Elk Hunter Gored to Death by Wounded Bull

Mark David, who was archery hunting on private ground in northwest Oregon, arrowed a bull on Saturday evening. He was unable to recover the elk that night but returned with the landowner the following morning to continue the search. When the duo located the bull around 9:15 a.m., David tried to make a follow up shot on the still-living elk. Instead, the 5×5 bull charged David and gored him in the neck with its antlers.

“The landowner attempted to help David, but he sustained fatal injuries and died,” Oregon State Police said.

The elk got away at the time but was later located and killed. Its meat was donated to the Tillamook County Jail, which houses about 40 inmates.

This story has a lot of parallels to a death we covered in Arkansas last year when a 66-year-old hunter was impaled by a whitetail he shot. It goes to show you that you can never be too safe around wounded, rutting, adrenaline-filled critters—especially 700-pound ones with giant weapons on their head.

Feature image via Oregon State Police.