Kill Site ID

[Poser]

Came across this while scouting for bear.

-it’s highly unlikely this is a carcass dump site as it’s not close to an access point and not a spot you could easily ride a horse to.

-they are domestic sheep and there are grazing permits in the area, but the closest is about 2 miles away.

-no bones were scattered. Super concentrated and limited to a few square feet. It doesn’t appear that coyotes have touched the site.

-spooky vibe about the site. A feeling of being watched.

-didn’t see any scat (but I didn’t stick around long) and the ground was too dry and hard for tracks. I did catch a downwind whiff of a very strong musty smell similar to
Elk (thought I was smelling a herd of elk) just before noticing the carcasses.

-we don’t have grizzlies or wolves. We do have cats and black bears.

What’s going on here?

 

[Rob5589]

My guess is a few sheep bit the dust and were thrown there by the herders.

 

[Poser]

My guess is a few sheep bit the dust and were thrown there by the herders.

I’ve never seen a sheep herder leave his herd unattended nor have I ever seen one more than 30 yards from his horse. To get to this spot, a herder would have gone far out of his way and either ridden his horse down a 45 degree trail-less slope, or navigated a trail-less aspen grove for a half a mile. If he just wanted to get the carcasses away from his herd, I’m guessing anywhere in the treeline would be sufficient. The herds stay above 12,000 feet. This was over a 1,000 feet lower and 2 miles away. Makes no logistical sense.

 

[Xxtavixx]

Could you id the skulls or bones?

 

[Poser]

Could you id the skulls or bones?

It’s all domestic sheep.

 

[Ucsdryder]

No animal is going to carry them that far so the herd had to have been close to the dump spot at one time or another. I vote for herder dump sight. How many skulls were there?

 

[Texasbuckeye]

Sasquatch....

no seriously could be a lions dinner table. Could be a couple of sheep got separated and just wandered to their deaths right there too. Sheep being sheep they may have stayed together and when one died the other(s) just stayed there and eventually succumbed. Maybe a hard storm killed them all in the same timeframe?

 

[Poser]

No animal is going to carry them that far so the herd had to have been close to the dump spot at one time or another. I vote for herder dump sight. How many skulls were there?

I think they sometimes drive the sheep up a nearby trail, but I didn’t see any of the thousands of piles of sheep shit that I normally do when sheep have been on a trail. I also didn’t any sheep shit anywhere in the entire area. Now, you go up a couple of miles to the tundra and you can’t go 3 feet without seeing sheep shit.

Heads: someone commented on a FB group that they don’t see any skulls in the pics. I didn’t think about it at the time, but I don’t recall seeing any skulls. There is clearly a ear tag in one of the pics, though.

 

[Ucsdryder]

I think they sometimes drive the sheep up a nearby trail, but I didn’t see any of the thousands of piles of sheep shit that I normally do when sheep have been on a trail. I also didn’t any sheep shit anywhere in the entire area. Now, you go up a couple of miles to the tundra and you can’t go 3 feet without seeing sheep shit.

Heads: someone commented on a FB group that they don’t see any skulls in the pics. I didn’t think about it at the time, but I don’t recall seeing any skulls. There is clearly a ear tag in one of the pics, though.

why don’t you go in there one night without a headlamp and spend the night sitting next to a tree to see if anything shows up.

 

[Crowmangler]

Chupacabra

 

[Xxtavixx]

I think they sometimes drive the sheep up a nearby trail, but I didn’t see any of the thousands of piles of sheep shit that I normally do when sheep have been on a trail. I also didn’t any sheep shit anywhere in the entire area. Now, you go up a couple of miles to the tundra and you can’t go 3 feet without seeing sheep shit.

Heads: someone commented on a FB group that they don’t see any skulls in the pics. I didn’t think about it at the time, but I don’t recall seeing any skulls. There is clearly a ear tag in one of the pics, though.

thats what i was getting at, and if they were ALL sheep bones. No skulls, and all sheep bones = not an animal doing it.

 

[BRTreedogs]

Was Arnold around?
Cause the Predator was.
Or Bigfeet.
Or Satan Worshipers.

 

[Rob5589]

Chupacabra

Always a solid answer

 

[BRTreedogs]

 

[Poser]

thats what i was getting at, and if they were ALL sheep bones. No skulls, and all sheep bones = not an animal doing it.

Yeah, but why would a sheep herder decapitate several sheep and then dump them in an entirely inconvenient location? Makes no sense.

 

[BRTreedogs]

The skulls are there peeps

 

[Fatcamp]

Flood

 

[FLAK]

Bones dont look like they've been picked over, broken, chewed.
Just looks like a few died at the same time and place for some reason or somebody dumped them there. Would be more scattered if it was a predator.

 

[Poser]

Flood

Too high. Upper 3rd of a creek system at 11,000 feet. They would have been washed way down stream.

 

[Poser]

Bones dont look like they've been picked over, broken, chewed.
Just looks like a few died at the same time and place for some reason or somebody dumped them there. Would be more scattered if it was a predator.

A pile of dead sheep laid there rotting and not one predator ate them?