Recovering an Animal after 36+ Hours

[WetLeopard]

Appreciate the guidance/constructive feedback from everyone.

There is a nearby creek, so if we can't find any sign at our last spot we will certainly head down there. We'll have a few ice packed coolers waiting in the cars so hopefully if we find him we'll be able to salvage something.

We'll certainly be taking some important lessons from the experience and will also have some questions to chew on in preparation for the fall season. As for the time of day of the shot, I don't necessarily disagree with Jagermeister that we should have allowed for more time. That being said, if we only hunted at times when we would be guaranteed to have a full day to track and recover, our available hunting opportunities would be cut by like 50%. We did have 3.5+ hours of daylight left, and the shot was well under 100 yards, so my personal feeling is it was not an irresponsible choice to shoot. I'm open to other opinions on that though.
I think I will continue to aim vitals on all animals, but we did discuss the pros/cons of shooting to "anchor" a bear, specifically if hunting near thick brush (so a head/neck shot). Curious if others have thoughts on that?

Again, I appreciate the help from all. Will post an update when I can.

[Jrax]

Pick a good bullet, get gun sighted in then practice at range in different shooting scenarios. Then when the moment comes just be confident you can hit the vitals or don't shoot.

As mentioned too be ready for the follow up. Those are the responsible actions you can take to prepare. Sounds like your doing what you can to find him, good luck!

Oh and stop and listen for birds - ravens, crows, eagle, jays they may find the kill. Another bear might be on it too, be careful

[ElliotMoose]

Good honest post. Sounds like you did everything right. Unfortunately these things do happen and it sure makes you feel sick but all you can do is put in the effort to find it.

You're probably out looking already but make sure to check underneath logs and anywhere near that creek. I've had a couple bears where I almost threw in the towel only to find they died <50 yards from where I shot them. They burrow themselves under a log to die and it sure is easy to miss them especially in that dark old growth.

Best of luck finding your animal!

[Huntingtyler123]

Shoulder shot to anchor bear. Bears blood trail suck plus their pads don’t leave tracks well in my experience. When you take a shoulder shout it’ll take out lungs or heart

[WetLeopard]

Long hard look today but no luck. It must have been able to move itself somewhere else, and with no blood trail and such dense bush it was a needle in a haystack.
Definitely not an experience we want to go through again, but there were some good lessons learned and we at least know that we put in all the effort we could.
thanks again all those that replied.

[cameron0518]

It is the downside of hunting. The key is to take those lessons and learn from them as you stated.

[moosinaround]

Hunt long enough, you will lose an animal, or experience it with someone else. It's a tough thing to have happen. All you can do, is the best you can do. Sounds like you put the effort in to recover that bear. Drops of blood, when tracking a bear, or deer, is not a very good blood trail. Trails of blood is what you want. You want to see blood on brush, on tree stems. Every time the animal stops, you want to see massive hemorrhaging! Good on you to ask questions, and to go back the second time to look. If you did find that bear, my bet is it would be spoiled. They are heavy boned, and fat, and they retain heat very well, which is why it would be bone sour. This will stick with you forever, and it is tough, but do not give up! Moosin

[Jagermeister]

A long time ago when the forests were green, the water was clear, The sky was blue and you could see the milky way at night; An old friend born in the century before the last told me that when a bear is wounded, the first place that he would head to would be water. That was just after he shot a bear out of a tree and it fell out of sight. He told me to keep watch on the opening that lead off to the creek.
Anyhow, it's a long gone now. Go find another. Try using a fawn in distress call. Keep your eyes open.

[mpotzold]

Part of hunting. Been there done that except we don't hunt bears.

What rifle/bullets were used?
The bear could still be alive but badly wounded.
Be careful & ready to fire if deciding to go back.
GOOD LUCK!


A bear killed had a previous severe wound from the year before.
https://books.google.ca/books?id=nN5...wounds&f=false

[caddisguy]

Well if it's still alive and kicking it might not matter how long after the shot it is recovered. What is more important is the time recovered after it stops living. I don't think temps are favorable in many places this time of the year for anything more than 24 years. That said, I went back to claim a bear head I left behind a couple weeks later and skinned it out over a camp fire... smelled great and made me hungry as heck... tempted even.

You did all the right things. I've felt that feeling before. My wife panic shot at a bear that was about to step on me and who knows what after. Never found any blood or fur but it was so close I couldnt imagine it was a miss. Spent a couple days looking for it and even looked for it again the next week. Never did find anything... no birds no smell... I concluded it wasn't a hit... I think she probably erred on the side of caution given my proximity. Another bear I had to blood trail a long way (liver shot) and felt really bad when I found it and had to finish it close. A knowledgeable person on the forum with a lot of experience sent me a message about going after potentially wounded bears in the dark is cringe worthy... paraphrasing, but you get the idea.

I always aim for the double lung with very few exceptions. Reason is there is a lot more room for error than if you are aiming for the shoulder, neck, etc. It's a big area to begin with. And if you are low it's a heart shot, high it's a spine shot, far back and low it's a liver shot, forward it takes out the shoulder. Only neck shot I ever took was on a sleeping bear and only head shot was an accident (was going for double lung but it swung it's head around) ... anyway aiming for the shoulder leaves a possibility of clipping it... then maybe it lives and maybe it won't... and if a shoulder shot connects well it wastes a fair amount of meat... plus they can hobble around pretty good on 3 legs for a good long time better than most people can on two. Just my opinion... experiences and mileages may vary. I'm a fan of the double lung. Sometimes it takes out the heart and lungs, even had some trick shots take out both lungs and the spine.

What did the blood look like? Was it dark? Or lighter with frothy bubbles? Or light with no bubbles? Any bone fragments? Green stuff, slime or vegetation? That might tell you what you are dealing with... guessing flesh wound or liver shot based on the trailing description.