Elk - A Tough Animla Cont'd

[MaxPower]

I was scrolling through the forum recently and found this gem:

http://www.eastmans.com/forum/showthread.php/1445-Elk-A-tough-animal

It's a great collection of stories/pics of harvested elk (and other big game) which were discovered to have previous injuries. Not only does it show how tough these animals are, but for me it was a good reminder on shot placement. I know the perfect shot is hard to come by, but we owe the animal the best shot we're capable of.

I wanted to add my story too (hope the original poster gon4elk won't mind). A few years back we were hunting elk in the Bridger-Tetons. My buddy killed a nice 5x5 and when we cleaned it found that it'd been previously shot by an archery hunter. There was no broadhead or fletchings, just about 6-8 inches of shaft stuck right underneath his spine. It was completely healed over and encased with a touch callous, which makes me think he'd been shot the previous year or even earlier. Luckily we had the presence of mind to snap a quick photo despite being in stormy weather and on a nasty hillside.

 

[Ikeepitcold]

Wow that is insane! I did really like that thread. Crazy how these animals are so strong and can live with slouch massive wounds.

 

[ivorytip]

thats crazy. last year ago my buddy shot a 5x but we couldnt find it. this year, hunting same area he shot a 6x. when dressing it we found his brodhead and about 3 inches of shaft dug into the bulls shoulder. we knew it was his cuz of his custom shaft wraps. ive never heard of anything like it

 

[MaxPower]

Ivorytip that's a crazy coincidence. What are the chances of shooting the very same bull?

 

[Ikeepitcold]

thats crazy. last year ago my buddy shot a 5x but we couldnt find it. this year, hunting same area he shot a 6x. when dressing it we found his brodhead and about 3 inches of shaft dug into the bulls shoulder. we knew it was his cuz of his custom shaft wraps. ive never heard of anything like it

Was there any sign of weak horn growth? They say when a animal is injured it can cause weird horn growth.

 

[bigmoose]

Years ago, I killed a 6X6 bull in Montana after tracking him for 4 1/2 hours. When we skinned him out he had 30 caliber bullet lodged at the base of his skull. It was completely healed over and looked to be many years old. Amazing that he could continue on. They really are a tough animal and have a great will to survive.

Moose

 

[ivorytip]

normal antler growth, which surprised me... i have allways been under the impression that if a leg is injured the oposite side "antler" will have a deformity. any game bios on here with any insight??? and chances are slim to none. we just started laughing not believing it. i did get a video of that bull last year a couple of weeks after he shot it. i went in there with my dog to check if it had died. ended up getting a video of a 5x that had a slow limp to it, im assuming it was same bull. when he shot the 6x this year it was walking just fine and screaming up a storm.

 

[ivorytip]

and big moose... a 30 cal in base of skull???? holly crap! thats impressive.

 

[RUTTIN]

I remember reading in bugle magazine a long time ago about a fellow that arrowed a spike bull one year and never found him, 7 years later he shot a mature herd bull in the same area and you guessed it, had his arrow in the shoulder from 7 years earlier. How cool would that be to finally put an end to wondering what happened to the bull.

 

[ivorytip]

if i ever find my bullet in that monster bull i couldnt find last year i will be a happy man. ill not stop hunting that unit untill i shoot him or one of his bruiser buddies.

 

[Ikeepitcold]

I remember reading in bugle magazine a long time ago about a fellow that arrowed a spike bull one year and never found him, 7 years later he shot a mature herd bull in the same area and you guessed it, had his arrow in the shoulder from 7 years earlier. How cool would that be to finally put an end to wondering what happened to the bull.

That would be a heck of a story to tell.

 

[bigmoose]

and big moose... a 30 cal in base of skull???? holly crap! thats impressive.

Yes it is! We thought about it at the time and all we could come up with was that maybe he was shot at a long distance. I'm sure it dropped him, but by the time the hunter got over there he was up and gone? I don't know...just guessing. He was 9 1/2 miles back in the Madison Range and it took us 2 days to get him out with horses.

Moose

 

[Fink]

It amazes me how tough animals are. While not an elk, I shot a whitetail doe a few years back. After taking out the backstraps and cleaning them up, I found a .22 bullet laying in the fat, it had barely punched through the hide. Certainly not a mortal wound, but if someone shot you or me with a .22, chances are good that it would go clean through us, and for the deer... It might as well have been poked with a thorn.

 

[Drhorsepower]

Dang guys!

 

[Backcountry Stalker]

I remember reading in bugle magazine a long time ago about a fellow that arrowed a spike bull one year and never found him, 7 years later he shot a mature herd bull in the same area and you guessed it, had his arrow in the shoulder from 7 years earlier. How cool would that be to finally put an end to wondering what happened to the bull.

I'm with IKIC that would be a story I would love to hear!

 

[dying to kill]

them are some crazy stories guys, I guess my closest to matching it i got is when i killed my biggest whitetail. I had him at 9 yards straight down from my bow stand walking away it was the only shot i had my arrow hit a rib dead center and only went in a couple of inches it was headed straight for the boiler room. A month later in rifle season i seen a mature looking deer standing in a group of trees at 70 yards half a mile from my bow stand i took the only shot i had(the white patch in the neck) he dropped in his tracks i walked over to what i figured to be a decent deer and seen it was the 164in 10 pt that had been shot in one of his ribs with a arrow i . It took me about 30 minutes to believe my eyes. That deer made me plum sick for a month!!

 

[ivorytip]

sick? bad meat?