Long track job with double lung hit. Elk are tough

Sunbkpk

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Feb 5, 2021
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I shot a cow elk 30 yard perfect broad side double lung pass through previous year. Got her after over 800 yards tracking then 2 more arrows from me and my hunting buddy. We found she also had a fresh broken rear leg when we butchered her. Holes in her hide showed my first shot was good as I had thought. She had stopped in the brush at 80 yards facing directly away for a couple minutes where I expected to see her fall over. She coughed multiple times in a couple minutes and then walked straight away. There was almost no blood for 150 yards then only small drops. Waited an hour to track with the lack of blood. Found her bedded after 4hours and 800 yards and the both of us put arrows into her to finish her. I shoot a fixed 3 blade broadhead with 1-3/16 cutting diameter that has killed cleanly many times before. Sometimes elk can be really tough. Keep at it if you hit one and don't give up.
What is the longest you have tracked with a double lung hit? I expect my experience is rare but it is in my head for this year.
 
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Double lung, barely get out of sight for the majority. I've had single lung shot that took forever. Shot her 7am, didn't find her after two bumps until right before dark, almost 12 hours. She did end up in the last place I thought I saw her fall. Total distance was only about 150 yds. I did gut shoot one years ago, that went forever but that's not what you're referring to.

Hard hit elk in my experience don't go far in my experience. They just go down. It seems like being so big, you cut off their supply and they colapse quickly. Anything other than "Solid" you could be in for a long day. They are tough.
 
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Sunbkpk

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Yeah most of mine have dropped within 100 yards if not in sight when hit that good.
 

TripleJ

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Sometimes in the elk woods, weird things happen that don't make sense. I double lunged a cow about 15 years ago. It was open timber so I could watch her. Pass through shot at about 50 yds. She ran out another 50 yds and stood there for 5 minutes. I was doubting myself, so I pulled up my binos and could see the hole in her side right in the middle of the shoulder crease. After 5 minutes, she went about 10 more yds and laid down. She laid there for 1/2 hour with her head up. After 1/2 hour, she got up and walked another 10 yds and stood for another 5 minutes. At this point, I was really confused. She went another 10 yds and laid down again, head up the whole time. After 45 minutes, I began trying to sneak in. I got almost in postion for a shot, and she got up and went another 20 yards before she laid down again. It ended up being about an hour total before I ended up sneaking in and getting an anchoring arrow through her heart that broke her opposite leg. When I inspected her, the original arrow had entered right on the shoulder crease, halfway up her body and exited about 1/3 of the way up her body (she was downhill) 2 inches behind the shoulder crease. To this day, I am still not sure what happened, and why she lived that long. If she had decided to run, who knows if I would have found her, because there was little to no blood coming out of her. I am not blaming the broadhead per se, but I stopped using that kind after that.
 
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Sunbkpk

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Probably an anomaly of the elks blood vessels and the perfectly matching arrow path. Also odd, She ended up crossing the bones and bedding 20 yards from my buddies bull from a few years before.
 
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Sunbkpk

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My broadhead was very sharp. Zipped right through and buried in the muddy meadow 15 yards beyond her. Almost Identical shot placement and pass through 8 years ago and the elk dropped in seconds in less than 30 yards. Weird to have such different results with the almost identical scenario.
 

corey006

Lil-Rokslider
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Jun 19, 2019
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My herd bull ran almost 60 yards uphill with s double lung rifle shot and a follow up shot. Crazy how tough they are.
I have seen lots of animals do the 60-75 yard dash to their death ...

I once shot a whitetail buck frontal with a goldtip gladiator....severed the main artery in the neck.

I was late season and there was snow, and each leap where he landed there was a geyser of blood sprayed across the snow.....

Another time I heart shot a Deer with Nosler BT, he made it 75 yards, upon auptopsy the heart was hamburger.

Amazing....
 
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I have seen lots of animals do the 60-75 yard dash to their death ...

I once shot a whitetail buck frontal with a goldtip gladiator....severed the main artery in the neck.

I was late season and there was snow, and each leap where he landed there was a geyser of blood sprayed across the snow.....

Another time I heart shot a Deer with Nosler BT, he made it 75 yards, upon auptopsy the heart was hamburger.

Amazing....
But 10mm will stop a charging grizzly!

Ahhhhhh shittttt🤣
 
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Hello, I am a colossal elk hunting fan. Every weekend I go hunting - it is my tradition. Of course, this is a hazardous hobby; you have to be very careful because sometimes strange things happen in forests. Just recently, on a hunt, I shot a moose, it ran another 50 yards and stopped and stood for 10 minutes; I thought I didn't hit it, but if a moose is running or standing, I always aim for the chest near the front legs or the neck. But then it lay down and would not get up again; I was very excited. After each hunt, I listen to music (streaming of music on the Internet). It soothes my nerves after a challenging pursuit.
 
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