https://www.galescreekjournal....-in-tillamook-county


Link has photo of elk.



Hillsboro hunter killed by elk in Tillamook County

A Hillsboro man has died after an elk he wounded while bow hunting gored him to death Sunday morning.

By Chas Hundley - Gales Creek Journal
August 30, 2020 at 7:38pm



A Hillsboro man has died after an elk he wounded while bow hunting gored him to death.

According to the Oregon State Police, Mark David, 66, was hunting on private property in the area of Trask Road in Tillamook County on Saturday, August 29 when he wounded a 5x5 bull elk. The elk slipped away and could not be located before night fell.

Soliciting the help of the property owner, David attempted to locate the wounded elk on Sunday morning. Around 9:15 a.m., Mr. David located the elk and attempted to kill it once again with his bow, but the elk charged the hunter and gored him in the neck.

The landowner attempted to provide aid to David, but he succumbed to his injuries and died at the scene.

The elk was eventually killed and the meat was donated to the Tillamook County Jail after the investigation.

In addition to the Oregon State Police, the Tillamook County Sheriff's Office, Tillamook Fire and Rescue, and the Tillamook County Medical Examiner assisted at the scene.

Oh yeah, wounded elk WILL try to
get even.

I've seen that three times. Dad broke the back on a
bull and it drug it's spraddled legs making a
run at him for maybe 75 yards before he killed it.

I shot a cow elk up a hill 200 yards in knee
deep snow. Knocked her down and she slid halfway
down the hill. By then I'd started up there
knowing she wouldn't slide all the way. Soon as
she stopped she got up and took off. "WTH?"

I made a bad offhand shot and hit top of hips
and broke her spine. Landed feet up hill. When I
got about 10-15 feet from her head I slipped on a rock
and looked down to see where I was stepping.
I'd switched to a revolver once close so as not to blow things up in case she needed a finisher.

Sure thing, looking down I heard a noise
and looked to see she had her head up and was pawing
hard with both front legs trying to get
to me. Pulverized her head with a quick shot.

When I was a teen, my partner one evening knocked
a bull down and thought it was dead.
I was up a hill and saw it. He leaned his rifle
against a tree, took his coat off and got his
knife out, grabbed a horn and was going to start
cutting when the bull swung his head and hit
Frank on the thigh with a point. Ripped it wide
and deep. I finished the bull with a shot from
not too far off. Then we dug thru what we had
trying to find tape to close the wound.

8 miles from the ranch house on foot. Built him
a fire and I headed down for help. Rode horses
back and got him to the house then it was still
a 50 mile drive to Gunnison. Mighty long night
that one. Good thing he knew first aid.

George

A wounded turkey (that I was trying to wring it's neck) nearly kicked my ass. The issue was in doubt for awhile, but I outweighed it by about 200 pounds and prevailed.

I ~gut-shot a whitetail buck that maybe weighed 125 pounds. As I attempted to cut his throat and he jumped up and started flailing at me in tight cover. I managed to gut shot him again before he tore me up.

Moral of the story is; These critters are tough and not to be taken lightly. Any critter that weighs over 300 pounds can certainly kill you.

Recall Elmer Keith's incident where he wounded an elk with a .30-06 and swore it died trying to kill him. Wasn't this what gave Keith his irrational hatred of the .30-06?
I have worked as a volunteer sorting returning salmon at the fish hatchery on the Trask River in Tillamook County, so know the area.

I shot a gemsbok in Namibia that also tried to take me and the PH out. He laid in wait for us in some brush and made his move when we got close. My .30-06 has a fixed 6X scope and we were too close for it so the PH handed me his .44 magnum revolver and I finished the bull. No one shat their pants but it was sure close to that sort of thing.

Bullets and arrows are cheap compared to hospital bills let alone the "inconvenience" of getting torn up.

In Montana you are allowed to carry a handgun for protection whilst bow hunting. My final approach on all downed game with the gun at the ready.

IT'S ILLEGAL TO USE A GUN TO FINISH OFF GAME DURING BOW SEASON! Yea, it's also totally fucking shit brained stupid to put yourself in a situation where you will end up dead or worse. ( The most horrible word in English is "maimed".)

Let me add I've never had any real problems. However; a old friend, who is a better shot with a longbow than I'll ever be, shot a bear, it was dead, he had waited over half an hour and it died in his line of sight. That is, until he moved towards it. Being a purist he had an arrow nocked, no firearm. By the grace of God and thousands of hours of practice he hit it in the eye at under 5 yards, the nock end of the arrow actually put a nasty gash into his calf, yeah it died at his feet. He never did that again and made his final approach with his 44 from then on.

I also wait a good amount of time before approaching, and I will put another arrow into animal as soon as it is in range if possible REGARDLESS if the animal is "dead".(Anywhere, even gut shot, if that's all I've got visible.) Arrows are cheap, the last time I got sewn up, a rather minor construction accident, it was over $800 for only a couple of hours worth of medical specialist time. It was also painful and damned inconvenient for a couple of weeks!

I've had a couple of incidents where the animals did appear dead and "down for the count" but I "wasted" an arrow or bullet on them anyway, surprise! They got briefly energized after the impact, none got to its' feet, but, if I had been a couple of yards away it could have been fun...

Moose example. Should approach from behind. Be ready.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada...d-labrador-1.4346689

It ain't dead till it's dead.

But I've seen a few come back to life.

Who was the African PH that said "It's always the dead ones that kill you"

I saw few years back the 3rd week in November whitetail doe to my left in brush in Northern Idaho, I was on one knee scanning so grunted and then I heard just this nasty sound to my right...bam, light when up “ oh shit, buck, so I spun around and shot This charging big buck straight in chest from my knee at 30 feet, he jumped straight up and I shot him again in neck and it was over.
That buck came after me, being low to the ground in hawthorn bushes and I just got lucky he made that growling noise otherwise I’d be toast.
Must have just got out of the fight because he had nasty gash to the bone right on top of his nose
Kinda exciting and scary at the same time and I was couple miles from anything and nobody knew where I was.

Prefer not to use game calls in bush/thick timber for that reason. Call from a clearing. Less drama. More time to react to whatever emerges from the 360 treeline. Calling Moose and Elk have called in Grizzlies and Black Bears. And Wolves.

quote:

Who was the African PH that said "It's always the dead ones that kill you"

All of mine have repeated those very words. Peter Hathaway Capstick said this in his book entitled: "Safari": "Remember the old East African dictum from the boys who really knew that they were doing: 'It's the dead ones that get up and kill you.'" (taken from page 160)

Wow!! That's the same area I hunt elk hunt in.