A Great Start
Two weeks ago, my buddy Justin and I set out for our last hoorah of the September archery elk season. Ten minutes into the first day, Justin shot a nice 5x6 bull we found after a labor-intense 4-hour tracking of only about 400 yds. The packout was one of the easier ones we'd ever experienced. Of course, we both were carrying our Initial Ascent Packs. Justin was carrying our IA5K and I had our IA8K (in Day Mode most of the time).
The Next Day
The following morning after a great night's sleep, we spotted a couple of young bulls sparring out in the middle of a regrowth burn. It was directly west of our camp over a mile away. This day was starting out on the right page! We watched for a minute or two while getting things ready to head out for the day.
At this point in the season in this area, nothing had been talking at all for one reason or the other. As we continued to get ready, Justin spotted a herd of elk moving into that same burn. There were lots of cows, calves and 3-4 good "shooter" bulls. We watched as they fed out into the big open area and actually headed our way. The wind was favorable as it was blowing out of the South at 5-10 mph. So, we gathered our gear and decided to go and try to cut them off.
On The Move
We dropped to the North about 100 yds and headed their direction so as to not be spotted and keep our wind good. We started hearing the bulls bugling as we got closer and once we got within about 150 yds, we slowed moved toward where we thought the herd was headed. At this point, we had some good cover between us and the elk, so we were feeling good about the play. Thus far, we hadn't made a peep so they had no idea we were there. We didn't know if they were going to come around the trees and brush to our right or walk through an opening straight in front of us. This 2-way street prevented us from moving up any further.
There They Are
After about 15 minutes of waiting, we saw the herd bull come across in front of us! He was about 80 yards away and on the move chasing these other two good bulls around. Then, the cows and calves started filtering through. I had no shot at any of them and we couldn't get any closer without getting busted. We patiently watched the herd filing away and up the hill headed back toward the direction of our camp. Wow! That was close and I thought it was going to work.
Try Again
As we continued to hear the bugles get further away, we decided we would back out and try to get ahead of the again using the favorable wind and the contour of the ridge to our advantage. They didn't seem in a hurry and still didn't know we existed. We committed to this strategy of trying to cut them off and were unsuccessful at least two more times over a 2 mile span. We would get there a touch too late each time. However, the third time was the charm.
Caught You!
2.5 miles from where we started this "dogging" session, we found ourselves creeping up through a burned area. When I say "burned", I mean scorched earth! That fire must've gotten really hot. As we're slowly moving toward the South to where we think we'll cut them off, I have an arrow nocked ready for anything. Just then I catch some movement up ahead to our right, and we realized it was the three bigger bulls. Uncharacteristically, they were leading a herd of about 50-60 elk, and the herd bull was in front!
We stopped dead in our tracks and Justin started getting ranges from just behind me. Herd bull was 75 and no shot. The 2nd bull was a big, mature 5x5 at 60 yards, and the 3rd bull which was a decent 6-point stood at about 80 yards. I wasted no time and decided I would draw on the 2nd bull. Having dialed my Axcel 3-pin slider to a general 30-40-50 pinset, I felt very comfortable taking a shot at 60 yards with the bull perfectly broadside, no wind, and he had no clue we were there.
The Shot
As I drew my bow, I was careful to be aware of any obstructions down the shooting lane, There was a tree bent over from the right of the lane causing me to take one step to the left so I would avoid hitting it with the arc of my arrow flight. By this time, I was laser-focused on my target. I settled my pin and as it floated around in the target, my shot broke clean sending the arrow on its way.
On it's way to the intended vitals, I heard a sound that still both bothers me and confuses me. I heard what I thought was a limb snap. However, it was followed by the familiar sound of an arrow penetrating through flesh. To this day, although unsure, I swear I saw my arrow bury right behind the bull's shoulder. What about the sound though? Did I hit a limb or tree? I made sure my lane was clear and even stepped to my left before the shot. I don't know what just happened!
What just happened?
Upon impact, the bull wheeled around and he and the whole herd just walked away. We let out a couple of cow calls as they slowly continued on the same pace over the hill. What just happened? That was the question I asked Justin. We even thought we heard a crash a minute or so after he went out of sight. Then, after about 15 minutes, we left a pack at the spot from where I shot and walked up to where I might've hit him.
We looked at footprints and searched for blood in the immediate vicinity with no luck at first. We then started retracing the steps of what we were sure were bull tracks. About 5 yards later, we found blood, good blood. "This bull is hurt bad," I told Justin. He agreed and immediately called his wife and told her we had shot a bull and had good blood.
Tracking Blood
After eating a bite to give the bull a little more time to expire, we started slowly following the blood trail. By the way, we did not find the arrow which bothered me as an important indicator as to the location of impact. We did determined that it seemed to be coming out both sides as we followed good "walking blood". This is how I describe seeing enough blood that you could just walk along at a decent pace following the highly visible red trail. No hands and knees required at this point. I was absolutely certain we would find him within 100-200 yards at this rate. I said a prayer thanking God for the opportunity and prayed that the animal died quickly and didn't suffer.
Still following good blood, 200 yards led to 400 yds which led to a half a mile. We hadn't found the bull yet. "How could he have lost that much blood and still be upright?", I wondered. Along the way, we did have a time or two when we lost blood and had to retrace the track and pick up the trail again. Those couple of times were mentally taxing for both of us and personally sent me on an emotional rollercoaster of highs and lows.
After 3/4 of a mile of tracking, the blood trail seemingly started to get more faint. It went from good "walking" blood to drops. Every once in a while, we would come across a pile of blood where the bull apparently stopped for a minute. He never once laid down though. By the time we reached the 1.1 mile mark, it had been hours of tracking. Then we came to a spot where we saw drops of blood going different directions over a couple of old logs. Which way did he go? No more blood. We spent the next few hours scouring this "last blood" and completely tearing apart a 50 yard square in hopes of finding the next clue.
Along with all the mental and emotional stress of trying to find my bull, we had another problem. We were out of water and were over a mile from the closest source. Before the encounter with the elk, we had planned to work our way over toward water to stock up but sometimes other priorities take over. We had to call off the search for the day to get to water and make the 3 mile trek back to camp where we would regroup and make a search plan for the next morning.
It's hard to describe my state of mind that night back at camp as I was spent both mentally and physically. I didn't want to eat, and I was in a lot of pain for some reason. Not sure if it was the elevation, dehydration, frustration, or a combination that had me down, but it was real. All I could think about was finding that bull and what I could've possibly done differently. I replayed the scene over and over and couldn't think of anything I'd do any different. Sleep was tough to come by that night.
The Next Day
The next morning, we awoke refreshed and ready to go. Justin had talked to his wife the night before and she was going to head up to help us search. Today's plan was to grid that area starting from last blood out another mile or so in each direction. Once she arrived, we started looking around the area we found last blood to hopefully pick up the trail again. After an hour or so, Kate ended up finding a drop of blood the size of a pinhead that partially answered the question of where the bull went from the crossroad. That find helped us focus on a probable area.
Justin came up with the grid plan by drawing areas on OnX. We then spaced ourselves by 30 yds and started walking. We used the tracker on the map to make sure we covered everything. During the gridding, we weren't so much looking for blood any longer, but a dead bull. It's a needle in a haystack approach but after being unable to relocate a bloodtrail, it's all we had. 
As the hours and miles went by, I constantly had to remind myself to stay focused. Knowing the probability of locating the bull was growing smaller, we kept on. The spirits were still good as we would optimistically predict "on this run, we're finding the bull!" We were all trying with every ounce we had, but we never found the bull. With that realization, I punched my tag. My bull was gone and my season was over.
Looking back, I'm very thankful for the opportunity to be able to hunt these magnificent animals in God's creation. I'm very thankful for the time away and a family that supports me in these adventures. I'm also very thankful for good friends like Justin and Kate who are so selfless and care more about others' success vs. their own. I'm honored to know you guys and consider you family. I'm very thankful that God's blessed me with good health and the drive to do hard things. God's also given me the ability to process and deal with failure. This story is part of that process, and I pray I never have to experience these feelings again. As a bowhunter, we all go into each hunt with a certain amount of risk. We can't eliminate it, but we can try to mitigate it with preparation, patience, and continued education. Good luck out there guys, and remember, it's not what bad things might happen, it's how you respond and what you do with them.