Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Which one of these doesn't belong?

So there I was, walking a ridge top in colorado, chasing the elusive wapiti when my rifle slang catches on something sticking up out of the ground.

Thinking it was merely some scrub oak, I brush my hand down to clear my sling and come into contact with something solid. Very solid. And pointy.

At that point, I look down to see what I had, and exclaim "Holy f***" where upon my Dad turns around, excitement mixed with concern, "what, what?" thinking maybe I'd seen something. Seen something I had.



My theory is that someone had shot him the year before, and he laid up on the ridge to heal up but didn't quite make it. The skull was in a perfect upright position, and he was hunkered down in a slight hollow invisible from below, and one hell of a nasty climb to get up to him.

Not having the proper tape or anything, the best I have is rough guesstimathing, but he goes 180-200 easy.

I sent him down the mountain with my Dad to await me until christmas when I can clean up the skull and mount him to a plaque.

Not the antlers I was looking for when I set out that morning, but a memorable find none the less.

Nice find..

They die from all kinds of causes, just like we do.
Glad you were able to salvage such a fine rack and give it some immortality....

He could also be a winter kill. The breeders burn off a lot of calories during the rut and sometimes they just don't have enough left to carry them through.

A couple of springs ago I was walking with my dogs near our cabin that's south of Westcliffe, CO. The snow was mostly melted, but still some in the timber. My wife and I found an elk carcass, the bones were spread all over the place but the skull was sitting perfectly upright in a little bit of snow. He had a perfect 6x6 rack that's hanging on a hall. My guess is that as the snow melted around his head that it provided support for the tines and kept the head upright. We couldn't find any bullet holes in any of the bones to tell if he had been killed by a hunter. Probably just died during the winter.