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  1. #1
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    Default What happened here?

    Early this morning I stalked a herd of blue wildebeest and, after waiting for it to present a clear shot, killed a young bull with a low shoulder shot from 130 meters. The herd then ran around me in a semi circle a and stopped. Another young bull was facing towards me at an angle, at what I estimated to be 200m and slightly lower than me. This is a risky shot at wildebeest, I was shooting off shooting sticks from the standing position, but I felt steady and took the shot, aiming at the spot where the neck meets the shoulder. As there was a low bush between me and the wildebeest, I aimed a little higher than I normally would have.

    At the shot the young bull bucked and took of with the herd. The herd stopped again but due to scattered bushes and sweet thorn trees I could only see two animals, both cows. The herd stood there for a minute or two before they moved off, walking slowly. Just before the herd started moving I heard drawn out bellow. It is not unusual for wildebeest to bellow when hit by a bullet and it is also not unusual to hear this sound just before a wildebeest expires. I went through my normal routine, making a gps waypoint at the spot I shot from and mentally marking the spots where the wildebeest had been standing when they were shot.

    The first bull had dropped in his tracks, so I walked to where the second one had been standing. I found no blood but I found the tracks where he had jumped away. His tracks immediately got mixed up with others, Following the tracks of the herd was easy due to the wet soil and I knew where they were leading anyway. Still, I walked slowly looking for blood. I found the wildebeest before I found blood. He was lying on his side, quite dead and with a fair bit of lung blood in the immediate vicinity. According to my gps he had run 101 meters, not unusual for a wildebeest.

    All good, a successful hunt, two wildebeest for two shots and an easy tracking job. Until I turned him over to check my shot placement. The bullet hole was where I had aimed but it certainly didn't look like a normal entry wound. The photos below explain better than I can with words. So, what happened here?

    I was shooting a .300WM with 180gr Hornady GMX bullets.




  2. #2
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    Default Re: What happened here?

    You hit something on the way to the Beest.

  3. #3
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    Default Re: What happened here?

    A close up of the wound. Two holes separated by a strip of skin.


  4. #4
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    Default Re: What happened here?

    I'd wager the bush had a twig that was not visible to you... and I'm REALLY curious to see what you dig out of the bull.

  5. #5
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    Default Re: What happened here?

    Quote Originally Posted by Pirate View Post
    I'd wager the bush had a twig that was not visible to you... and I'm REALLY curious to see what you dig out of the bull.
    I am with Pirate on this one

    The hole on the left looks like the bullet wound and the one on the right caused by a twig - it should not be a deep wound

    Waiting on the outcome

  6. #6
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    Default Re: What happened here?

    I highly doubt that a twig would travel fast enough to do that kind of damage, but I'm to be corrected. To me it kind of looks like jacket separation, and I would have gone with that, had you not mentioned you're sending GMX bullets. Interesting indeed.

  7. #7
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    Default Re: What happened here?

    To the right of the double entry wounds there is a smudge of some kind with blood on it. Is it linked to the wounds?

    The autopsy report will have the final say.

  8. #8
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    Default Re: What happened here?

    Very interesting - not only the 2 wounds, but how you got to go hunting 2 blue wildebeest on a Tuesday morning whilst the rest of us are slogging away at work?

  9. #9
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    Default Re: What happened here?

    I think I know what happened and none of you are on the right track. Then again you don't have all the information. So here is what I know:

    The bullet. The bullet penetrated into the paunch. As the animal was gutted in the veld the bullet was not recovered. I was sufficiently interested to drive 5 kilometers and walk another 1/2 km to go look at the stomach content. Despite a lot of effort and the help of several dung beetles and half a million flies, I could not find the bullet.

    The wound:

    Have a look at the two photos below. The one shows the bullet entry into the chest cavity, the other the bullet hole in the left lung. The bullet entered high in the lung and penetrated the lung lengthwise on a downward angle. This is what killed the beest, the chest cavity was full of clotted blood. The bullet holes measure ±14mm.





    Starting in the chest cavity I probed the hole first with my finger and the a piece of wire. Note where the wire enters and exits in the pictures below.





    The bullet entry, where the wire protrudes from the skin, is caliber sized and then increases to 14mm at the point where it enters the chest cavity. The rest of the two big holes is only skin deep, with the meat bruised and bloody.

  10. #10
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    Default Re: What happened here?

    I'm reasonably certain the bullet did not hit anything between me and the wildebeest. The only bush between me and the wildebeest, the one I was worried about and which was 30 meters from the wildebeest does not show a sign of being hit. Even if it was, if the bullet started tumbling I can not see that it would not deviate from its course. And why would it cause two entry holes, certainly a monolithic bullet won't break up? I do not believe that a twig, even a finger thick twig can cause a wound like that after travelling 30 meters.

    I think the bullet behaved perfectly.

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