Read on another forum. Guy shoots a 5x5 bull three times with his ML and still can't kill him. Watches the elk, snaps pictures of it while laying there still alive and thrashing.... laying in a ditch/stream.....after 30 minutes he decides he needs to go get help WHILE BULL IS STILL ALIVE. Couple of miles back to camp to get his buds, they come back............you already know the end of the story. G-o-n-e.

You pack in somewhere elk hunting and you only carry three loads? You leave him still thrashing around after 30 minutes of misery? You don't have a knife? Scared of a thrashing bull? Make a damn spear or something!!!

Apparently he must have been shooting a patched round ball because his stated load was 45 grains of bp. Elk's shoulders were eating that load for lunch from what I could gather.

Sickening.

45 grains of BP isn't even a decent load with a .50 caliber round ball, that doesn't sound right.

In Colorado at least that would be grounds for wanton waste of big game meat and would carry a fine. Hope someone turn that idiot in, no matter what state it was.

Post a link.

http://forum.gon.com/showthread.php?t=820012

Pretty sickening indeed!!! It's apparent that some guys just don't need to be out there hunting...

That really sucks. Poor animal.

Eric

Makes my skin crawl.

I suppose that until you walk a mile in someone else's shoes you don't really know what it's like. But I'm sure I could have figured out a way to put him away for good.

KC

You evidently haven't been on the receiving end of what a crippled bull can do, or seen the raw power of their hooves and horns in person.......

don't have a knife? good grief......

+1. I've seen that done with a mule deer doe and that was a rodeo I would want no part of. Can't imagine trying that on an elk.

A live bull in almost any condition can turn a man to hamburger.

Took two buddies of mine elk hunting a number of years ago. One guy's Ruger 77 broke the day before the hunt so I loaned him mine. His was 30-06, mine was 7mm-08. We killed a nice bull the first morning and he went off on his own to try and get his own. Apparently he didn't realize that he only had 30-06 ammo in his pack and the 4-5 7mm rounds that were in the rifle.

Shot a bull and knocked him down and got one lung ( I think). Then followed him up and made another poor shot. Shot again and hit him in the skull where the antler attaches. This knocked him out. He went up to take photos and the bull got up. He was now empty and couldn't find anymore ammo!

He sat 20 yards from the bull for several hours until it finally died. He had a whole roll of film of the bull looking at him.

Crazy things can happen. I'm glad he didn't try and play Chuck Norris and cut his throat!

Years ago I went elk hunting with an old friend. I shot a big cow and we headed back to the truck for packing gear. On the way, a cow came over a ridge about 75 yds away. Then another, and another. They just kept coming. My friend shot and missed in his excitement. Then he started fiddling with his rifle and never shot again. Before it was done, at least 40 elk had paraded by broadside within gimme range and he never shot a 2d round.

He was learning to reload and bought one of those little Lee hand loaders. He'd picked up a bunch of brass at popular shooting site in the desert and loaded them. As you might know, the Lees only neck size, not full length. You only neck size when using brass fired in your own rifle. His rifle apparently had a minimum sized chamber. By pure luck, the 1 round he shot fit. He had 10 more with him and not a single one of them would chamber. I was hunkered down about 5 yds behind him. If I'd known what he was doing, I'd have handed him my rifle.

I had a set of 30-06 dies at home so after the hunt, we pulled all the bullets and resized his brass. It was an honest mistake for a beginner and he never realized that he needed to test load all of his cartridges in his rifle under those conditions.

Was in that situation just last week....but I was prepared.

You had extra shells or you had to use the knife?

Well, don't bring a knife to a gunfight.....

Extra shells. My point in the whole thing is that I found it hard to understand how a person could watch a wounded elk for 30 minutes, do nothing, then walk back to camp....elk still not dead.....it was a tough situation to be in for sure. But, good Lord, do something. In that 30 minutes I would have at least tried something....and I bet y'all would have too.

Oh, I hear ya. Don't know that I'd be so eager to share if I were that guy.

He deserves whatever ridicule he's getting.

but it damn sure wouldn't have been to try to stab it or cut his throat.

Agree...totally.

Sometimes trying something will spook the elk to where you never find it again, vs letting it bleed out in the meantime...

Life has some tough decisions. I"m glad I only have to walk my shoes and not everyone elses too.

But then my wife is almost always along with me, and she carries a 44 mag or 10mm all the time.

Don't take a knife to a gunfight? How about taking a knife to a knife fight where the other guy outweighs you 4 to 1, is carrying 10 or 12 knives, and can kick hard enough to crush your skull?

Halfway through the post I'm thinking 50 cal round ball. It happens every day in ML season.

I found myself in a similar situation this year, but it was a yearling cow. She was taking a couple minutes to expire and I didnt want her to suffer. So I reached for my knife.....and thought no, I really should use this 357 I've been carrying for the past few days.....

In 2007 I took a cow out of a string at about 40 yards. We had been watching them for the better part of an hour as they worked their way towards us. While I was prepared for a 500 yard shot as they passed below us in the short grass, they surprised us and came straight at us. I couldn't get a clear shot at one until after they passed by, finally taking one at about 40 yards. Here is what I wrote at the time:

"Assuming a classic kneeling position I followed the lone cow with the scope, keeping the crosshairs behind her right front leg and a little under halfway up. Just before she stepped into a draw I squeezed the trigger and she went straight down. I chambered another round and when she got back to her feet I took a second shot. This time she dropped straight down and out of sight. Both shots were well placed and I was sure I would soon be field dressing my second elk of the year."

"What I didn�t know at the time was that when the cow dropped the second time she had gone over the edge and slid to the bottom of a steep, 50-foot slope."

"I was sure the cow was dead so I gave Dave my rifle and asked him to take it to the truck and bring my pack on his way back. Although the hills were fairly clear of snow the slope the cow had gone down was shaded and still snow covered. The snow had helped the cow slide to the bottom where she ended up in a tangle of small tree limbs that made her look something like a bull. I followed her path to the bottom and received a nasty surprise as I approached her. Although both shots would have been fatal by themselves and the cow was expiring, she was still very much alive. I, of course, no longer had my rifle. After assessing the situation for a bit I drew my knife, threw one leg over her neck and proceeded to slit her throat, all the while thinking �so much for a quick, clean kill�. "

Lesson learned - keep a firearm handy at least until you know the animal is dead..

Terminal ballistics of round balls sucked way back when then had nothing else just the same as today. With the bullets available now, I have a hard time imagining, why one would choose to use one (or three) on any hunt...

I shot a mule deer buck one time with my '06. I knocked him down and broke his back. I had one round left ( I had missed about 20 times before I saw this buck!) I was 16 at the time, peak of wrestling season and 10 feet tall and bullet-proof to boot. I grabbed the buck by the antlers to bulldog him down and he tossed me like I was a rag doll!

I jumped up and quickly used that last shot from my '06. That was my one lesson. I haven't tried that crap since!

dennis, that's funny...Exact same thing happened to me, only I WAS outta ammo. I stood on the downhill horn, grabbed the up one, and went to stab him thru the ribs(didn't wanna screw up the cape). He was kinda still thru all that, but as soon as the blade pricked him, he proceeded to kick my ever-lovin' azz. I figgered I could bonk him on the nose with a club and knock him out like a trapped coyote. Wrong-o.... Everytime I would run by and whack him, it would pizz him off and he'd try to get me again. Finally, his skull was turned to mush.... And I was damned tired. And beat-up....

A couple years ago my old outfitter was gored purty severely. He had doctor as a client that wounded a big ol' buck. They was a long way from the truck and he decided to let the buck 'help' himself to the truck. They each grabbed a horn, and proceeded off the mountain. By golly, that deer did kinda help them along, with all his struggling. But somewhere along the way, ol' Doc lost his grip. The buck was able to knock Tom down and thrashed his azz. Doc was able to stop the bleeding and stabilize him, until the life-flight helicopter whisked him to the hospital in Junction. Come real close to dying from the punctured lung.

My brother in laws dad was in a coma for weeks after being trampled by a muley he thought he could cut its throat. This to me is where my side arm comes in handy. I watched my dad try to shoot a spine shot spike at close range with a 300 WM. He had to shoot tree times before getting him behind the ear. I dropped a southern white tail with one shot. When I walked up he was still looking at me. I fired at his head and missed. Took two shots at close range to kill him. You won't see me wrestle any elk or deer. I'll just take old 10mm off my hip and get it over with.

Some years ago I read about a farmer in KS IIRC who made a pet out of a whitetail buck. When it was about 4 YO, he went outside one day and it took him. It just kept coming at him and all he could do was to hang on tight to the antlers. He had a farm pond nearby and over the next half hour, he was able to work the deer into the pond and get on top of it's head and drown it. When they got the guy to the hospital, they had to sew up over 70 holes.

A whitetail is far smaller than an elk and smaller than many mulies. I wouldn't want to tangle with any of them.

Well stuff like this happens more often than not, I know guys that will shoot there rifle once, then go hunting then put the rifle away wet or not till next year! Checking Zero is a religion with me, I check often during the season, just to make sure. My usual ammo load that I carry is a loaded rifle, either 4 or 5 depending on the cartridge and between 10 or 15 more in an ammo pouch, if I have a day or back pack then I will throw a full box into that! The game we hunt deserves that we at least can hit a grape fruit at 50 yards!

Lots of folks here with common sense.

A few with pontification.

Probably typical.

And I used to be the one to carry whats in the gun because I thought I'd never see the day.

Today I rarely set foot without a full box of ammo. And consider that could not get me to a dead animal just depending... ONE bad shot and a rodeo and shooting circus can ensue.

Jab the guy when he is down and has lost an elk, doing the very best he personally could/knew how to. He made a few decisions, and they may not have been the best, but its his deal, not ours. And he is still around and not in a hospital.

BTW I don't practice either... FWIW. But I can certianly hit a grapefruit, and alot further than 50 yards...with many weapons.

Just try and cut the nuts off a house cat.
THEN tell me how you're gonna wrestle an wounded elk

I had a dumbass knock on my door to see if I had any 257 Roberts bullets or if he could borrow a gun to finish what he started.

He had 2 loaded rounds when he left for the day to hunt. I went with him to finish off his buck.

Not only was he a dumbass for not having enough ammo to finish the job he started he actually shot the buck on my place. After the game warden was done with him he surely wished he hadn't stopped at my place.

Last year I took a nasty fall on some loose shale and landed on my scope. I shot it a couple times and it was right on...but just for the moment it turned out. The rear ring was damaged and it allowed the scope to move but you couldn't tell it by looking at it and it didn't wiggle by hand at all. A week later I shot an elk. I put it down but it was a bad hit, a foot to the left and 6" high at 150 yds. Luckily I spined it. She was down in some heavy brush and needed a kill shot. I got within 10 yds to shoot her in the neck. It took me 4 shots over a rest to hit her. I know guys who only carry 3 or 4 rounds with them. If I'd done that, I'd have had a problem.

That made me laugh.

My first and only antelope buck, in Colorado, and not even a very big one. After a really bad first hit, second shot a hole through both lungs you could see light through. Walked up, he was laying there bawling. Didn't want to shoot him again being so close, and will admit I didn't want to mess up the cape. Tried to stand on his neck and stab him in the heart..........surprise! I always thought they only had 4 hooves....all of a sudden he had about 47. I'll just shoot the next one again. Can't even imagine what a bull elk could do to you.

One of the guys I Elk hunt with shot a bull one afternoon right at last light. He came back to camp and said he had shot a bull and it dropped in its tracks deader then hell. So we packed up and went to cut it up and haul it in. We got to the bull and he was still alive no one had brought a gun just knives, packs and a hatchet. We finished the bull off with a hatchet. Wasnt a fun deal dont want to do it again. Always make sure they are dead and always have a gun with you.

I had an uncle, has since passed , walk up on a 80 whitetail doe that was wounded. He was a large strapping man ,6'5, 255 lber, afraid of nothing or no one..... As he stepped up to her ,she kicked his right foot about seven feet straight in the air. As he laid on the ground next to it, he gave her a one handed shot with his well worn .30-06. If a half grow doe can do this kind of damage a bull elk can be worse, I imagine something like a rodeo bronc , with large weapons attached to his head.
Now as for not being properly prepared to harvest animal..... You could write several books on the subject. Slitting throats and such are by now means necessary when you have a gun in your hands..... and if you are out of ammo, you have not planned properly.

I've been pinned down by a wounded 4x4 mule deer, I had on carhart bibs and a heavy carhart coat, if not for that i'd have been a bloody mess.

I finally got ahold of his antlers and was able to hold my own till he decided to take off, he made it about 50 yards and finally died from the bad hit.

An elk? I'd be [bleep] dead...

When I was about 10 or 11, I was hunting with my grandpa, grandma and my uncle. We dropped my uncle off at a spot and drove to a pre-arranged area to wait for him. We hadn't been there more than 5 minutes when he came running up and wanted a knife. I found his Buck knife on the seat and tossed it to him. He took off running and stumbling as his boots has no shoelaces. I knew something good must have happened so I took off after him.

About 100 yards into the timber I saw a dead doe lying there and a 2-point buck tied to a tree by his antlers with shoelaces! I kid you not.

Apparently my uncle had shot both the doe and the buck but only knocked the buck out. He had no knife and no more ammo so he took the laces out of his logging boots and tied the buck to a small tree. The buck was very much alive and pissed when we got there!

I don't remember the rodeo only that my uncle killed the buck and didn't get seriously hurt. My grandad was sorely pissed about the doe. I was sent back to the truck while words were exchanged.

He came on the hunt with only 2 or 3 rounds! He killed more than a 100 deer with his 22-250 and who knows how many elk. He was the best rifleman I had ever known and also the most prolific poacher. I probably don't know the half of all the stunts he pulled.

We all saw that video on youtube. You got your azz handed to you, just admit it...

No video, thank god.

I'm plenty amazed at the power of 200 lb steers and such, not to mention horses, cows, bulls, etc.

I wouldn't tangle with a elk or horned deer of any kind. And a doe would have to be pretty incapacitated 'fore I'd dive in.

Where do you guys shoot a deer that is down but still alive? Like some here have described, the good ol' neck shot is easier said than done. Somewhere along the line I read a suggestion that even on a downed animal, the lung shot was the best shot to dispatch a wounded animal. Kinda makes sense, no animal can live more than seconds with a bullet through the middle of the lungs, but I have never tried it.

Royce

Like in golf, you play it as it lies. Oftentimes they'll go down in brush where you can't get a clean neck or lung shot and you have to take what you can get. I've dispatched them with lung, neck, and head shots. If I have the shot, high in the neck works great because it's mostly spine. If you hit the spine, it's all over. Low in the neck can be a problem because there's a lot there that is NOT spine. It's muscle, windpipe, etc. Most likely you'll kill it but not immediately. From the side, between the eye and ear is good but don't expect to have much left for a taxidermist to work on.

A close up shot with a scoped rifle can be tricky for a couple reasons. For one, the scope sits higher than the barrel and you need to compensate. For another, most scopes don't focus that close and you can't see the animal clearly. I highly recommend trying a few 5 yd shots at paper to see what it'll do.

The best kill shot I know is one that I use when I butcher our goats - from the rear right at the back of the skull. I take out the top vertebra and the bullet continues on in to the brain. I've been able to use that shot on a couple game animals but you usually won't get the right angle.

Learned my lesson in this regard this year, and will henceforth carry more ammo! I figured 7-8 rounds is more than enough, and usually it is, but then sometimes stuff happens...
The 2 farm hand kids who came out to look and give me a hand asked if I didn't have a knife? Well hell yeah I had a knife, and with a bull elk its staying in its sheath until its time to start skinning. I've worked on cattle farms enough to know what I can and can't handle with a domestic animal, and I have no illusions about wrestling a bull elk.

I was always curious about this as well!!

Lungs

This^^^.

Ha, fer sure.