Razorback Ricochet

In case you missed it, one of the most bizarre hunting accidents took place in France recently.  It is a story that could replace Dick Cheney at the mantle of hunting misfortunes.  It was an unlikely set of events that would make even the Big Bang theory seem probable.

The story starts when a 68 year-old avid French hunter takes aim at a boar and hits the trigger button with his booger hook.  The story then takes a vicious turn when the bullet ricochets off the boar at a right angle, travels through the air for two kilometers (1.25 miles), goes through a windshield, strikes the driver, and kills him instantly.

For the typical French investigator, the logical course of action is to give up and close the case, chalking it up as a typical hunting accident. 

However, anyone familiar with ballistics and calibers would be more than willing to look into this one a bit deeper.  Just a little bit.

The first question that comes to mind is the caliber.  It ricocheted at a 90 degree angle, travelled two kilometers, had enough juice to plow through a windshield, and still had enough power to kill a person.  It would have had to be a large caliber on steroids in order to make such an incredible journey.  But a large, powerful caliber wouldn't ricochet off a boar, it would turn the pig into ground sausage.  Interestingly enough, this event took place right before Groundhog Day.  

The next question has to do with science.  How did such a powerful projectile overcome the laws of physics?  How does a bullet that loses half of its kinetic energy from the ricochet off a soft pig, and continues to lose kinetic energy through two kilometers of fields, muster the strength to not ricochet off a hard windshield?  

Mythbusters demonstrated a bullet's difficulty to penetrate paper following a ricochet.  The French investigators are telling us that the bullet gained momentum following the ricochet, and maintained that momentum following its collision with the windshield.  

This would actually be groundbreaking evidence for some JFK assassination theorists.  The Magic Bullet theory is one that is criticized in the same way.  In essence, it theorizes that a single bullet created all seven wounds found in John F. Kennedy, ultimately killing him, and found its way into Texas governor John Connally.  

But in the realistic scenario that the bullet isn't magical and that the laws of physics are consistent, the only other explanations would be foul play or gross negligence.  

I can understand negligence if this were his first time holding a rifle and didn't know to keep his finger off the trigger.  I can understand negligence if a shotgun were used while pheasant hunting. 

A 1.25 mile shot takes more than just a magic bullet.  It takes more than just a large caliber.  It takes cooperative elements.  It takes an experienced marksman, perhaps an avid hunter.  It appears that it may take a 68 year-old French hunter.