Dead bull walking!

[mlycrzy]

LAST EDITED ON Jun-17-13 AT 06:50PM (MST)[p]This is a post I started a few years ago! Thought I would bring it up again to see how many other hunters have experienced this after downing an animal!!

This year my Dad drew a great elk tag for our home state of Nevada. We spent a few weekends in the hills and found some great bulls my Dad would be happy to hang his tag on.

We arrived 2 days before the opener to relocate some of the bulls we had scouted earlier. While glassing we found this great 7x7 bull. He was very narrow but he was heavy and had "the look"! My Dad was excited as we knew where he would be feeding opening morning.

We were up early and started hiking well before the sun came up. My cousin was spotting from a high vantage point and when it was light enough to see he let us know he had 5 bulls spotted and the 7x7 was one of them. He also told us he had spotted 3 other hunters hiking into the same canyon ahead of us. I knew once I heard that news our chances at the 7x7 weren't very good.

Just as we reached the top of the ridge that over looked the canyon a shot rang out. It didn't take long and we found the 5 bulls standing about 800 yards away. Another shot boomed across the canyon and the bulls weren't sure what to do or where to go. Just as we found the big 7x7 a 3rd shot rang out and he dropped like a sack of rocks. It looked like somebody pulled the carpet right out from under him. Talk about disappointment. Since we were already there my buddy decided to film the bull as the lucky hunter walked upon his kill. We weren't sure exactly where the hunter was positioned when he/she shot but it was taking a long time for them to get down to the bull.

15 minutes went by and the downed bull started to move. We couldn't beleive it. Within a few minutes the big boy rocked onto his side then to his feet and started moving out. We were too far for a shot and we had no clue where the hunter was. It only took the bull about 10 minutes but he made it up and over the top of the next ridge and he was gone. About this time the hunter made it to where the bull had dropped and he had no clue of where he had gone. My buddy worked his way down the mountain to tell them what had happened. They couldn't believe he had gotten up as they had waited 15 minutes after the last shot to make sure he was down for good. They thanked my friend and started up over the top to try and relocate the bull. If you look close on the 2nd clip you can see a small trickle of blood running down the neck of the bull.

After this experience I will always if possible leave a spotter to guide me into any downed animal. Any guesses on score??


http://www.monsterhuntclips.com/video/1734/Dead-Bull-Walking

http://www.monsterhuntclips.com/video/1735/Dead-Bull-Walking-part-2

 

[nfh]

LAST EDITED ON Jun-17-13 AT 06:43PM (MST)[p]That bull knows how to play possum. In the first video I was trying to watch his belly to see if he was breathing.

 

[Inline7]

I wonder if he shot him in the antler and knocked him out, my dads buddy shot a buck one year and they were dragging him to a better spot to field dress him and he started kickin and tryin to get away, they found out he shot him at the base of his antler.

 

[mlycrzy]

>I wonder if he shot him
>in the antler and knocked
>him out, my dads buddy
>shot a buck one year
>and they were dragging him
>to a better spot to
>field dress him and he
>started kickin and tryin to
>get away, they found out
>he shot him at the
>base of his antler.


He was shot in the neck! If you look close on the 2nd clip the bull has a small trickle of blood coming from the top of his neck. I think the bullet hit the meat above the bone in his neck and knocked him silly. He was temporarily paralyzed by the shock from the bullet and after 20 minutes came to and hauled arse. If the hunters would have gotten to the bull quicker they would have been in for a big surprise At least they would have been able to finish him off.

 

[elkassassin]

I'm affraid I'd of had to Draw my 3-5-7!




This Story happens alot it's True!
But Ya Best Hope it don't ever happen to you!

 

[Inline7]

>He was shot in the neck!
>If you look close on
>the 2nd clip the bull
>has a small trickle of
>blood coming from the top
>of his neck. I think
>the bullet hit the meat
>above the bone in his
>neck and knocked him silly.
>He was temporarily paralyzed by
>the shock from the bullet
>and after 20 minutes came
>to and hauled arse. If
>the hunters would have gotten
>to the bull quicker they
>would have been in for
>a big surprise At
>least they would have been
>able to finish him off.
>

Wow! Thats pretty unusual haha!!

 

[Foxskinner]

A similar thing happened to my brother in law last year. He set up and took a pretty easy 200 yard shot at a decent 6x6 on the edge of a clearing. The bull hit the dirt and laid motionless. He had his 9 year old son and my other brother in law with him as I was closing in from above and didn't see what had happened. Well they got up and got all excited, threw the gun over the shoulder, and started to approach his bull. All of a sudden the bull threw his head up jumped to his feet and ran off into the trees. My brother in law didn't even have a chance to get a second shot off. We combed the area for hours and hours and couldn't find blood anywhere. We foot tracked him for a little ways until we couldn't go any more and no sign of a hit anywhere. We came to the conclusion that he had been hit in the antler and it whiplashed him to the ground.

On another note, my brothers friend had a similar instance. He was hunting the Wasatch with a Premium tag and found a dandy bull. He shot and the bull dropped. They sat there for a good twenty minutes or so before packing up and heading down the canyon as the bull was on the opposite side of the canyon. As they were going down through the thick stuff someone yelled that the bull was moving and they looked just in time to see the bull jump to his feet and bolt to the bottom of the canyon. Another hunter took that bull days later and upon inspection, they found that this first hunter had shot him in the antler.

Saying this though, the bull in the video does not appear to have been shot in the antler. The way he was walking, almost stumbling, up the hill, he was wounded somewhere and it took him a few minutes to regain his head and get up to get out. It happens. I hope they found that bull and finished him off though cause he didn't look good enough to survive.....

 

[elks96]

My first archery bull was like this. At least I am assuming the same bull. On the last weekend I shot a bull that was a 5x4 with a non typical side ways point. As I was packing it out with my wife, we were heading down the trail head with the hind 1/4s first. We ran into a guy who was looking for a bull he knocked down during the muzzy season the week before... Asked if we had seen anything.

Well he was heading in for the afternoon, and we still had a second trip out. When I had cleaned my elk, I found a hole (clean) that went all the way through the neck. It was in the meat, and snuck in between the spine and the back of the wind pipe. I am talking a hole big enough for my thumb that went clean through. I figured a gore from another bull....

Well as it was getting dark my wife and I hit the trail with the last load. We ran into the guy again. He had no luck but began describing the situation. He described the bull which was still 200 yards up the trail on my wife's pack. He explained that he was in a tree stand, shot a bull in a little park (about 300 yards from where I killed him). He said he thought he pulled the shot, but the bull went down and did not move. He reloaded, sat for a few minutes (like 5 and started down. 1/2 way down he looked over and the bull was gone. Best we could tell is the shot knocked the bull out.

When I shot him he was pissed, breaking everything in site, he was running 10 cows hard and seemed as healthy as can be...

I am willing to bet your bull ended up in OK shape assuming he gained back his senses. While he looked a little shaky leaving, can you imagine how you would be for a while if you just took a 1000+ pouns of energy and were knocked out for 15 minutes?

Did ypu all hunt for him? Kill him or know someone who did?

 

[mlycrzy]

I had a guy message me after I posted this a few years ago saying he had seen this same bull a month after this incident. He said the bull seemed healthy to him. The guy described the exact area where he was too.

 

[Zeke]

I remember when I first heard this story from you. Interesting stuff and we can all learn several things from the experience.

I'm always more suspicious when an animal "drops" in it's tracks. It can either be really good or really bad. A guy is always better off to send another bullet. At 3-4 dollars a pop the premium ammo isn't cheap but it's good insurance.

My son shot a big bull 4 times in a row (perfect hits) but it was still standing. I'd have had him shoot 4 more but the bull tipped over before he could reload.

Zeke