Trophy Shots (con't)

Incredible that scratch did him in, must have had a sagging heart or artery...or was about to die of something anyway. How many inches lower than expected do you figure? (You have shot that a 400 yds at RH, correct?).

Bill replies:

     I was gonna save this discussion for a STORIES, but...
     I don't know what killed him.  But I don't think that it was the bullet that made that exit.  It doesn't show in any pic, but a bullet went through the front of a foreleg muscle just below where the leg leaves the body bag (and has its own skin).
     I didn't spend forever looking for holes and damage, and I didn't think to compare hair color on-site.
     Thinking now, after the fact: The clipped hair on the ground by his hoof marks (I took a close-up of the larger clump; there's another at 7:30 from it, beyond a little white rock) is fairly long and with no hint of brown.  The brisket and foreleg are brown.  I think that the leg and brisket holes were made by my second, quartering-toward, shot, and that the first shot hit him in the barrel somewhere, just right, and that I just didn't notice it during dismemberment.

 

 

 

 

    

I got into some of the chest the next day, purposely.  I stripped between ribs for the meat and then bent one of them, like in a jailbreak, and fumbled around for the heart.  It was unhit.  And on that one side of lung I found no hole, only clotted blood in its lower part.
     I don't know that there's anything vital along the brisket.  Don't the arteries go the spine route?
     So, I don't really know what killed him.  But it did it very quickly, making me a happy shooter.
     If I had it to do over again (and I'd like to have the opportunity!), I would have aimed a bit higher, at or, better, just over, the backline.  That would have given me more margin of error low, with no chance, still, for an overshoot.

     Having a big target to aim at is nice; much different than a small target that needs lots of holdover somewhere in the ether, with all sorts of measuring guesswork involved.  I went in thinking 24" back to brisket, have since learned that, on a mature bull, it's more like 26-28.
     More shooting at the ranch sounds like fun!

     Some of you are anxious for numbers, so here are the nuts & bolts for the nuts & dolts-

 

 

 

 

 

 

According to our measurements taken at Craig's house,
Gross gross- 340 4/8
B&C Gross- 333 7/8
Net- 309 6/8

(B&C min- 375)


Longest beam- 51;5
Longest sword- 18;3
Inside width- 42;3
Outside width- 46

Below is a diagram, with lengths rounded-

 

It's a 7x8, including two abnormal points (one off the left sword, and the middle crown point).
11 of the points are broken enough to lose length.  I haven't yet 'rebuilt' them for measuring, but someone who was good at scoring by sight figured I'd lost about a foot's worth.

I have more skull cap on than usual, but what you see weighs 25 pounds.

Paul asked: Any idea of the age of the bull? 

     No.  Didn't look at the teeth; not really qualified to judge, anyway.  No spring chicken, but no old-timer, either.  He'd be a nice bull in a year or two (giggle).

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