Barnes_270
Regular
- Location
- Langley, BC
So, an interesting set of circumstances combined to allow me to legally harvest a big game animal (well, sort of) in the GVRD yesterday. Yep - within city limits, and despite the firearms discharge ban.
A few weeks ago, friends of ours who are cattle ranchers had two young bulls escape while they were being moved. The one actually broke through a fence at a run and the second followed. Despite the effort of two experienced ranch hands they got away - and the one - the fence breaker - roughed up the one guy in the process.
A few days later, a neighbour got pics of the rowdy one on his security cam. The more docile one is still on an unfenced portion of the ranch, but Mr. Trouble was across the road and hanging out in a wooded area that backs on to hundreds of acres of trees and scrub brush.
There was talk early on of having me out to deal with him shortly after, but things stabilized and my friend decided that it would be best to wait until the bull was 60 days past his last round of shots, so the meat would be clear. So, we were waiting to see if we could pattern him - and the sixty day limit passed a few days back.
Well, last night, just before dark, Mr. Trouble decided to come out of his woods to feed on the side of a major road / highway where he caused quite the stir. Multiple calls to 911, and Animal Control was dispatched. My friend had previously informed them about the bull, so they came to her ranch to get her involved. They arrive on scene and the bull wanders off into the woods a bit. She asks the Animal Control officer if she can have the bull shot, and the officer (a young woman of no more than 21) calls in to the RCMP for permission. Yes, green light. My friend calls me, and I'm out the door with the rifle 5 minutes later.
I arrive 20 minutes later and light is going fast. The bull is about 80 yards in off of the highway. I uncase the rifle and start loading rounds, talking with them to outline the plan together. I need to walk in at a certain angle to be sure the shot has the correct back stop. Cars are whizzing by, and I'm loading up in plain view. I wonder what people thought, since the bull was not visible to them.
I start the walk in, and the bull is watching me. I'm having a hard time finding a clear lane for a shot with all the scrub brush and branches everywhere. Then I get a break - I'm worried that he'll run off, but he gets ticked and starts coming at me. He false charges me for about 20 yards, then stops just behind a bush, just at the edge of a small clearing. He's about 60 yards away, quartering towards me at about a 45 degree angle. I decide it's not going to get any better, so I level off. Through the scope I decide that the branches covering him are sparse enough and close enough to him that I can shoot through - even a deflection will only be about 2 feet, max, from his body. I hold just behind his front left shoulder, with the line of the shot to exit through the ribs on the off side. He goes down at the shot, and I see hide and hooves flip in the scope. Now that he's down I can't see him clearly - fully black bull in failing light - but I can see him low to the ground and still moving a bit. I decide he's well hit and wait. One of the ranch hands comes in behind me and I get him to wait with me. 5 minutes later we walk up - he's dragged himself about 30 yards in. He raises his head as we approach, so I apply the coup de grace to end it sooner.
By now it's too dark for anything else, so we make plans to come back in the morning to deal with it. So, I took the day off work and we spent the morning gutting and quartering. The meat is now hanging, and I still can't believe I got to do this within the GVRD, and with official approval.
Bull #2 is still out there, so maybe I'll get a second round. Haven't even been out hunting yet this fall, and I've got a few hundred pounds of meat hanging in the cooler. Truth is stranger than fiction. Rifle was the Husky in .366 Wagner, with 250 gr TTSX over 56 grains of H4895. Worked like a charm. Shot hit him exactly at my point of aim - I was surprised - and took out one lung. Did the gutless method on him, which the ranch hands thought was interesting.
I told my friend she could start a sideline business on the ranch if she keeps having cows "escape".
A few weeks ago, friends of ours who are cattle ranchers had two young bulls escape while they were being moved. The one actually broke through a fence at a run and the second followed. Despite the effort of two experienced ranch hands they got away - and the one - the fence breaker - roughed up the one guy in the process.
A few days later, a neighbour got pics of the rowdy one on his security cam. The more docile one is still on an unfenced portion of the ranch, but Mr. Trouble was across the road and hanging out in a wooded area that backs on to hundreds of acres of trees and scrub brush.
There was talk early on of having me out to deal with him shortly after, but things stabilized and my friend decided that it would be best to wait until the bull was 60 days past his last round of shots, so the meat would be clear. So, we were waiting to see if we could pattern him - and the sixty day limit passed a few days back.
Well, last night, just before dark, Mr. Trouble decided to come out of his woods to feed on the side of a major road / highway where he caused quite the stir. Multiple calls to 911, and Animal Control was dispatched. My friend had previously informed them about the bull, so they came to her ranch to get her involved. They arrive on scene and the bull wanders off into the woods a bit. She asks the Animal Control officer if she can have the bull shot, and the officer (a young woman of no more than 21) calls in to the RCMP for permission. Yes, green light. My friend calls me, and I'm out the door with the rifle 5 minutes later.
I arrive 20 minutes later and light is going fast. The bull is about 80 yards in off of the highway. I uncase the rifle and start loading rounds, talking with them to outline the plan together. I need to walk in at a certain angle to be sure the shot has the correct back stop. Cars are whizzing by, and I'm loading up in plain view. I wonder what people thought, since the bull was not visible to them.
I start the walk in, and the bull is watching me. I'm having a hard time finding a clear lane for a shot with all the scrub brush and branches everywhere. Then I get a break - I'm worried that he'll run off, but he gets ticked and starts coming at me. He false charges me for about 20 yards, then stops just behind a bush, just at the edge of a small clearing. He's about 60 yards away, quartering towards me at about a 45 degree angle. I decide it's not going to get any better, so I level off. Through the scope I decide that the branches covering him are sparse enough and close enough to him that I can shoot through - even a deflection will only be about 2 feet, max, from his body. I hold just behind his front left shoulder, with the line of the shot to exit through the ribs on the off side. He goes down at the shot, and I see hide and hooves flip in the scope. Now that he's down I can't see him clearly - fully black bull in failing light - but I can see him low to the ground and still moving a bit. I decide he's well hit and wait. One of the ranch hands comes in behind me and I get him to wait with me. 5 minutes later we walk up - he's dragged himself about 30 yards in. He raises his head as we approach, so I apply the coup de grace to end it sooner.
By now it's too dark for anything else, so we make plans to come back in the morning to deal with it. So, I took the day off work and we spent the morning gutting and quartering. The meat is now hanging, and I still can't believe I got to do this within the GVRD, and with official approval.
Bull #2 is still out there, so maybe I'll get a second round. Haven't even been out hunting yet this fall, and I've got a few hundred pounds of meat hanging in the cooler. Truth is stranger than fiction. Rifle was the Husky in .366 Wagner, with 250 gr TTSX over 56 grains of H4895. Worked like a charm. Shot hit him exactly at my point of aim - I was surprised - and took out one lung. Did the gutless method on him, which the ranch hands thought was interesting.
I told my friend she could start a sideline business on the ranch if she keeps having cows "escape".
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