shed hunting this week. . .

[eobowhntr]

went out lookin for some sheds on wednesday, come across a really strange find in a small draw. At the bottom of a draw, hanging from a tree, was a left hind quarter of a moo cow. It was the whole leg, with meat and skin still attached, it was hanging from the tree by wire that was wrapped around it. I thought that was really strange, so i started walking up the draw. About 30 yards up the draw, in another tree, was the other hind quarter of the cow, again attached by wire. They were hanging about 3 feet off the ground. My first thought was someone was trying to catch cougars or bobcats. I didnt find any traps or snares of anykind though. Does anyone have any ideas on what i might of come across? There is hardly any traffic in this area, because the road is impassible most of the year. Was wondering if anyone has heard of anything like this.

 

[treekiller]

eobow...That's really odd! I would've suspected some traps also. How long has the beef been hanging there? What county you in? Were you on public or private?

My hunting partner found where a cow elk had been on her hind legs and came down and wedged her front leg in the crotch of some Mahogany several feet in the air. It died right there! He found it in Grant County early this month while shed hunting.

Several weeks ago a friend and I were looking for Blacktail sheds in the Cascades southwest of Mt Hood. My partner found a spot in a very remote area where someone had wrapped fishing line(mono) around 3 or 4 trees at different levels. Almost like a small corral? Couldn't figure that one out either!

How's your shed hunting going? Good luck!

TK

 

[polarbear]

More than likely there were traps set, you just did'nt see em. A good trapper can hide them to where you would have to step on them to find em. Did you walk right up to the hanging meat or look at it from a distance?

Eric

 

[eobowhntr]

i was in northeast oregon, in morrow county. It was public property, but the closest road to where i found it was prolly a mile away, and is rarely used. It was hard to tell how long the meat had been there, it looked only about 3 or 4 weeks old, but it hasnt been above freezing for a while, so the cold could of preserved it, it did stink though. I walked right up to both legs, walked under them, around them, kicked bushes around them trying to find a trap. I thought maybe the trapper got a cat, and just forgot to take the meat down from the tree?

 

[YH]

I have found this before and I don't think it is traps, it is someone shooting a cow and butchering it and then coming back for it later. Easy way to get free beef. They ran an article on this in our paper before, actually quite common for cheap bastards to steal from a rancher.

 

[eobowhntr]

hmm ive never heard of that before, but it kinda makes sense. I think i would of found a ribcage or something. But i dont think that was it, because there is never cattle ranging around there. There isnt any cattle for 10 miles, but ya never know.

 

[basinboy]

This is not so strange, if your in the cattle buisness. Think of the great lanks peaple will go to poaching deer. Those to hind quarters represent a months groceries to some hardworking stockman who probly missed that cow gathering last fall.It probly wandered around till some low-life saw a chance and killed that cow and was to lazy to pack out the rest of the meat. Unlikely a trapper to hind quarters are exspensive bait. Karl