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This bull was shot right around noon Sept. 11. called him away from his bachelor group (2 spikes and another legal bull). He came into a 20-ish yard frontal, slightly quartering to. I had a slight elevation gain over him but not much. First photo shows the tree right behind where he stood for the shot. Arrow exited from his left armpit complete pass through. Slick Trick viper trick with arrow in good shape after the shot. How Far How long to die?
Looks like it never got into the rib cage? I'd say a long ways......But the blood was good the whole way. I'm going with half a mile, ended with a follow up...
I'm sure the answer is going to be 40 yards and ass over teakettle....
Less than 5 seconds to die, maybe 50 yards.
What did the other elk do ? Why did you leave out details? LOL!
I’m guessing he didn’t take a step and died in under 2 minutes.
Matt.
That one could have gone either really quick (as in hitting a carotid) or really slow, because it looks like only one lobe of one lung could have been hit.
Since this one was recovered, I’m thinking it must’ve gone pretty quickly. And that’s about as much as I think I’m gonna guess.
Due to it looking like he is bloated some already I'm going to say a half mile, died within 2 hours but you didn't find him till the next day. Lol, ya never know...
I am gonna say he went close to a mile and took a couple of hours. And possibly a follow up shot. My son did this identical hit a few years back and that’s how ours ended up.
Hint: No Lungs we’re punctured in the death of this elk.
“ Hint: No Lungs we’re punctured in the death of this elk.”
Hooo-Boy! THAT would complicate things a bit. Seems kinda low to have been able to clip the Brachial.
The more clues you offer, the less I like this one.
Nice to see someone providing the details! Unlike others
No, if he were providing details, we’d know how far apart those blood splatters were and how fast the animal was moving.
My guess- Cut the Brachial artery. Down in 80 yds.
I Shot a deer like that. Arrow never entered the chest cavity. He went about 200 yards and I gave him an hour till I started tracking. Blood trail was heavy the whole way. So I’ll say 350 yards. And you gave him a couple hours till you started tracking. But he died quickly.
Lots of blood on the belly. He went a ways. 200yds 5mins
Lots of dried blood. He went a ways. I’m with those 400-500 yards. He died within 10 minutes but you found him at 2:30. ?????
Tough. From pics it didn't look like you hit lungs. That made me think 1/2 mile. But lots of blood on hair threw me. Heavy spots on bloodtrail can occur when he stopped.
I'm really torn on this one and could go either way
When I shot I had a clear view of the arrow penetration which looked really good to the naked eye. Watched the fletch sink into his chest and could visually see blood drip as he ran downhill. In my mind it was a slam dunk. It was thick where he ran so I lost visual fairly quick. Listened for a crash but didn’t happen. After settling down a bit I decided to wait about 45minutes before taking up the trail. The blood was great so I figured dead elk right… I jumped him out of his bed about 100 yards later but could see he wasn’t real stable. Held back another hour before continuing the trail. His bed had a ton of blood in it. Shocked me he wasn’t dead. Clouds started to roll in so we hustled back to it. Found him about 2:30pm ish. Went a total of 512 yards from shot. Arrow never made it in the rib cage.
Well played, I’d say. I’m sure that a lot of people would have found a way to lose that one.
Was there a second arrow, or did he keel over from the first? Must’ve clipped that Brachial after all, or a pretty major branch right off of it.
Tough angle.
No second shot needed. This elk didn’t have a drop of blood left in him. I was amazed how far he went and the blood loss I saw along the way. Goes to show how important it is to take a lung or two ;-).
My buddy hit the same artery on a bull and it bled every last drop out like yours. Went 800 yards but the blood trail was like a paint can the whole way. I took a bunch of video of it. It was hilarious because it was like the most graphic trail you’ve ever seen and yet the bull was never around the next bend
Same here Adam. Kept expecting to find him dead every other step but the blood trail just kept going and never even came close to losing it.
The best blood trails I’ve ever had were frontals and a accidental Texas heart shot. They bleed well out of both ends.
Nice work, Joe. And thanks for continuing the How far/ How long Challenge! ;-)
Matt
I was listening to a podcast recently and they brought up this shot and broadside shots. Skipping lethality conversation, one item mentioned that I never thought about. When you shoot an animal broadside/in the triangle and get a pass through, the skin and muscles around the holes is constantly moving. And for much of that time, the holes and skin no longer line up (As the critter is moving). Acting as a plug to impede blood from leaving cavity/hitting the ground. When an animal is frontal, the entrance hole in skin (At a minimum) is aligned muscles as the critter is moving. (Minimizing the plugging effect and enabling blood to hit the ground) As supported by your shot and all of the blood on the belly, the entrance and exit hole along with being low, wouldn't shift much as the animal was moving.
Lungshot, the entrance hole, was that where you wanted your arrow to hit?
My buddy hit the same artery on a bull and it bled every last drop out like yours. Went 800 yards but the blood trail was like a paint can the whole way. I took a bunch of video of it. It was hilarious because it was like the most graphic trail you’ve ever seen and yet the bull was never around the next bend
Z- never thought about it that way. Definitely makes sense.
Jethro- hindsight is always 20/20. Looking back and replaying it in my mind with the slight quarter to, had I placed just an inch or two left and an inch or two higher it would have most likely made it into the rib cage and probably hit lung and or artery leading into top of heart. Had that happened the track would be far less…. Maybe. In my minds eye the shot looked good. It all happens fast tho.
Yup. You shoot a deer through the meaty part of the shoulder, and even if you get a full pass-through that’s 3 holes on each side: hide, meat and ribcage. The holes 3 holes are not lined up but for a fraction of each stride, and the one in the meat of the shoulder takes some substantial pressure to get blood through there, and there are plenty of paths of lower resistance inside of the thorax.
You hit ‘em through the ribs, and the holes in the hide and the ribcage generally seem to stay pretty lined up. Which lets air in to collapse the lungs. Fewer moving parts under the skin back there.
I still can’t fathom how GG’s deer failed to get enough air in there to collapse the lungs..
Having a lobe or two basically intact would account for the deer hanging on for so long, but damned if I can come up with a reason that the lungs didn’t implode.
Lungshot - I was just curious. The exit hole location was a little surprising when I first saw the pic. Congrats on the bull.
I agree, one lung lobe and the brachial artery. I bet he went 1/4-1/2 mile, but he was dead on his feet.
