Any of you ever feel this way.

[BlueWater]

I mourn for him.

I saw his majesty.
I tried to take it away.
I touched his blood in the soil.
I followed his many footsteps.

He is lost.
He is condemned to a winter as a cripple.
He is mabey even doomed to a lonely death.

I cannot find him.

I have lost some of my soul in trying to capture his.

He is gone.

I mourn for him.

BlueWater.

:depressed:

[ 11-03-2001: Message edited by: BlueWater ]</p>

[BlueWater]

FH-
I read my post again and mabey I do need some prozac. I walked up on him it he brush late in the second to the last day of the Wilson/Trask unit elk hunt. He was a big boy and real close. When I pulled up to fire on him all I saw was hair in my scope. I fired when I felt I was on target he then wheeled and took off. Found his tracks and then no blood untill about 30 yards from where I had shot. The blood I found was only the size of a 50 cent coin. Then I found no more blood. anywere. I gave him 30 min. after finding the blood and with my hunting partners followed the tracks. By this time it was late in the day and going to be dark in 2.5 hrs. We carefully followed the tracks for about 2 miles. luckly they were through older growth timber and we could follow them well for about the first mile and half. He was walking the whole way and never seemed to stop. Last half mile got tricky a track hear a track there I was using every skill I had to follow him. I finnaly got back on good clear track and then then it was getting rather dark. I was 4.5 miles and 2200 feet down in a canyon from my rig. So we hiked back to the pickups.

The next morrning on the last day of the hunt I hiked back into were I had found the blood and looked around again to make sure I had followed the right set of tracks. I had they were the only tracks around. Then I followed my flag line again looking to see if there was any blood I had missed but it had rained enough to make that only a wish. After I got to the point I had left the tracks the noc before I again follwed them and as bad luck would have it I jumped a heard and they took off right over the bulls tracks and at that piont is were I lost all hope. Because when they stoped running and spread out to feed god only knows what happened to the tracks I was following. I fell better that I diddn't give up. I also feel I did everything in my power to find him. Unfortunently(sp) there are only a few things you can control and counting coup on this was not meant to be. As you know the second season W/T hunt is a spike only show. So someone finding and shooting this one is imposible.
I curently hunt with a .270 winchester. Before my next elk rifle hunt I will be stepping up to a 338 or 300 mag. A 270 is fine with good shot placement but you can not always controll exact range conditions. My mind buzzed with theorys for days as to what happened. My last picture in my mind was a good shot mabey a little forward but still good.
It just makes me sick to know I didn't give him the respectible quick death all game should have. BlueWater.

[bigshark]

Bluewater
The only good that comes from it is that with those feelings you grow. You grow into a better
hunter with the desire to not have it happen again.
I do not know many, maybe even none as I think about it, that haven't had that awful, guilt like feeling, when an animal was lost. It will pass in time but it will always be there, surfacing from time to time. I wouldn't blame it on the cartridge, and you should not blam yourself. It has to happen to know just how badly you never want it to happen again. You are now, and will be, better because of it.

[Fish Hunter]

Yow BW, that's depressing. Guess I've been lucky to miss well enough to not lose an animal yet. But I have taken two animals that were wounded the same season. Keep your chin up. I guess an upside to heavy hunting pressure is that these animals that get slowed down usually get taken and put to use. Unfortuntely this will happen to many of us. Is there somthing you would do differently next time you could share with us?