My goodness. It's kind of amazing that a thread like this from 2012 could be revived in 2018 and still be so spot on. First of all I'm glad your pup seems to be making a recovery. Second I'd be interested to hear if anyone has had any additional "charging antelope" stories in the last 6 years! If you do not mind, can you share what happened with your pup there that ended up with such a large war wound?
Had a wounded Bushbuck from one of our hunters. Found some blood where the ram was standing, and called in for more dogs. I don't put my older dog on wounded Bushbuck anymore. Next year will be his 11th season with me, so his hearing is not what it used to be. He won't even hear it coming.
I do however back my younger dog to be quick enough on a charge. After searching for two hours, and just as I was about to call it off, one of the dogs picked up the ram and bayed him. With all the commotion, naturally, all of the dogs head to the same area and all join in on the bay.
I took out my handgun, and got to about 4 yards from the bush where the ram was bayed just on the other side. I slowly preceded and this was about the time I heard crashing of brushes, breaking of branches and the very familiar sound of my dog yelping. I honestly though it was the end of it.
The ram exploded out of the bush 5 yards in front of me and turned, looking for his next target. The first Jack Russel that came out over ran the ram, I guess not expecting the ram to stop that quickly. In a game trail just behind the ram, there were two large in circumference roots lying across the path. As the Jack Russel over ran the ram, and turned, the ram saw this as his chance and struck again.
He subsequently hit the second dog, but as luck had it, rolled the dog in between these two thick roots, making it impossible for him to reach the dog. As he was fighting with this dog, not being able to get to him, I saw an opportunity to get a shot off with my 9mm. The shot hit him just behind the crest of the shoulder.
This gun shot caused yet another frenzy among the dogs, who perfectly well know that gun shots means action. The pack of dogs were keeping the ram busy, and I could see the ram starting to run low on fuel due to the shot from my hand gun. He went and laid down, and still swung his head swiftly and any dog that came too close.
A follow up shot through the heart was taken to end it quickly.
After all this commotion, I summonsed my tracker to help me look for my dog, presumably dead. I was very relieved when I found him walking to me. When I picked him up, he had about a foot of a 2" strip of skin hanging from one end off his back. The ram must have poked him and ripped him open.
I asked the other PH that had come to help out to take care of the photos while I rush to the Vet. By this time, my next concern was how I was going to react to being judged by a vet about the dog getting injured while hunting. How was I going to keep myself calm and restrain myself to not lay hands upon this person.
To my surprise, the Vet that helped me was the daughter of one of the nearby farmers who I quite regularly hunt Blue Duiker with. They also partake in big Bushbuck hunts every year. Talk about having a friend behind enemy lines.....