MY TRIBUTE TO THE MAN

[45MAN]

EXCELLENT!

[sixshot]

Just took the elk down to the butcher & he found the bullet. It did better than I thought, especially for the distance, it was just under the hide on the off side. So it centered the lung on my side, clipped the off side lung & was up against the hide on the off side, I'll take that. Bullet weighed 141 grs & there are 4 petals on these bullets.
I'll bet Tyrone is the only one that spotted the hawk. He does this for a living.




Dick

[seminolewind]

Another classic post by Mr. Thompson and a fitting tribute to Mark Hampton. It’s amazing to me that Mark is still teaching us lessons about handgun hunting even though he is no longer with us.

[bigbrowndog]

Congrats on your kill, and your tribute buddy.

Trapr

[kings6]

Way to go Dick! Mark is up there just a grinning and clapping!

[bushog]

Great job Dick! Thanks for sharing the memories…..

[junebug]

Well done Dick! Well written and from the heart.

[iwsbull]

Awesome way to honor him, congrats on your success. I will admit I am a jealous on all counts , your ability with a handgun, the game you get to hunt and the people you have met and hunted with over the years.

[contender]

I was telling Miss penny today about your quest of taking a caw elk as a tribute to Mark. I told her I wouldn't be surprised to hear you had done it. Nope,, I wasn't surprised. And to add to it all,,, the distance,, and the performance by both you and the bullets Mark gave you speaks volumes.
By all the pictures I've seen of Mark,, I can just imagine that the same smile I've seen in those pictures is grinning at you.

I offer my "virtual handshake" and a smile myself. I know you are happy & felt Mark's presence with you.

Kudos my friend.

Oh,, yes,, I'm sure I would have seen the hawk!

[bradshaw]

Dock.... beautiful lung shot in tribute to your friend, Mark Hampton. She bled in, not out, which is just as dead. Sounds like she had one lung to breathe from, for a while, until oxygen debt slipped her onto final sleep. Heart beating, the muscles bled into the chest cavity, giving you clean venison. The poem ends at the dinner table, a second sweet tribute to Hampton’s friendship and your marksmanship.
David Bradshaw

[bisleyfan41]

Congratulations! It simply couldn't get any better than that. You have some pretty good chops as a handgun hunter too, Dick.

There was never a doubt in my mind that this is how this adventure would end. Well done!

[northerngos]

Love it! Glad it worked out so seamlessly! And you still have the whole season ahead!

[KRal]

Awesome tribute to the man! I knew it wouldn’t take you long, Dick - congrats!

[sixshot]

Kim, so far I have 3 of your amazing knives, two of them went to two of my son's & the third one just went to Larry for giving me one of the 3 depredation tags he had for elk damage to his crops! So I'm going to need another one but no rush, tomorrow is fine Kidding!
David, as usual you were spot on, I'm still "Dock" and your autopsy was spot on as if you were standing beside me. When I shot her & she made the short run, about 15 yds I'm guessing & then stopped & dropped her head I knew it was a pretty good hit but she just stood dead still. And she stood & stood & if I would have started shooting again it would have been a very difficult shot, it was almost dark now & spooking her into the heavy cover could have been bad.
Also when Larry hoisted her up with the fork lift and I started to open her up the blood gushed out like a geyser. The whole diaphragm was a tub full of blood. Like you mentioned, what allowed her to stand was the one lung was almost totally untouched, I barely nicked it, so she had some air flow for a few minutes, it wouldn't have been good to spook her so I just waited her out while I texted my son, Larry & Glenn Swaggart, then she finally tipped over. I'm going to put up some better photo's of the bullet, I had some blood on my camera.

Dick

[sixshot]

Here's a couple of better photo's of the bullet after I got the blood off of my cell phone. Also here's a couple of photo's of a special knife given to me by Fermin Garza, Glen Swaggart, Mike Barranti & Jeff Hoover. Four very special friends, and Fermin pinned me down with the nickname "The Meat Hammer" a long time ago. I had to clean it up a bit but you can make out the engraving if you look close.




Dick