I almost didn't post after reading about the 500 and 750 yd shooters, mine was only about 110. We hunted a south central Texas ranch this weekend and I got my first one, these Elk have been on the ranch about 5 years but have never been hunted. Even though it's on a Texas ranch I've convinced myself it was almost a real fair chase hunt.

We spotted the Elk on the crest of a small hill about a mile from where we had planned to start hunting. They were upwind and we had a lot of scrub oak and brush to move behind so were able to get within 110 yd.s before taking the shot.

I used my new (to me) Dumoulin rifle (actually late 50's early 60's vintage), it's a Mannlicher stocked rifle with an FN commercial mauser action in 338 Win Mag. I just received the gun the Friday after Thanksgiving and only got to take it to the range for one session prior to the hunt. I used the Remington 250 gr. Corelokt load sighted in 2" high at 100 yd.

The bullet broke one rib going in, took out the heart, broke one rib going out and left an exit wound about 3/4". The Elk moved slowly about 15 feet behind some Oaks, I moved and reloaded but he fell just as I was positioned to shoot again.

I'll try to post a couple of pics tomorrow.
Happy hunting to all,

Good job! A good caliber choice too. Looking forward to a photo.
Elk in TX!! How odd.

FN in MT

Did you get a score on it or number of points?

I didn't get an official score, the taxidermist will handle that. The main beams were 43 3/4" from base to tip, 40 1/2 in. between the widest two points (g2's?). Any way, plenty big enough for me, now I have to spend the next 10 months negotiating with the spouse where it might hang.

If you have convinced yourself that this was "almost a fairchase hunt" you need to get to the mountains and take an elk under conditions you know are a real fair chase hunt.

Good for you. I'll be looking for those pics.

I know that a good mountain Elk would be ideal, I really do. In the past the only thing stopping me was time and money. Now I've got to add a lame right knee. I wore my brace this weekend, and ate a goodly quantity of extra stregth tylenol and after about 2 miles total hiking in and out Saturday I could really feel it. The ranch is in a nice hilly area but nothing like I would encounter in the mountains.

I've also got a good friend at work that goes to Colorado every other year, he's been about 4 times so far and has yet to see a shooter. Maybe it's just bad luck but he always has bad stories about the guide, the camp, the conditions or something. I've hunted whitetail with him here in Texas and he's a pretty good hunter in my book so I pay attention to what he tells me.

With my limited time and money I try to book hunts with people I know and areas where I have a reasonable chance of seeing a shooter. There are many hunts where I never pull the trigger, as an example I don't shoot young bucks even if they are 8 ro 10 points, and I have so far never taken a shot over about 250 yds simply because I'm not confident of the shot unless the conditions are ideal.

While a lot of the Texas hunts are what I consider canned hunts, this ranch allows me to stalk rather than hunt in blinds. I'd have a hard time sitting in a blind and waiting for a deer to come to a pre-set feeder so I could shoot it as many of the ranches do.

Good for you. I'll be looking for those pics.

Right on browningguy. Congrats to ya and glad to hear it was a success.

Ya did good, Browning. Don't let anyone take it away. The nay sayers are mostly jealous of your success. Come to think of it, I'm a little jealous myself.

Terrific! It's always fun to 'blood' a new gun, isn't it?

George

[ 12-09-2002, 21:55: Message edited by: GeorgeS ]

Congrats!

Wow, one range session and a 110 yd heart shot... great job...

Atta boy

Congrat's, looking forward to the pics.

[ 12-10-2002, 02:30: Message edited by: scrappy ]