Bull Elk while fishing

[Buck Hunter Vic]

This came from a friend I do not know the location of White mountains, probably Pacific northwest somewhere. (perhaps MT or ID). An amazing series of photos-- And a good move by the warden at the end.... chas..
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I got a call today from a good friend Jeff. He is a flying / hunting buddy and he also happens to enjoy fly fishing with his wife Mimi. This weekend he and his wife decided to head up to the White Mountains for a little trout fishing. As the day wore on Mimi got cold floating around in her fishing tube and decided to head out to the truck to warm up a bit. When she was leaving the lake the brush behind Jeff started crashing and creaking with the sounds of an animal coming to water in the afternoon. To Jeff's surprise less than a hundred yards away a bull elk appeared and walked out into the water to cool off and drink. The bull had a nice rack but appeared emaciated. The farther the bull went in to the water the closer he got to Jeff in his tube. The bull would stick his head under water and surface again and didn't seem to mind Jeff's presence. Odd behavior for this time of year for sure! Jeff was enjoying this site and relishing the moment, until one of the bull's dunks seemed to take too long. Curious, Jeff paddled over to the bull which had now been submerged for a very long time. He could see the bull's head and his eyes were open, but he was not moving. Jeff got close enough to hit it on the back several times with his fly rod. Convinced that something had gone wrong Jeff grabbed the bull by the horns (no pun intended) and sure enough, the bull had drowned!
Amazed at the whole ordeal Jeff grabbed an antler and paddled for the shore. After pulling the bull on to the shore Jeff called the game and fish and waited for an officer to arrive. It turns out the bull had an old compound fracture between the right ankle and knee. Infection had set in and was rampant throughout t he bull's body. The game officer said that under these conditions the animal runs a high fever and stays close to water all day to go in and cool off. Unfortunately during this 'cooling session' he had finally run out of energy to swim and drowned. Jeff was allowed to keep the rack and was issued a tag for it. The meat however was full of bacteria and was a loss.
Although the bull has yet to be measured yet I estimate it will be in the 320 - 330 range... just goes to show those big magnums are not always necessary!

Hope everyone else's season is going well!
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[jindydiver]

Big shame he couldn't recover the meat

 

[dw33]

Just curious, how could they tell on the spot that the meat was full of bacteria? Don't know if the injury would produce that result. Be interested in the answer. Any veterinarians in the house?

 

[Buck Hunter Vic]

My guess is maybe on how sickly he looked, he's really thin, you can see his rib cage.

 

[jls456]

You can see he was sick just by looking at his body. Dont need a vet to tell you that. What a loss.

 

[Glass eye]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (dw33 @ Nov 25 2008, 03:28 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

Just curious, how could they tell on the spot that the meat was full of bacteria? Don't know if the injury would produce that result. Be interested in the answer. Any veterinarians in the house?[/b]

I had a desert muley buck (D12) brought to my shop for a lifesize mount for our local museum.
It was found alive laying near a drinker. When the quail hunters approached it, it died before their eyes.
It was a couple of weeks after the close of deer season and it was missing one hoof from its front leg. Apparently it had been shot off. The wound was full of pebbles, maggots, and was swollen. I skinned it out and the meat was a pale color, almost yellow, and stunk. It wasn't a rotten smell but a sick smell. When I raised exotic pheasants and one would get sick and died, I would mount it if it was in good plumage. When skinning one of those sick birds, they always had that same smell, just as that deer did.

 

[Glass eye]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (slyone2no @ Nov 25 2008, 02:19 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

This came from a friend I do not know the location of White mountains, probably Pacific northwest somewhere. (perhaps MT or ID).[b[/b]

I know of the White Mountains in AZ.

 

[bodega]

CWD could explain it's emaciated condition.

 

[DEERSLAM]

That is a heck of a fish tail...wow, once in a lifetime experience. Things like this make getting outdoors so special. You just never know what you may see.

 

[bpnclark]

Suicidal bulls. Don’t eat them.