Well all nice to see that you are supportive. I am guessing that the Oh Well comment was about you all tearing him a new one for not knowing the anatomy of the animal, not the animal that he hit. As far as the tracking of the animal, (I left and came back in the evening to track again, but at noon there was a shower). I have had that happen to me, but got luck and found my deer laying in a field 100 yds from the shot. There is a good chance that the elk survived the shot.