Standing now with a bright splash of red at my feet and much better defined tracks as well, I felt a giant weight lifted off my shoulders. It was like hitting a reset button on the circumstance, and about anything was better than the hand of cards I'd been holding just moments earlier. Over an hour had lapsed since my shot, yet I still moved with great care and caution to be quiet. Given that I was standing in relatively thick trees and my general visibility was fifty yards at best, I opted to do something especially cautious. Before taking another step and setting fourth on this new blood trail (which was loaded with new and better outcomes), I paused to take time to reflect on what I was doing and the discipline I needed to adhere to. You see the number one way to lose a wounded elk is to embark in tracking too soon and bump it from it's bed while it's still alive. I've always said that when you shoot an animal (depending on the hit location) it may have X number of seconds, minutes or hours to live. If it spends that time undisturbed wherever it's chose to bed down, the odds of recovering that animal are at their best. If it spends that time fleeing, jumped from it's bed, or feeling like it's being pursued- the odds of recovery fall off drastically. 

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