what would you do?

Common sense would dictate to give the bull some time and track him in a couple of hours. But, with the snow coming down so hard, I'd say you'd have nothing to track. This being the case, I'd follow right from the get go without trying to push him. I'm thinking that if he didn't know you were there to begin with he probably still wouldn't know and wander off at somewhat of a slow pace. Of course, you didn't give us this bit of information, but either way, I think you'd have to keep him or his tracks in sight at all times with the snow coming down.

Killerbee, I would agree with ABert....with one exception. Are you prepared to track that bull into that canyon in a blizzard? In other words, what's in your pack? If you don't know when/if the snow will let up and you're packin' light then you may end up gettin' yourself into trouble. At that point finding the bull is second to staying warm, dry, and comfortable until you can get back to camp. Especially since you are not sure exactly how bad the bull is hit. He could travel MILES before he lies down which puts you even further from camp in rapidly dissolving weather elements.

Good point, AGC. I always carry two to three different means of starting a fire and high carb food and water to keep me going. We also carry FRS radios so that we can let others in the hunting party know where and what we are doing. I carry what I would need to survive at a minimum of one night in the woods.

As a side note, only one time have I needed to start a fire. Well, didn't NEED to, but it helped keep me and my dad warm while my brother went back to camp to get some help with dragging my brother's bull out of the woods. We were doing fine until the sled split in two and need to get the other sled from camp. Amazing how cold it gets when the sun goes down and you aren't dragging a critter through the woods.

WELL just a bit more info when i go hunting i carry everything on my pack and i usually stay in the woods for a min. of 4 days with all extremly high quality light weight gear------ this will help a little but now i will just sit back and read everyone's input in a couple days I'll spill the beans on how the hunt played out. __________________ mean while great input and keep them coming!!

I can't wait to hear how your hunt turned out but I had a similar experience a few years back. I shot a bull at a bad angle (slightly quartering towards me) and hit him a little high and then it started raining...
He bled very little on the outside and with the rain there was pretty much no blood trail. Me and my wife literally crawled around no our hands and knees looking for sign. My wife finally found something but the trail died out soon. I kept sweeping back and forth heading the general direction. The bull had only gone about 200 yards but the only way we found him was just dogged perserverance. There's no better way to learn to NOT TAKE MARGINAL SHOTS. We recovered the bull in about 4 hours but that's an emotional roller coaster ride that I don't care to be on again...
So how'd your story end?

If it were me, having 4 days supplies. I would wait a while but make sure I could follow tracks, and track for a couple days if necessary. To not go after him now would leave you little chance to find him. Maybe you got lucky and the snow just stopped.

If you have what you need to stay out all day and into the late evening I would follow the Bull, get another one in him.If he is gut shot and had no idea you were there he will not go far b4 he lays down. Elk do not do good when gut shot.

I am interestd to hear the rest of the story.

alrighty, Paul Harvey... lets hear the rest of the story...?

I would follow the track as slow as the snow will let you. If it keeps snowing hard then keep watching for him but stay on the visible trail. If the snow lets up then slow down and really glass to get the drop on him before he does on you.

Concur. If you indeed have what you feel is necessary to make a stalk in a snowstorm then I would stick with him, letting the snow dictate the pace, and try not to drive the bull deeper into the canyon.

so here's how it all played out--- after making the shot on the bull i replayed back the scenerio again, i know my shot is to far back. so their has to be some amount of time for the bull to at least mellow down. I waited just 15 min. then went to where the bull was standing sure enough the tracks were already coverd in snow right then you could just little divits where the tracks were. So i start following whats left of the tracks until i hit blood, dark blood with garbadge in it, now i'm cussing myself for even shooting in these conditions. My tracks are getting worse by the second and if i look carefully you can see the red blood under 1/2 in ch of snow { and still bombing} at this point i'm only 30 yrds from where the bull was when i shot. Realizing i can't give the bull anymore time or i will lose everything i have to track him by i get on his trail, eagle eyes cranked up to their fullest,i was having to move faster then i would have liked. After heading stait down hill for another 100yrds the bull hits the thick timber, although in here i can see farther because of the cover from the snow, the timber i still thick enough its not that much better. I stay on his tracks for another 40 yds and look up and their's a bull standing 50 yrds away. If i can just move a bit i should get another arrow in him. So i get another 5 yrd and realize its not the same bull, its a smaller 4 pt, after double checking i 'm watching him in my binoculars and he was looking at something, sure enough that was my bull bedded down another 10 yrd past the first bull. Now i'm screwed for sure its thick and i cant get any closer or I'll run the smaller bull right through my bull. So i decide to back out 100 yrds and wait once i get out without spooking i figured then best thing i could do was go up the hill where i had my little bivy camp and come back in the morning. man that was a crappy night!! i snowed all night , not as hard but still kept coming down. So the next morning i headed back down on the way checked out where it all started and you couldn't tell i had ever been there there was 8-10 inches of snow and all tracks and blood were gone! but i knew where i was at so i headed down where i left the bull, started creeping in there and where i left him, he was gone!, my gut was sick! With all the events that had tacken place i figured their was no chance of finding this bull. I eased down the path i was on about another 80 yrd or so and look over and there he was! he had moved just not far. it was a big sigh of relief! When it was all over the bull did bead down pretty fast and ended up dying within 200 yrds or so

I really enjoyed everyone's input, i think it goes to show there is more than 1 way to handle a situation! =D>
great comments from everyone!!!!!!!!!!

Yes sir, And a little luck helps too. :thumb

the old saying " I'd rather be lucky then good any day" i wont say no to a little luck 4 sure!

great story

hey lets see some pictures of your bull!! :arrow

I know what you're talkin about with the bad feeling in your gut when you can't find the bull, it's the worst feeling in the world. Luckily I've been able to track down any animals I've wounded. Definitely better to be lucky than good in that case!