Hunger Games Wanabe Archers: I anticipated the blockbuster movie “The Hunger Games” would spawn a new wave of archers, and it did. My trailer hitch ball shattered on a mid-road boulder. An outfitter from another hunt area stopped to help. He was headed down to Budge’s Resort to visit and commiserate. He had done his scouting, and seven archers in his group struck elk. Not one of the elk was recovered. Seven animals in his domain would suffer a slow death, and this would not be a good record legacy in his Forest Service and Wildlife reports. Elk are not white tail deer, but huge animals with thick bodies, large amounts of blood (for the small wound size), unnatural stamina, and long legs for distant panic escape runs. Tracking minimally wounded elk in the snowless season would have taken experienced hunters. These people were not. Elk demand a high draw-weight bow. Use FIXED broad-headed arrows so that the arrows completely exit the far side of the animal, allowing copious bleeding on both flanks that quickly weakens the animal – AND allow blood trail tracking. I do not know the details of the seven archers, but suspect they had not perfected accurate shooting , and had arrived at camp with fancy weak bows and elaborate new mechanically-expanding arrow heads which lack impact, stop at bone, and bulge out rather than penetrate very thick elk hide on the exit side . The inexperienced hunters also may have too-quickly pursued the elk. The rule of chase is: wait at least 30 minutes for rifle wounds, but at least one hour for arrow wounds. A frightened, adrenalin fueled elk can easily outrun a walking human! Do not be impatient and loose a valuable prize! Deadfall Archery Stalking: Avoid the risk of stalking by walking on deadfall. One slip on rotten wood, a trip by a branch or your boot slipping on frost can impale on branches – or even drive a branch into your can – and a flesh wound there is not only painful, but slow healing and a nuisance to us continually siting humans. Colorado Fall Bear Hunters: Use a large caliber gun capable of completely penetrating a bear. Bears gain a lot of fat during hyperphragia fall gorging. The body fat can plug the bullet wound and prevent bleeding, allowing the animal to travel far before dying. Give a wounded bear time to linger and succumb rather than flee.

Archery Equipment Problems