CO 6x6 deadhead - when/how do you think it died?

[NRA4LIFE]

I wish it was legal to pick them up here in WA, I've found a couple dandys. Presumably dead from old age. Nice find though.

 

[Beendare]

Looking at the photos, it was a first year bowhunter shooting a Mathews from Washington state that gut shot and lost it. He had a size 9 boot. The arrow is on the next slope over to the west if you look. The bull only made it 1/2 mile into thicker cover and slightly up hill, but it was enough not to be found.

Or it could have been something different.....grin

 

[Ucsdryder]

Looking at the photos, it was a first year bowhunter shooting a Mathews from Washington state that gut shot and lost it. He had a size 9 boot. The arrow is on the next slope over to the west if you look. The bull only made it 1/2 mile into thicker cover and slightly up hill, but it was enough not to be found.

Or it could have been something different.....grin

When in doubt always assume it’s a Texan.

 

[HairyScandinavian]

When in doubt always assume it’s a Texan.

That's what I do, and I'm from Texas.

 

[Hoggetter]

Dang nice find,
Probably from a .223 rifle guy sporting a man bun

 

[Weldor]

Not being a SA, what's legality of taking a dead head off usfs land? I talked to 2 different rangers and got 2 different answers. Same with GF officers.

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

State regs usually determine what you can and can't do with game animals and they're remains.

 

[TaperPin]

I found this nice 6x6 deadhead last week in southern CO around 8,100ft. The carcass was relatively intact (i.e., head still attached to spinal cord). How and when do you think it died? A few factors I've considered:

How:
- no arrow or noticeable trace of a gunshot wound
- if it were a lion, wouldn't part of the carcass be buried? (I found front leg bones and pelvic bone ~15yds away)
- no wolves in the area (per CPW tracking)
- bull seems young to be winterkill (especially for a very mild winter)
When:
- antlers have minimal bleaching & no chew marks from rodents, but carcass was located under a thick stand of ponderosa & spruce
- very low snowfall this winter in the area, so likely wouldn't have normal preservation effect
- the condition of the skeleton makes me skeptical of an early autumn death

My guess: wounded in November by hunter and died here; although I like to think it was a lion in the winter

Thanks for any input!

That’s cool! I used to usually assume anything not on winter range to be hunting related, but one year firefighting a guy found a 6x6 with the remains of a mountain lion under it. The cat grabbed onto the neck and never let go and I guess the weight of the elk on it made the cat black out. Then the only mountain lion I’ve seen in the wild during the summer was done feeding on an elk and had piled dirt on what was left. In some places, big cats must take more elk than people give them credit for.

 

[TradLife406]

Probably shot with a 6.5 creedmoor

 

[awbowhunter]

Only way to really figure out what happened is to call Joe Pickett.

 

[WaWox]

Probably shot with a 6.5 creedmoor

My guess 300 RUM -- the shot was a miss but the whallop caused a shock wave around the bullet trajectory that caused the elk to have its brain scrambled and die