the rut over here in 444 seemed to get started on labor day weekend, but then got quiet. then they were at it for a few days and then it got quiet again. about the only consistent success i had was hunting over water. every night at 6:25 they would show up. i put an arrow through a well over 300 bull. unfortunately he walked off and was never seen by me again. the arrow looked to be low and back when i shot, i found it just behind where he was standing, covered in fat with a little bit of hair and some thin strips of meat. if i hit him where i think, he is dead, but i have seen and heard no birds, and smelled nothing. i left him alone for 8 hours before pursuing and really expected him to be bedded within a couple of hundred yards of where i last saw him. no blood to speak of, certainly not enough to track anything in waist tall grass and snowberry. i think he crossed the fence on to property that i cant hunt during archery season. once the season is over i will go look for a carcass.
i just hate to lose an animal, but occasionally it happens. not usually to me though. he was the biggest bull i had seen in the area, one of the only two i would take. i have a 280" minimum otherwise it is a cow at the end of the season.