ROADHUNTER: THE CRITICAL MOMENTS ON EITHER SIDE OF THE SHOT

ROAD HUNTER

Observe the behavior of game animals and note their surroundings before taking a shot. This Roosevelt bull was feeding when the author caught it by surprise.

THE CRITICAL MOMENTS ON EITHER SIDE OF THE SHOT

Being able to quickly find your downed animal, proper field dressing go long way to optimize meat quality.

STORY AND PHOTOS BY SCOTT HAUGEN

You just pulled the trigger on a big game animal. Now what? Actually, let’s back up because what happens immediately following the shot should be anticipated before pulling the trigger.

When settling into a solid shooting position, assess the animal’s behavior. Also, note which direction it’s facing and the surrounding terrain. Though a deer might collapse upon initial bullet impact, a bear or elk likely won’t, meaning there’s almost always a blood trail you’ll need to follow.

A high shoulder or spine shot will put down a deer, and sometimes an elk, on the spot, but a perfect hit behind the shoulder normally finds animals running off. This is normal, so don’t be surprised. Though a double-lung hit behind the shoulder is 100-percent fatal, an animal will often run a short

distance after being hit in the lungs, usually in the direction it’s facing. A deer may run 25 to 100 yards before expiring, and elk perhaps further. A bear hit through both lungs rarely travels more than 20 yards before expiring. For this reason, evaluate the terrain prior to taking a shot, so you know where the tracking and recovery efforts will likely ensue.

BEFORE SHOOTING AN animal, pick a prominent landmark close to where it’s standing. Identifying a tree, rock, stump or clump of grass will be a good reference point from which to start your tracking job, as oftentimes the animal disappears during the recoil of the shot.

If the bullet hits the animal and it’s still standing, keep shooting. After the initial shot, never take your eyes off the animal or the location where it was standing. Elk are big animals and can take multiple shots to bring down. A deer might not be hit in the perfect place, but still standing. In both scenarios, be ready with a quick followup shot.

If you’re certain of a hit, watch the animal and listen. Even if the animal disappears into brush, you can often hear where it’s going and what’s happening.

Animals shot with a rifle will need to be followed up immediately. If the animal is still standing as you approach, shoot it again. If the animal is on the ground but still alive, kill it with a shot to the base of the skull so no meat will be ruined.

If you’ve taken a shot and are not sure if you hit the animal, mark your reference point and walk to that spot. Search for blood or hair where the animal was last seen. If blood is found, follow it. If no blood is found, follow the tracks of the animal. Look for freshly turned dirt, broken branches and overturned rocks, sticks or blades of grass. Search for blood as you go. Sometimes blood may not appear for 50 yards or more, especially if the lungs were missed.

If finding only small drops of blood, mark them with flagging tape. Lethally hit animals usually travel in a straight line, no matter what the terrain. If the blood trail leads uphill, stop tracking. This is usually a sign of a gut or liver hit, and the animal will need time to expire. You don’t want to push animals that are crippled, as they can keep going for long distances.

For archery hunters, if after following a blood trail you locate your quarry and it’s still alive, put another arrow into it. Shoot it behind the shoulder, aiming for both lungs.

When following a blood trail, pay attention to what the blood looks like. Bright red blood with bubbles indicates a lung hit, meaning your animal won't be far. Dark red blood could be from the liver or muscle tissue. Blood with dark coloration or a grainy texture indicates a hit to the digestive tract. Animals hit in the digestive tract or liver should be given time to expire, usually two to four hours.

Knowing what you’re getting into before taking a shot is an important part of big game hunting, as pack outs from the site of the kill can be physically demanding.

ONCE THE ANIMAL is located and expired, unload your rifle, open the action and put it in a safe place. Adrenaline can impede simple judgement and that’s when accidents happen.

Next, validate your tag. Once your tag is validated, immediately secure it to your animal with tape, twine or zip ties. If your tag is electronic, you know what to do.

After that business is taken care of, take a moment for photos.

The next step is field care. There are many ways to field dress a deer or elk. How you break down an animal in the field may depend on how far you are from a road, how many days away you are from getting it refrigerated, and how big the animal is or if you have any help. Prior to the hunt, anticipate how you’ll take care of the animal once down, from the field to getting it home.

The number one objective with field care is to get the carcass cooling as soon as possible. If you shoot an animal in the closing minutes of daylight, be prepared to track and field dress it in the dark. Leaving an animal overnight will result in spoiled, gameytasting meat, even on cold winter days, as animals have very efficient insulation at that time. If you’re not prepared to spend hours in the dark breaking down an animal, do not shoot.

Gutting an animal is the first step in traditional field care. With the animal on its back, begin removing the entrails by inserting a knife under the hide, near the anus. Skin your way up the belly to the sternum. Be careful not to cut into the gut cavity. Next, gently cut through the abdominal wall, pushing away protruding entrails so as not to cut them and risk tainting the meat. With the abdominal wall cut all the way from the sternum to the pelvis, pull out the stomach and intestines. This will expose the diaphragm, to which the entrails are still attached. Cut around the entire diaphragm, exposing the respiratory system. During this process, be careful not to cut the tenderloins, which lie between the spine and stomach, tight to the back.

With the heart and lungs exposed, reach inside and grab the windpipe with one hand, cutting it free with the

Author Scott Haugen with a Cascades blacktail taken last season. The buck was bedded on a rimrock pinnacle, and luckily the first shot anchored it on the spot. Otherwise, the pack out could have been long and grueling.

Haugen knew that pulling the trigger on this bull meant a long night ahead. He and a buddy made it to camp at 2 a.m., after they finished quartering the bull to cool down overnight. They spent nine hours packing it out the next day.

other hand. Because elk are so big, you can split the sternum with your knife or a saw to allow easier access to the upper respiratory system.

With the windpipe severed, firmly pull out the respiratory tract, which will be connected to the digestive tract. All the entrails will spill out except for the large intestine, which is still attached at the anus, along with the urinary tract. Do not vigorously pull the large intestines or urinary tract, for you do not want them to tear and contaminate the meat with feces and urine.

To free the lower intestine, take your knife and cut around the outside of the anus, under the tail, where hair starts to form. Before making this cut, feel for the boney structure that encompasses the lower bowels. You want your knife to follow this circular bone structure. Failure to cut against this boney cavity will find the blade too close to the anus, which can puncture the bladder and bowels.

Once you’ve cut all the way around the anus from the outside, with your knife penetrating 3 to 4 inches, return to the body cavity. Lift and pull the bowels and urinary tract, cutting around the tissue until you meet the cuts made from the outside of the anus. When freed, lift and remove the bowels, bladder and remaining entrails. Any remaining blood can now freely drain from the body, through the cavity created in the pelvis.

IF YOU CAN get the animal out whole, either to camp or home, this is a good way to transport and protect the meat. If you have to break down the animal in the field, do so by separating the front and hindquarters, removing the backstrap, filleting off all the neck meat and collecting the rib meat and tenderloins. The heart and liver are full of nutrition and, if not damaged from the shot, are worth saving.

All edible meat must be salvaged from game, including the shanks – meat from the lower legs. Slow cooked, shanks and neck meat are some of the best-eating cuts on an animal.

Place the meat in a game bag and hang in a cool, shaded place. Game bags will keep meat clean, allow air to circulate, and keep flies away. With a good pack frame, all that’s left is to pack out your animal. This may take several trips with an elk.

Proof of sex must be retained while in the field and transporting your game. Proof of sex is the scalp, including the eyes and ears (and antlers of males), or the reproductive organs which must remain attached to one hindquarter. To

Prior to shooting at a big game animal, taking note of the terrain and identifying landmarks will help in recovery efforts. keep the reproductive organs attached to the hindquarter, cut around the patch of fur that connects it to the inside of the hindquarter.

The sooner you can get meat out of the field and cooling, the better tasting it will be. Ideally, game meat should be allowed to age in a refrigerated or cool environment between 34 and 44 degrees for at least five days. After that, the meat is ready for butchering, wrapping and freezing.

By anticipating your shot and promptly following up big game, you’re on the way to optimizing meat quality. The pack out can be hard, but that’s part of the hunt, and the more you do it, the more proficient you’ll become.  Editor’s note: Want to learn how to quickly break down a big game animal in the field? Order Scott’s popular DVD Field Dressing, Skinning & Caping Big Game at scotthaugen.com. Follow Scott’s adventures on Instagram and Facebook.