Uh oh....

My buddy called me and told me that he had hit a 7 point bull today (7mm), but they can't find it. He shot it twice. My guess is that it is dead somewhere. He thinks it went down in a 300x500 yard wide brush pocket. It is very thick and lots of downfall. Any words of advice for how to locate the dead bull? I suggested he take his lab, but he doesn't think she would be able to find it/or know what she was looking for. I thought about offering my shorhair, but I am worried about offering it without me being there. My dog is a handful and doesn't listen very well. Any other ideas? He is going back up in the morning to try again.

Sounds familiar. I guess this happens more than we would all like to admit.

By the way, they did find a very minimal blood trail.
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MuleyMadness
Where does he think it was hit? 300x500 yard area sounds doable if he thinks it went down.
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Default Avatar
Should have had a .300!! :-k

No....that really sucks bad, i know first hand how it feels to lose an animal.
He's GOT to get back in there and keep looking, no doubt after two hits that dude's on the ground.

Next step (which totally sucks) is to wait a few days and watch for magpies and crows. :>/ ](*,)
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79Ford
"skull krazy" wrote: Next step (which totally sucks) is to wait a few days and watch for magpies and crows. :>/ ](*,)
 Had to do that before, but luckily they were on it in an hour or two and most of the meat could be saved.

You could try the dogs, get them on the blood trail and they might go for it, you never know. Worth a shot anyways. Otherwise i'd be out there sun-up til sun-down looking for him. I cant stand to leave a down or wounded animal on the mountain. Also you could try some of the blood trail enhancers on the market. I have never tried any of these, but they may help find some blood he's not seeing.
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southwind
I think the dog idea is a really good one. I don't think I would loan your shorthair though.

Also, I would take as many eyes as I could get to go with me to look. If it is in that defined area just keep after it.
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GPWDeer
Thanks guys.

I am going to try and get up there after work with my dogs if I can to help him look if he hasn't found it by then.

GPWDeer

The blacklight thing might be an idea too.
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GPWDeer
Found it! He was able to get another friend with a german shorthaired pointer to go up with him. On their last trip through the brush before they were going to quit my buddy noticed a tiny speck of blood on a piece of bark then shortly after that the dog went on point (locater collar helped them know he was pointing). They got the bull out and home by 8 pm. Here is a picture from his cell phone.
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h244/gpwd17/1016072012.jpg" alt="" />
I will get some more pictures later.

Thank goodness they didn't quit looking...

GPWDeer
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MuleyMadness
GOOD NEWS! Pic didn't work though. (???)
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killerbee
AWSOME! way to stick it out! ya the pic isn't working but i'm looking forward to seeing some!
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GPWDeer
The picture shows up on my computer????
What does it look like on yours? Is it just an x or is it a big black square?

The photo is VERY Dark and hard to see because it was taken in the middle of the night with a cell phone.

He should be sending me more this morning.

GPWDeer
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GPWDeer
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h244/gpwd17/hunting/Ronnies2007elk.jpg" alt="" />

Here is the picture we were waiting for.

GPWDeer
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MuleyMadness
Nice job, glad them found him. GOOD looking bull, thanks for the picture.
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GPWDeer
The main beam on the left side (bulls right side) is broken off just behind the fourth point. Someone (maybe my buddy) shot a hole in the main beam on the right side (bulls left side) near the 4th point as well. Would have been funny to have broken that side off too! He would have had a 4x4 with a 45 inch spread!!!

I am just glad they found it.

GPWDeer
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killerbee
awsome! glad they found that sucker :thumb thats getting me excited for my idaho elk hunt, i leave in a week and a half. hows the weather looking out there?? i'll still get a hold of you early next week for another update :thumb
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GPWDeer
Weather...well it is cold and cloudy. Should snow at about the 7K foot mark this Saturday night. They have issued the first freeze warning. It was raining this afternoon and about 50 F. Caught a few light snow flurries this evening. The Owyhee mountain range is covered in snow (that is the range southwest of Boise/Nampa. I went over and checked out the bull this afternoon. The meat is pretty much rotten it looks like. Unfortunate. The smell was pretty bad in his garage. He did the right thing by tagging it though. I am sure a lot of guys would have left it with the main beam busted off and the meat smelling as rank as it does. He is going to petition the fish and game tomorrow to see if they will let him have a cow tag or something so that he can get some meat that is not rotten.
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AGCHAWK
NICE! I don't know how I missed this post but thanks GPW
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Default Avatar
Way to go boys!! A lot of people would give up. Congratulations on a great bull and exhausting all of your resources to find him!
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Default Avatar
good job, guys. Way to stick with it. The area I was hunting last week was rampant with guys wounding elk and letting them run. We worked with Montana FWP guys and found four cows and a bull in one little area. There were stories all over the valley about a guy who shot and wounded three cows, then shot the bull as he stepped out of the trees. Real nice guy I'm sure he is. Nice to hear stories about people sticking it out and finding the animal they shot.
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brn2hunt
congrats on the bull to ur friend and very glad he could stick it out and find it that would be a bad one to loose
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Default Avatar
:thumb good deal, the dogs really help
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