot until you are sure the elk is unable to run/trot off and hide.

 

[1_pointer]

As pointed out earlier, it is better to shoot until you are sure the elk is unable to run/trot off and hide.

IIRC, a former poster, BCAT, stated it as, "shoot'em until you can put your boot on 'em"!

 

[Summitthunting]

I shot a cow 6 times in the chest three years ago with triple shocks. Would have shot her again but I had to dig more ammo out of my pack, by then she had fallen. Tough!