Someone tell me......

[FinsnFur]

.......that this is not a 22 caliber bullet.




I found it lodged in the neck of a bow killed Whitetail Cape tonight. I take that back, my 60 dollar fleshing machine blade found it. 

There was no entry hole, which means it came in elswhere and bounced around. Never broke the skin either, but she was seated in a good 3/16 of an inch. And I'm telling ya it ripped the whole ball of wax right outta my hands when the fleshing wheel grabbed er.

[THO Game Calls]

Do you think the 22 round killed the deer?  Or that someone somewhere tried to poach it and failed? 

Did it tear up your blade?  That stinks. 

Al
THO Game Calls
www.thogamecalls.com

[Hawks Feather]

Blades and metal don't mix very well.  Hopefully your blade is O.K. or at least can be fixed.

Jerry

[Jrbhunter]

I wish I had a dollar for every illegal deer round I've found in the necks of the deer we get in the taxidermy shop.   I've seen everything from broadheads to 30 cal bullets healed over.  Some nasty and infected, others seem to have just healed right up.

We found a field tip in the forhead of one deer, outside the skull but under the skin.   Another had a broadhead lodged behind the ear, killed by the SAME HUNTER with a 12 gauge once firearm season came in.

We'll see a dozen deer a year that are sporting 1-2-3 inches of antler broken off in their necks from fights.   Others have had their ears clipped off by mowing conditioners as fawns or torn in fights as adults.   Some have blood bruises down the entire side of their bodies where they met with someone's car and managed to survive long enough to be shot.  Occasionally we'll see one that lost his nuts while jumping a fence, of course leaving him hormonally imbalanced with horns growing all year long as a result.

Working in a taxidermy shop will certainly teach you a couple things. 

One:   Just how much CRAP a whitetail has to put up with. 
Two:  Just how much they can TAKE!

[Jrbhunter]

PS: Jim, you ever hit a frozen spot in a hide with that wheel?  I now refuse to flesh something that has been frozen and left to thaw... they sometimes thaw unevenly and when you find one of those stiff spots it will ruin your day and sometimes the cape! 

[FinsnFur]

I don't think the bullet killed the deer initailly. There's a real distinct triangle hole from a broad head in the lower neck / chest area.
I think someone either tried to poach it and failed, or a gun was maybe used to finish it off. But I looked everywhere for another hole that would be an entry for it and there's nothing. It had to be either be farther down the body, which wasn't part of the cape or they shot it on the mouth 

Naa the blades junk now 

[FinsnFur]

  I can honestly say no Jason.
I HAVE seen them...and I wont wheell those spots without pre treating them with some ultra soft for an hour or two.

I've seen what happens though 

[Jrbhunter]

The last time I fleshed I hit a spot like that, you know the sound... GRRRRRRRRR.... my brother (Shop owner) yells from the other room. 

"What was that!".


I said, "That was the sound of me selling one of your extra capes."     

[studabaka]

Geeeez...... maybe you need to get a metal detector to pass over hides. Kinda what saw mills do to find nails before their blades.

[FinsnFur]

LMAO! Jason  :roflmao:

Hey Stu...that's not a bad idea. Have these guys pass through a security hoop like at the airport when they pull in. 

[studabaka]

Ha.... a security hoop might be a bit pricey, but you can get one of those 'find treasure in the sand' type detectors new or used for not to much coin. Probably breakeven in a blade or two.

[ROOSTER]

Hey Jim. I have a hand held detector you Can have if you want it. Same kind they use a security checks. PM me your address and I'll send it to you.

[FinsnFur]

     naaaaa, I appreciate it though Bruce.  I think that'd be kinda overkill and Stu and I were being sarcastic. 

[studabaka]

  I was? Well I sure know you was and I guess maybe I was a little though it's inversely proportional to the number of blades you trash. My round knife is still 'in the mail' so I'm nothing but a forum expert here  So far my exposure to this sort of thing is an otter and a few beaver with some shot in them, but I didn't find it till I started fleshing 

[FinsnFur]

My biggest gripe is ...even a guy that has never fleshed an animal in his life would think that a bullet should be pretty easily discovered by doing so....right?

This particular cape came prefleshed from a taxidermist...one of many in fact from the same outfit. My agreement with a lot of these guys is that I thin them down. Shave them basically.

talking to this particular taxidermist here...tell me again sir how it is you readily flesh your hides before sending them in. 

Stu...quit laughin