What happened to this elk?

[Felton]

I've seen ravens do this trying to get into the cavity. On goats and sheep they seem to prefer to target the eyes first then the body.

But also look under those clumps of hair to see if the hide had warble fly hatch under the skin...also common.

Ravens was my first thought but we didn’t run any off when we got there nor do I remember any showing up as we were cutting him up. The eyes were untouched. I haven’t completely ruled them out though.

I hadn’t thought about type of fly, I think they would have had to hatch after he died and before we found him. (~2 hours)

Thanks for your insight.

 

[Felton]

he looks like a healthy specimen so I would agree it was most likely a cat getting started on him. Could it be possible this was from a fended off attack that happened before you took him? That would have dislodged a lot of hair, and stress would have kept it loose?? very interesting

The hair was not attached in any way on top of him, so I don’t think anything could have caused it before his final resting place. He crashed a couple times really hard before he reached this spot.

 

[Felton]

Great shot

Thank you, I was actually quite concerned about the shot only bc we were doing a grid for another guys elk from the night before when this guy torched off from us breaking branches inadvertently.

My brother only called 3 times. I saw him coming through the trees. I drew as he came into my shooting lane. He was gettin it, and quarter to me until he had to round a blown down tree and at that time he turned just enough to become broadside. I had held my bottom double pin (40 yards) on his heart and let her fly. I knew he was closer than 40 and would get a good double lung. I had a nice follow through which kept it from being too far back.

 

[lastsamurai00]

birds or a cat kill probably

 

[Larry Bartlett]

Yeah warble flies are an early summer harassment that sticks with the animal for a few months, then the larvae embedded under the skin eventually wriggle and eat their way out and carry on their life cycle. They leave behind scars and sometimes hair slippage, and when you peel the hide off the carcass there are commonly little red/brown scars where the larvae were embedded. Your pic looks like bird activity not fly damage.

Cats and bears often start with the rectum of a fresh dead find, in my experience. They often treat personal kills differently.

 

[lyingflatlander]

More of a question than anything to anyone reading this, wouldn’t a raven, crow or magpie go for the eyes first? That’s just been my experience.

 

[MallardSX2]

I was thinking bear or cat.

 

[bradyhunt]

Any chance another bull tried to fight him after he was down?

 

[Idaboy]

The hair looks gray/discolored on the rear of hind end, or was that just a bunch of mud he wallowed in? Otherwise it's hard to explain that discoloration.....maybe send photo to the biologist for that unit/region you were in

 

[tkhuntsman]

My guess is one of 3 things, ravens, maybe a lion, or another bull found him and worked him over a little. I've seen all 3.