Well guys, I just back back from Cortez, Colorado unfortunately empty handed. A friend of mine and I met up with a guy that knows the area and is successfull at calling in good bulls. I was the first up to bat and our friend called in a very nice 6x6 right at the P&Y mark on the first day. My buddy filmed the shot. He came in quartering to me and I thought that he straightened up with his last step so I put it right on the crease of his shoulder. Well after looking at the film he was still quartering pretty hard to me but all three of us thought he would be dead within 100 yards. It was about an hour before sunset and it began raining so we made the unfortunate decision to begin looking for him. We should have just left him over night because we bumped him. We got out of there after that but it poured rain the entire night washing away any blood and all tracks. The area was very thick and had lots of dead fall so we would have had to walk on top of him to see him. We scoured the entire mountain up and down back and forth the next day but never found him. He would have been an amazing first bull and it will haunt me til next year but that's a part of hunting. My buddy was up to bat for pretty much the rest of the trip and he killed a nice 5x5 in the Weminuche Wilderness on a spectacular pack in hunt for a few days. We saw a couple of billy mountain goats and a cow moose with 2 calves while in the wilderness which was incredible. All in all it was an amazing first elk hunt and I can't wait til next year!

Did you get a pass through, how far was the shot, and with what broadhead? That sucks, but hopefully you take something postive from the experience.

No pass through. The last 8" or so broke off so I got a little over 22" of penetration. The shot was at 15 yd and I was shooting G5 montecs.

that sucks... sorry to hear it...

No pass through. wow at fifteen yards even. Must've hit shoulder bone? I shot an elk at 51 yards last year with a broadhead much like the G5's, I use the Snuffer SS, and my arrow still got a complete pass through. SO that leads me to beleive you got shoulder?
I got a 28.5" draw and use a light arrow at about 376 grains. SO I don't have alot of kenetic energy, BUT I still got a pass through at 51 yards on a broadside elk.

That's a bummer but like you said sometimes that's just part of it. Glad to hear you did all you could to recover. The haunting will last longer than one year though. It never ends.

sorry to hear, bumping an animal is the worst.

I'm sure raining or rain coming makes a guy worry about tracking blood in/after rain.