the perfect shot :(

[LadyArcher]

this is my 1st season shooting bear with my new bow....I had a perect shot f @20 yards..bear was quartering away,he was a big bruin I am thinking around 450lbs.anyways I took the shot hit right behind the shoulder blade maybe a tad high but still a good shot.As I was tracking him I found spray on both sides about 2 feet high..found several puddles where he stop.Then all signs stop...I could hear him maybe 1500 feet in front a me moving..then I lost all signs...no blood nothing..he was in very thick bush..I looked for him for approx 8 hours & never did find him...what could of went wrong.

I was shooting a Hoyt Serria Tech, Goldtip hunters with a muzzy broadhead.

[WOOKIE]

Sounds to me like you were pushing him to fast after a questionable shot. Give him 8 hours and get out there and look for him. He probably stiffened up and died through the night.

[willyqbc]

I'll give you a couple possibilities from what I know of hunting bear and other critters for that matter. By what you describe, one of two things may have happened and quite possibly both. If you were hunting from the ground and hit him high there is a small space above the lungs and below the spine which is basically dead air space, you may have managed to somehow find that gap. The other thing with bears is you really need to give them time to expire when hunting them in the fall. Any fall bear will inevitably stop leaving a blood trail if he goes far enough before expiring. What happens is the heavy fat will seal up the wound and keep all the bleeding internal....if the bear is still truckin when this happens you are not going to have a blood trail to follow. I think CNDARCHER got it right, you probably pushed him too soon and the fat sealed up the wound so you lost the blood trail. You're gonna have to get out hopefully with some friends and start grid searching for him!
Hope this was some help....and GOOD LUCK!!

Chris

[scooter]

So? Did you find him?

[LadyArcher]

yes we did find him 48hrs later,unfortantly the coyotes & vultures already got to him:(

[WOOKIE]

Looks good on you findind him. Way to go. Did you do the right thing and tag him anyways?

[ronburrell]

The perfect shot would have gotten you your bear

[WOOKIE]

The perfect shot would have gotten you your bear
Ron, She did get the bear. I still maintain that she pushed the bear too soon. She did recover the bear though, so your statement is unfounded.

[scooter]

The perfect shot would have gotten you your bear
Seems to me that she DID get her bear Ron.

[Dillershortbow]

What broadhead were you using for a fall bear that is so fat maybe a bigger broadhead.Maybe a big mechanical like a grim reaper is or a magnus stinger would be better on a fall bear with so mutch fat.

[bdoa]

With my experience with bears, I would suspect that the arrow was prob not the problem, the shot was maybe a bit high or to far forward, and only nicked the lungs causing a slow bleed. I have seen many bears go down from lung shots over the years, using every kind of broadhead and rifle caliber, if you hit the lungs solid they collapse, or fill up with blood fast, the animal dies.
Another common miss on bears quartering is the shot through the arm pit of the bear, I have seen that happen more than once, sometimes you get lucky and hit the artery in the leg, and they bleed out, but that takes some time too.
A valuable lesson that I am sure Lady Archer has learnt though is to be patient, and if you bump the animal once.. leave it for the next day.

P.S.
Sounds like your being a little hard on Ron, I think what he meant is that if She had hit a solid lung shot, she would have recovered the bear intact, not half eaten.

Just my thoughts..