3 dead bulls. Poached??

NMPaul

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Myself and the family went on a hike the other night scouting about 45 minutes from where we live. About 1 mile off the road on the top of a mountain we startled about 15 turkey vultures and crows.

What we found was a bull elk that had been dead less than a week. He Had been in velvet and the varmints had been chewing on his tines. While i was looking at that one my 9 year old son yelled that there was another dead bull and upon looking around more we found a 3rd bull.

These were all within 50 yards or so of each other in a wooded area.

Stranger still i was not convinced they all died at the same time. One had its face already chewed off and another looked like it may have only been dead a couple of days and had all of its hide on its head.

I marked the spot on my GPS and called NM game and fish and gave them all the info.

Also from where these dead bulls were we saw 2 bulls other bulls grazing in an opening. These bulls were all mature being 5 point or better, though, all under 300 inches.

How could all of these bulls died within 50 yards of each other even if poached? Were others shot and died further off? Could something else taken them out?
Also, this was at least a mile from where anyone could have parked their car and a uphill hike. Not the typical MO of a poacher. Antlers were all there.

I asked the Game and Fish guy to let me know what they thought but not sure he will call me back.


Anyone have any thoughts on this.
 
Lightning?

Hard for me to imagine a poacher hiking uphill 1 mile - shoot 3 bulls and not remove - antlers/backstraps something.
 
Scremin, you might be on to something. It think it might be Bush's fault also.

Seriously, i had not considered the lightning idea. That is a very good thought.

These bulls were all on top of a mountain. The very top and we have had plenty of lightning lately. They were at 8600 feet which is one of the highest peaks in that area and i know because i checked my GPS.

By the way this was unit 34.
 
Lightning was responsible for a heard of Big Horn sheep deaths in Nevada last year .I would lean torwards it as well in youre case.Mother nature can sure be a ##### .
 
A few years ago in montana i think.12 bulls were killed by lightning.I am not positve about it being montana i just remember reading the story.
jim
 
On the Colorado DOW's website you can do a photo query and they have a picture of a herd of 30 to 40 elk that lay dead after being struck by lightning.
 
NO MATTER WHAT!!!

ITS LITTLE GEORGES FAULT!!!

ITS GOTTA BE!!!

THE ONLY bobcat THINKING LIGHTNING MIGHT BE PART TO BLAME ALSO BUT ANIMALS THAT LOOK LIKE THEY'VE BEEN DEAD LONGER THAN OTHERS WTF???
 
Sounds like lightning to me too. I don't see a slob covering that much ground for a "thrill killing". Paul, I sent you a PM.
 
LAST EDITED ON Jul-06-07 AT 02:00AM (MST)[p]Being at the top of a mountain, I would think lightning also. If one bull looked to be about a week older than the other I would guess he took a more direct hit and died instantly. The bulls that appeared to be recently killed probably took a less direct hit and may of been too injured to move much, but died from their injuries a day or two later.
 
I am leaning toward the lightning also. I plan on hiking up there next week to look at things from that perspective.

When i was up there i was caught up in the fact it was so odd to see 3 bulls there together.

Also, sometimes a bear, coyote or other critter will chew on one particularly and that could result in one having its face chewed off to the base of the skull.

Mike, your right one could have gotten a little more cooked and decomposed quicker.

Hate to lose 3 bulls up here that way, but, everything up here is looking super good with the rains we are getting. Even let the air out of a wild pig the other night on a hike.

Hate to hear what is happening in the states west and north of us regarding drought.
 
I know where your coming from peakfreak.

I was wearing my tin foil hat so i felt relatively safe.

Luckily I had taken the correspondence course in Klingon sign language so I was prepared.
 
You never know. Sounds like you are prepared for the worst. I need to get me one of them tin foil hats. Do they come in camo?
 
I would agree with the lightening explanantion. Plus, in that country, the lightening can really get with it...those elk should have been alittle smarter than that...:)
 
it is weird that the elk would have been that high with a pending lightning storm, like toughshed said, if they are like horses, they freak out with lightning, and they usually know it is coming along time before the first strike.
 

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