Elk NetworkBOWHUNTING: Eight Ways to Die in Elk Country

 
Follow Blood Trails with Care

Any hurt or cornered animal can be dangerous. I once saw a cornered mouse go after a cat with a vengence. It is wise to remember this as you follow an arrow-hit elk.

One hunting buddy of mine is usually a good shot with a bow, but he tweaked the bowstring on one of our hunts and hit a raghorn bull through the paunch. Six hours later, we had only moved 200 yards along a skimpy scattering of tracks and blood.

I always try to be careful on a trail, but that bedded raghorn caught me by surprise. He stood up right beside me in heavy cover, lowered his head, and charged.

My pal told me later that he thought I had set a new Olympic record for running while looking over my shoulder and clearing logs with giant bounds. Fortunately, the bull was injured and could not run as fast as I could. We finished him off a few minutes later.

Never take wounded elk for granted. If pressed in tight quarters, they might be dangerous. 

 
Nags Can Get Nasty

Horses and mules can be great for packing out elk meat, but hunters beware. No offense to those who love their equine friends, but pack animals can be very bad news.

I have hired several meat packers to haul elk out of the woods. Those events seldom went well. There was usually a rodeo, and one mule nearly killed me when I got too close from behind. I will never forget those steel-shod hooves whistling past my head mere inches away. A bit to the left, and I certainly would have been dead.

It really does not matter how skilled you are with beasts of burden or how lucky you have been in the past. Anytime you work with big, powerful and not-so-bright animals, stay alert.

 
Butcher with Care

Three years ago, I shot a 6×6 bull on a steep slope. I jockeyed the animal, pulled out the innards and wrestled the carcass sideways so the body cavity could drain.

Without warning, the bull flipped and began to roll. I leaped to one side, but not before a brow tine buried in my pant leg. The antler tore those trousers from mid-thigh to the top of my boot and flung me to one side. The bull cartwheeled downhill and smashed into a tree.

I struggled to my feet and discovered that the point had driven into my leg and ripped a gash. A little deeper, and it could have severed my femoral artery. As it was, I bled like a stuck pig. A friend helped me roll and drag that elk to a nearby road before I stiffened up, and we managed to grunt it into my pickup bed. I could not walk the next day, but the wound eventually healed.

Even a dead elk might kill you if you do not watch your step. 

 
Beware the Bear

Some elk areas are also bear areas. And I’m not talking about black bears. In most situations, a black bear is no more dangerous than a deer. But grizzly bears can kill you.

Grizzly encounters with humans occur more frequently every year in the Rocky Mountain West, thanks to booming bear populations. Far too many of those involve bowhunters, and more than a few have  been killed. 

In elk country with grizzlies, you need to retrieve your meat the same day or hoist it high in a tree in an open area where you can scan for bruins before you approach. Like hand grenades and freight trains, grizzlies are nothing to fool with. 

 
Don’t Get Lost

I am happy to report that I have never been lost in the elk woods. But it might have happened a time or two without pre-hunt preparation. 

Elk-country weather can be brutal. Getting lost is bad enough, but getting lost at 20 degrees in a driving storm can be deadly. Study your elk area with maps, pay attention to terrain, and carry cold-weather clothes plus a compass and a GPS. Elk habitat is huge, and it is easy to go the wrong direction. Don’t let that happen to you. 

 
Deadfalls Can Make You Dead

Many elk areas are piled high with deadfall logs. It is tempting to walk along these like a tightrope artist as you scout the country or chase bugling bulls.

Trouble is, the wrong log can be rotting and slimy, hard and wet, or covered with innocent-looking frost. Suddenly, your feet fly out and you fall like a rock. You can break your leg, crush your skull or impale yourself on a broken limb. You might die right there and never be found.

Think before you step in the elk woods. Hidden dangers are everywhere. 

 
High Dive to Death

According to official statistics, falls from tree stands are the most common cause of bowhunting injury and death.

I have talked to several archers who have fallen from trees. The ones who can still talk are the lucky ones. Some, like my bowhunting buddy Stan, have survived to bowhunt elk another day. Stan fell from a tree and broke his arm, but he fully recovered. Others I’ve met are in a wheelchair for life.

Several bowhunters die each year after falls from trees. Some are elk hunters who set up over waterholes, wallows or feeding areas. Some expire from the sudden impact, others after they fall on sharp broadheads.

What a shame. Tree stand accidents are 100 percent preventable with a few time-tested precautions: 

Use only well-designed tree stands. Ladder stands are safer and easier to install than conventional self-climbing or chain-on stands. Before you climb, tie a hoist rope to your bow, day pack and other gear. Tie the other end to your belt. Climb slowly with three-point technique—never more than one foot or one hand free from a limb or tree step as you go up.

Once you reach the stand platform, strap yourself to the trunk with an approved tree stand safety harness. Then, and only then, should you hoist your gear and begin your hunt.

Tree stand hunting can be deadly for elk, but it can also be deadly for you. Don’t take chances high above the ground!

All of these scenarios shouldn’t scare you out of elk country. In reality, it’s more dangerous to drive to your favorite spot than to hunt it. 

And once you arrive safely, remember that most of these situations are highly preventable with a little forethought.