I dont care what people say, elks are VERY tough! Upon surprising one another, we had a 10 minute stare down about 40 yards away. Finally, I was able to pull a shot off, front center chest that instantly dropped him. He stayed down but as I approached, he was still breathing and trying to move. Two shots were placed in the kill zone, both went completely through! To my surpise, the elk still did not die! Another couple of minutes later, the elk was still breathing and 2 final fatal shots were fired. 700+lbs, 6x6.

.454 300 grains, lead point.

Congratulations! Nice handgun elk. Hope it's good eating, too. Input needed concerning firearm used, load, area, how long you hunted, etc.

congrats,awesome bull.great lookig peestol.

Any animal that is down and has to bleed out will take longer to die then one up and moving. I have seen the same thing with a crippled deer some jerk poacher shot from the road. I put an arrow through it to end it's misery and it took forever for it to give up the ghost. I see the same with spine shot deer that takes another shot. Seems as if it is 10 times longer.

How sweet it is !!

Nice job!!! What cal. did you use? Its not realy important I'm just curious. Again congrats on a job well done.



"If winning isn't important...WHY keep score?"

I used a Taurus Raging Bull in .454. It has the 5'' ported barrel and I was using factory winchester 300 grain loads. Penetration was not an issue being that the first round went into the front and ended up in the loins. The two broad shots went completely through.

Does Kentucky have a season for elk or was this a farm elk? Seems like elk are spreading al over. Ron

congrats, Gentleman Jack.
nice looking critter. Seems I can't get drawn for elk here in AZ.
Jon H

While it is a nice Elk, black bear was my first choice, then gator. Unfortunately, both of those things are unobtainable well into next year..

THANKS FOR ALL THE KIND WORDS FELLAS!

Excellent! Congrats on a job well done!
I keep carrying my pistol, but haven't been able to get close enough, so the ol 06' keep puttin them in the freezer.

I've got a 454 RB also. Mine has a problem with 350gn @ 1350fps loads that the cylinder bolt lets the cylinder rotate slightly backwards or something after fireing. So when I pull the hammer back again, it doesn't advance to the next round. Does yours do this also? I have a scope on mine and I think that should lessen the problem. I should send it back and have them fix it I guess. Unless someone sells a heavier spring for it?

Cant say that I have had that problem but that doesnt mean it cant exist. Taurus' customer service is top notch, you have nothing to fear in sending it back. You might try googling for the heavier spring but I think that is something an expert gunsmith might have to conjure up..

LAR45,
I strongly urge you to contact the company and DO NOT shoot it again until you hear from them.I strongly suspect you have weakend spring or possibly a factory defect as you indicated with the cylinder rod. A dear freind of mine had a colt python 6" 357mag. over time his spring weakened to the point of non- rotation,like yours.One day at the range the cylinder over-rotated just enough to miss aling with the barrel.When he fired the gun went flying,and he started screaming.The jacket of the bullet had come apart and came out between the cylinder and the barrel face.It struck his right index finger,just above the second knuckle,Nearly severing it.They sewed him up,but he still has no feeling in that finger from injury area down.Please be carefull.....


"If winning isn't important...WHY keep score?"

Not the cylinder Rod. The piece of metal that comes up out of the frame to engage the notch in the cylinder and hold it in alignment with the barrel.
I think this is something similar to the problem S&W had with the M29.

I sent it back to Taurus once already. When I first got it, the brass would get stuck in the chambers with factory Win ammo. It would come out about 1/8" easily then get stuck. The problem was the chambers were bulged slightly in the middle. They sent it back in just a couple of weeks with the problem fixed and with a most excellent trigger pull.

Your story prompts an idea, not mine however. First congratulations on a fine bull. On a hunt in Africa, with an animal down that had not yet expired, my PH pulled out one of those tiny North American Arms .22s. A finishing shot finished it, quickly and humanely. I had one of those once but found it so miserably inaccurate that I sold it. I should have kept it for just such a purpose.

He's beautiful! That's a photo you'll be proud of for the rest of your life. Thanks for sharing.

Where did you take this fine bull. It wasn't in KY I'll wager.

Friend, thats a nice bull, congrats. I looked at the Raging Bull .454, but wasn't sure I was up to the task of accurate shooting with it. Instead I went with a Dan Wesson .44. With much practice I have become a fair shot with it.

Well the shock grips and porting helps quite a bit. Its very compareable to a hot .44 round. At 30 paces, I can get a box of 20 all in the center mass ring.

The elk was taken in the mountains of NE Ohio.

I'll have to try the .454 one day. My hunting loads in the .44 are 320 gr. hardcast's at a little over 1200 fps. I used it this fall to take a 22 3/16 black bear that the DOW estimated at around 500#. Distance was 10 paces. I crept up on him while he was chowing on a dead elk I had bumped him off the day before.

If my memory serves me right, the 260 grain loads are going about 1800fps with the 300 doing about 1650ish. Not too shaby....

Personally I don't care if you want to go shoot an animal in a game farm but PLEASE do not try passing it off as a hunted elk! I know you didn't ever say it was wild but with all do respect that should be in your first post.

reelman,

Not all game preserves equal farm shot game. So before passing judgement, please check it out. I've been on some with vegetation thick enough to hide a herd of elephants; so the animals were hunted.

Not everyone can make the trip out west to hunt them on the larger game ranches or the public spaces between said ranches. Don't for a minute try to make anyone believe these animals are not hunted under fence out west as well.

A fabulous animal by any rights, and even more of a trophy because it was done with a handgun. My sincere congrats!!

quote:

Originally posted by reelman:
Personally I don't care if you want to go shoot an animal in a game farm but PLEASE do not try passing it off as a hunted elk! I know you didn't ever say it was wild but with all do respect that should be in your first post.

Apparently sir, your lack of education is only proven in your message. A hunt is defined as "to chase or search for (game or other wild animals) for the purpose of catching or killing."

The amount of acreage hunted in Ohio is no different than the acreage in the west. Not only that, Eastern KY is host to the largest Elk population east of the Mississippi. I would challenge you to go into the dense brush mountains of Ohio, search in hundreds of acres for Elk, with a iron sighted pistol no less, and see how you turn out. Also, what makes you think I give a crap about what you think I should put in my first post? Free country. Why dont you post your pistol kills next?

In your other post, you say

"Ray, You can't see the difference between a 4' fence when hunting deer or elk that they have no problem jumping over or going under and a fence that keeps buffalo in?"

Why dont you decide what preserves really offer before popping off.

In yet another post you say:

"Ray, I think labeling this hunt as fair chase is a little misleading. Yes 50,000 acres is a big place but if the bison are fenced in then IMHO, and the opinion of most hunters I believe, do not consider this fair chase. Does B&C consider this hunt fair chase?"

Why dont you quit pissing and moaning on peoples hunts and concentrate on yourself. I would love to see you find game in 50,000 acres! Maybe Ray Atkinson didnt teach you a lesson last time!


Here again, another pissy post with you slinging shit:

"Since you asked I see 2 things I don't like about the mounts. 1. The ears are to low. and 2. On the middle deer what are those lines on the lower jaw? I see this with some mounts that the taxidermists do - they add muscle tone that isn't really on real deer. I see it most often on the neck, this is the first time I've seen it on a jaw.srw, What did you expect? You came on here asking us what we thought. We told you our honest opinions. If you didn't want our opinions then why did you ask?

If it makes you feel better I'll lie to you and tell you that they are the best mounts I've ever seen. Does that make you feel better?"

With these kind of posts, why dont you do us a favor and find another site. There are plenty of grumpy men around here and the last thing we need is another know it all.

Again, someone calling you out in another post:

"Why am I trolling? Different things are worth different amounts of money to different people. An item is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. Right now M70's are a popular item for collectors hence they are worth considerable amounts of money. If you don't agree with that do this for me. THe next time you find a nice M70 that is going for a couple thousand $ for sale for a couple hundred $ buy it and sell it to me for the same amount you payed for it. My bet is that you will try t sell it for what the going price is for that item and make some money on it."

"If you turned this gun down for $600 you are either an idiot or have no clue when it comes to M70's! "

Never have anything positive to say? Get lost.



PS Happy New Year

The amount of acreage is the same in Ojio as in the west! WTF!!! Are you telling me that you were hunting free ranging elk in Ohio? If so I appologize, if not I stand by what I said.

So is killing a cow on a farm considered hunting to you?

You want me to post my pistol kills. Give me a second to go run down to the local farmer, pay him for a cow, shoot it and then post the picture. That is the same as shooting a animal in a fence.

Like I said if that is what you want to do go right ahead, I could care less but don't try to pawn it off as a hunt. A shoot yes, but not a hunt.

You are real good at taking my posts out of context aren't you.

Ray was selling what he claimed was a fair chase hunt that was inside of a fence. To 99.99999% of the hunters out there a shoot inside of a fence is not considered fair chase nor is it by P&Y or B&C.

In the taxidermy posts the original poster deleted all his posts so it looks like we were being hard on him. He asked what we thought of the mounts he just got back. I gave him an honest opinion as did others. We were not mean or rude, we just gave him honest opinions and he jumped all over us for doing that. Once he deleted his posts our posts look like we were simply bashing him which was not the case.

I can't honestly remember the post about the M70 but from it it looks like the guy said he wouldn't give $600 for a M70 that is worth considerably more. This guy took offense to the value of the gun and started it with me.

Well perhaps you need to take a step back and look how you approach people. Your comment was very rude and uncalled for. Especially since it was your first post.

Here in KY, you can walk out your back door, see a 10 point Buck, nail him and go back inside your house to finish your coffee. Is that really hunting? Many and I mean many hunters here feel it is. So where do you draw the line? I can guarantee my hunt of this Elk superceded many deer "hunts." And yes those get recorded in the books!

Is it 500 acres in Ohio that you have to hunt through? Or is it 1000 acres on public hunting land in CO? It doesnt make a difference. If you hired a guide that knew where the big boys where at in CO., it wouldnt be any different than hunting on a preserve.

I agree, tell me more of that bear! Did you get him taxidermied into a rug? My next hunt will be for a blackie, with a handgun!

Gentleman Jack -- You're being too hard on reelman. I think he's spot on and would like to cleanse my soul:
- I shot with a pistol bear over bait in AK
- I shot a bear across a canyon...and she didn't have a fair chance because I used a rifle
- I shot deer and a turkey in TX over corn
- I shot a bull moose in AK after calling him in...clearly taking advantage of the fact he was horny as a goat...or moose...or somethin'
- I shot ducks over decoys...clearly taking advantage of their pea-sized brains
- I shot a mule deer buck when he stopped to take one last look at me...and I knew he would so I took advantage of that...
Wow, I feel lots better and can hunt easy knowing I haven't misled anyone. I'm off to hunt squirrels with a sharp stick....in the nude...but, again I must confess, I'll be driving out there in my Jeep.

Jack -- Nice bull. Congrats -- that'll be some nice meat I'd bet. I would like to take some exotic game I can't hunt elsewhere (blackbuck) on one of the Texas game ranches.

reelman,

If you have such a problem hunting under fence, don't waste your time going to South Africa. It's all under fence and yes SCI considers them trophies. Also, the dangerous game is just as dangerous and you can get yourself killed real quick in the "pens".

quote:

If you have such a problem hunting under fence, don't waste your time going to South Africa. It's all under fence and yes SCI considers them trophies

MS Hitman, forgive my ignorance but I thought that there had been previous threads on hunting lion in RSA and that these were NOT considered for SCI. Is that not true?
Thanks, Peter.

We may both be ignorant. I have not hunted lion and can not for sure speak to the trophy status with SCI. I do know for a fact that I have five trophies listed in the SCI record book and these were shot in South Africa.

Gentleman Jack, I was out archery hunting for elk, but also carrying my .44 because I had drawn a September firearms tag for bear. About noon I was heading up a ridge toward the trail when I smelled something dead. I followed my nose and when I was near, I heard a large animal stampede off through the oak brush. What I found was a dead cow elk that a bear had just started feeding on. The brush was thick, so I put my day pack under my head and lay down behind a bush 10 paces from the elk. Brother, it was a stinky afternoon! I lay there for 5 hours waiting for the bear to return. He never did, but I watched two coyotes come and go, sometimes no more than 10 feet away, for nearly two hours. The next day I was back in there hunting elk and carrying my .44. At mid-day, when the elk hunting was over until evening, I walked down the ridge and left my bow and my girlfriend in the shade while I crept back into the brush on a game trail I had followed out from the dead elk the previous evening. Gun drawn, I slipped down the trail until I reached a bush that I knew was just in front of the elk. Slowly I moved ahead until I could see where the elk should have been, through a hole in the brush. It took a second before I realized I couldn't see the elk because the bear was standing in front of it and was so big it obscured the entire elk. It was in shadow so I couldn't tell if it was facing toward or away from me until it dipped it's head. He was facing me but had no idea I was there. He was looking over his shoulder back toward the elk, so I held center of chest, base of neck and fired. He didn't move a muscle, nothing. I watched for a second thinking, "what the hell?", then he coughed a bucket of blood. I hit him again and he dropped, groaned a couple times and was still. I took two more step toward him and watched. After a few moments he seemed to twitch a little, so I hit him again and he jerked then was still. It was 10 paces from where I shot him the first two, and just a couple of long steps from where I fired the final shot. He had two ear tags, and when I got the hide to the DOW for inspection, I learned he had been caught raiding a small concession stand in town a couple of years ago, tagged, and relocated 80 miles away. He had come back. The biologist told me he was over 10 years old, weighed around 450 lbs when they tagged him, and estimated his current weight at around 500. He is already entered into the Boone and Crockett awards catagory, and the rug should be finished in a few months.

WOW! Helluva story! I envy your luck and cunningness on that one! Please post some pics of the rug asap!

Shot a mountain Lion with my 357 last year and realy enjoyed the hunt with a pistol, but that Elk with a pistol is the best. Great trophy.

quote:

Originally posted by Gentleman Jack:


I dont care what people say, elks are VERY tough! Upon surprising one another, we had a 10 minute stare down about 40 yards away. Finally, I was able to pull a shot off, front center chest that instantly dropped him. He stayed down but as I approached, he was still breathing and trying to move. Two shots were placed in the kill zone, both went completely through! To my surpise, the elk still did not die! Another couple of minutes later, the elk was still breathing and 2 final fatal shots were fired. 700+lbs, 6x6.

.454 300 grains, lead point.

I'm impressed! Good going!!! SOMEDAY we Canucks shall hunt with a handgun, if not, then Texas here I come!!

A tame elk is a tame elk period. End of discussion.

quote:

Originally posted by bwest:
A tame elk is a tame elk period. End of discussion.

huh?

I do not get it.

quote:

Originally posted by bwest:
A tame elk is a tame elk period. End of discussion.

So now we are saying game at preserves are tame? I knew I should of put a leash on him and taken him back home with me. What a domesticated creature he was. This explains me spooking him 150 yards away and tracking him on my knees for almost a mile. I guess that explains the wild boar I had charging at me in Tennessee was really just trying to nuzzle. Yup, that makes perfect sense, especially all those tamed preserve animals in Africa.

I love internet zoologist.