RIP Bullwinkle :( RCMP shot him!

M

mareshow

CGN Regular
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Location
Edmonton, AB
So I live on a highway, where the moose population is fantastic. Anyways I've been tracking this bull and others on my camera for a while now and when I saw he was back in the area I was all excited to go after him on saturday morning :) and thats where tragedy struck...

Here he is

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anyways so I see some commotion on the highway at about 11 PM friday night, so I go outside with the binoculars to have a peek... and thats where I hear the first barrage of SIX SHOTS followed about two to three minutes after by another THREE SHOTS on my beloved bullwinkle. Apparently someone hit him with their car, (car drove away so could have been that much damage) but the moose was in the meridian, so the cops shut the highway down both directions and one pulled out his handgun and shot him for a total of NINE TIMES!! I shot it with the range finder only to find out this was exactly 200 m away from my house. So I went out there to see if I could maybe help, and the cop says "no He's ours now" followed by "get off the highway" I felt like a rebuttal something along the lines of having better marksmanship (NINE SHOTS seriously!!!!) but I held my tongue, and now i'm out a bull :(
 
9 mm does not really be a moose cartridge. They did what they had to do. Most of us wouldn't be much better with a 9mm pistol in the dark on a big animal. I have been there and done that.

Darryl
 
madtrapper143 said:
9 mm does not really be a moose cartridge. They did what they had to do. Most of us wouldn't be much better with a 9mm pistol in the dark on a big animal. I have been there and done that.

Darryl
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I understand that, but they had their big flashlights on him and were shooting from like ten feet... You can't tell me it takes nine shots from ten feet? Three I can understand but nine?
 
No shotguns available? that's ridiculous. IMO any cruiser working in an area where animals could be struck by cars should have the proper equipment to dispatch the animal quickly and safety.
 
Unless the 9mm pill hits the brain it will not kill. The brain is the size of a fist. Most of that is covered in heavy hide and bone and antler base. I have no idea why a long arm was not used but sometimes the pistol is the only option in an emergent occurrence. It boils down to the constables judgement in these situations. It may have seemed more reasonable to shoot with the most readily available firearm before the animal got off the highway into the big dark spaces complicating the problem.
Darryl
 
bsand said:
Don't they carry shotguns too? Or what about their fancy new patrol carbines?
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crash277 said:
No shotguns available? that's ridiculous. IMO any cruiser working in an area where animals could be struck by cars should have the proper equipment to dispatch the animal quickly and safety.
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madtrapper143 said:
Unless the 9mm pill hits the brain it will not kill. The brain is the size of a fist. Most of that is covered in heavy hide and bone and antler base. I have no idea why a long arm was not used but sometimes the pistol is the only option in an emergent occurrence. It boils down to the constables judgement in these situations. It may have seemed more reasonable to shoot with the most readily available firearm before the animal got off the highway into the big dark spaces complicating the problem.
Darryl
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NL-Hunter said:
Wildlife in my area have shotgun with slugs aboard for these instances. Much better option in this case.
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That's what baffled me in this case, I believe the moose had a broken leg, so it wasnt going anywhere, but what added to the situation is exactly what you guys said, why not use a shot gun? Its a terrible situation for sure but I think what's annoying me about it is my area is a training ground for a lot of rookie RCs so it was probably just that and for them not to consult a senior officer on what to do is ridiculous.
 
mareshow said:
That's what baffled me in this case, I believe the moose had a broken leg, so it wasnt going anywhere, but what added to the situation is exactly what you guys said, why not use a shot gun? Its a terrible situation for sure but I think what's annoying me about it is my area is a training ground for a lot of rookie RCs so it was probably just that and for them not to consult a senior officer on what to do is ridiculous.
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They are not trained to do this and they shouldn't be doing it. DNR types should be called. Little more than animal cruelty to be pumping this critter full of 9mm.
 
fraserdw said:
They are not trained to do this and they shouldn't be doing it. DNR types should be called. Little more than animal cruelty to be pumping this critter full of 9mm.
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couldn't be difficult to have a simple training package for them. I don't see why they shouldn't be doing it, I just don't think it should be done the way the OP described.
 
To be clear when I said if a 9mm does not hit the brain it does not kill I was referring to the subject at hand, attempting to shoot a moose in the head with a 9mm. Not other unrelated circumstance. Here's the situation, moose was severely injured it's suffering had to be ended, coupled with the fact the moose is a huge danger on a highway at night. Constable made the decision to put the moose down and down it is. Suffering ended and nobody hurt. I call that an acceptable outcome to the matter. It is too bad about you losing all that good meat though.

Darryl
 
Not all Canadian Montese can shoot accurately just like not all hunters can shoot accurately
I bet you the RCMP members that shot the moose will be put in some Long overdue time in at the gun range
 
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Most non-hunters have no experience with kill shots. Most LEOs don't have a lot of "gunfighter" experience either. A 20 min animal vitals class couldn't hurt, although someone with more experience might have "delivered" such education to the member back at the shop. Many shooters believe a bullet is like death ray, any hit is a kill shot. Not so in practice.
 
fraserdw said:
They are not trained to do this and they shouldn't be doing it. DNR types should be called. Little more than animal cruelty to be pumping this critter full of 9mm.
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madtrapper143 said:
To be clear when I said if a 9mm does not hit the brain it does not kill I was referring to the subject at hand, attempting to shoot a moose in the head with a 9mm. Not other unrelated circumstance. Here's the situation, moose was severely injured it's suffering had to be ended, coupled with the fact the moose is a huge danger on a highway at night. Constable made the decision to put the moose down and down it is. Suffering ended and nobody hurt. I call that an acceptable outcome to the matter. It is too bad about you losing all that good meat though.

Darryl
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Thats my thing, I'm upset because he would have been a perfect meat moose, not with nine holes in him though.. I'm more upset because I didn't get him... That and I think its pretty unprofessional is all. Crying shame really. I bet you before the shooting most of the meat could have been salvageable.
 
9 rounds with a 9mm handgun for a full sized moose? That's damn good. You guys forget that the ammo used is for 2 legged problems, not 4. It's hollow point 9mm. With a small moose calf it takes 3 rounds in the same spot to kill it when going for the brain from the back of the head. With domestic animals you can do the old cross between the ears and eyes to find the weak spot ie the old bolt guns of slaughter houses. Not so with a moose. Their skulls are thick and a sub 1000 fps round isn't going to work too well. Plus when going for the boiler shot, shot placement because much harder as these rounds are designed to twist and cut a random path. Your perfect shot could end up creating the wound cavity in the exact opposite direction. The ear or eye would be the only real shot at getting the brain. As pointed out the brain is very small. These are not target pistols and it's unlikely to be an easy or safe shot.

The carbine also isn't loaded for hunting rounds. Also note that neither one of these is legal to hunt Moose with. There's a reason for this. Also that the rounds used aren't legal for hunting with. Again there is a reason for this.

There are circumstances where a shotgun might not be available. Or once again the correct slugs might not be available. Regular recoil slugs, not the low recoil for humans is horded as it's hard to get. 0 buck is also in the same boat. Most of the ammo i 00 buck which is pretty much useless against a moose. Again, it's not designed for that purpose.

I think the OP should lay off. 9 rounds with a 9mm, or even a carbine isn't bad at all. The idea is to humanely dispatch the animal. Instant would be preferably but even with the right equipment and a perfect shot, we've all seen some weird stuff. These animals are tough. Much tougher than most people give them credit for. With the OP saying only a broken leg. I've seen a Moose with a broken leg run away and only got stopped when it tried to jump a barb wired fence. It was far from stationary with a broken hind leg.

9 rounds, with a 9mm against a full sized Moose? The officer did just fine. Still better than waiting another 20 minutes or more for someone to drop off a shotgun with slugs (if they can find them).
 
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mareshow said:
Thats my thing, I'm upset because he would have been a perfect meat moose, not with nine holes in him though.. I'm more upset because I didn't get him... That and I think its pretty unprofessional is all. Crying shame really. I bet you before the shooting most of the meat could have been salvageable.
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.... It's reasonable to assume that Head Shots were used, and considering the Moose Brain is relatively small,and behind thick fur,skin and bone, and even with the most humane shot placement, can miss, and even with perfect shot placement, there is a period of "twitching" which could well prompt the inexperienced to believe the animal was still suffering,and given the fact that 9mm is not by any stretch of the imagine a hunting cartridge of choice, this would be a case of more ( and quickly) is better. ... As to being "salvageable" that's all fine and dandy in theory, but in practice, "challenging". There's transportation and hygienic Butchering, wrapping and packaging for distribution to the Food Banks. It can, and sometimes is done, but definitely not practical at the roadside, unless prior arrangements can and have been made, and authorization approved, and that includes distribution of the salvaged meat ( Public Liability is something that has to be considered ) ... And there's the Motoring Public's, borderline, hysterical abuse at the highway/road being blocked, and they have to suffer any delays! ..... David K :bangHead:
 
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