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From: james@Solbourne.COM (James B. Davis)
Newsgroups: rec.hunting
Subject: Re: Wounded Animals
Message-ID: <1991May27.171413.29413@doug.cae.wisc.edu>
Date: 27 May 91 22:14:13 GMT
References: <1991May23.022700.26208@doug.cae.wisc.edu>
Organization: Tactical Engineering Department, Solbourne Computer, Inc.
Lines: 43
Approved: hunting@osnome.che.wisc.edu
Originator: hunting@osnome.che.wisc.edu

I have got to give my $.02 worth...

The last elk I bagged back home (N Wy) must have died
of fright.  I was with my dad, uncle and a local Game & Fish
guy.  We were driving around a herd of about 30 or so
on my uncles ranch.  There were a couple of spikes
with mostly cows and a few calfs.  A few of the cows were
wounded (another story and the guilty were prosecuted).
While the G&F officer bagged the wounded cows, I ran
down a fence line waiting for a spike to jump (more like
plow through) the fence.  It did and stopped broadside
and about 25 yards away (all out in the open).  I had my
dad's custom lefty 7mm w/scope.  I don't have to tell
you how useless a scope is at this range do I.
Not to mention how hard it is for a righty to cheek a custom
lefty rifle.  I looked down the barrel and aimed for the
heart.  Bang, it fell instantly.  My uncle and I walked up
to it and cut its jugular.  When we skinned it in the barn,
there wasn't any sign of a bullet hole or
even a scratch anywhere - not even on the spike
antlers.  The G&F friend told me it was a very smart
elk and it was trying to feign death as to loose
my interest, hoping I would just walk away.
My dad told me it was the shear power of the 7mm's
(over my 270's) shock wave that turned the elk's
brain to mush.  My uncle told me it must have been
a heart attack due to the extreme pressure it must have
exerted to break his ("perfect") fence.

Someday, I hope I can diagnose such occurrences with finesse
as these wise hunters did...


james@solbourne.com

BTW, the mule deer buck I had hanging along side was
at least 75 to 100lbs larger - got a picture to prove it.

-- 
James B. Davis, Consulting Engineer, Tactical Engineering Dept.
Solbourne Computer, Inc., 1900 Pike Road, Longmont, Colorado 80501 USA
(303) 772-3400  Direct: (303) 678-4792  Fax: (303) 772-3646
james@solbourne.com or uunet!solbourne!james