2009 Elk

28 October 2009, 00:34

PWN375

2009 Elk

This is the 6th elk I have killed. The first 2 were with my father, the next 3 were with an outfitter in Colorado. This is the only elk I have killed by myself without the assistance of family or a guide. He isn't the biggest 4x5 I have killed, but I was hunting alone on public land and the other 3 guys in camp got skunked. The hunt was near Ridgway, Colorado on Forest Service land bordering the private ranch we were staying on during second season. I saw numerous elk on the neighboring Sawtooth Ranch, saw 6 cows on public land, one bear and about 60 mule deer with only 1 fork horn buck. Two days later we had 8 inches of snow. I killed the elk with my Ruger 338 and 225 grain TSX factory loads. The shot was steeply uphill at about 175 yards. I skinned and quarted him in about an hour and packed him out 2.5 miles the next day. The bright side was most of the trip out was down hill. However, I am a bit old and fat to be packing elk. It is time to buy a mule or start hunting with a young, dumb, strong partner.

Photo was taken with the timer on my Sony Cybershot and a small tripod.

Perry

Mike

Legistine actu quod scripsi?

Never under estimate the internet community's ability to reply to your post with their personal rant about their tangentially related, single occurrence issue.

What I have learned on AR, since 2001:
1. The proper answer to: Where is the best place in town to get a steak dinner? is…You should go to Mel's Diner and get the fried chicken.
2. Big game animals can tell the difference between .015 of an inch in diameter, 15 grains of bullet weight, and 150 fps.
3. There is a difference in the performance of two identical projectiles launched at the same velocity if they came from different cartridges.
4. While a double rifle is the perfect DGR, every 375HH bolt gun needs to be modified to carry at least 5 down.
5. While a floor plate and detachable box magazine both use a mechanical latch, only the floor plate latch is reliable. Disregard the fact that every modern military rifle uses a detachable box magazine.
6. The Remington 700 is unreliable regardless of the fact it is the basis of the USMC M40 sniper rifle for 40+ years with no changes to the receiver or extractor and is the choice of more military and law enforcement sniper units than any other rifle.
7. PF actions are not suitable for a DGR and it is irrelevant that the M1, M14, M16, & AK47 which were designed for hunting men that can shoot back are all PF actions.
8. 95 deg F in Africa is different than 95 deg F in TX or CA and that is why you must worry about ammunition temperature in Africa (even though most safaris take place in winter) but not in TX or in CA.
9. The size of a ding in a gun's finish doesn't matter, what matters is whether it’s a safe ding or not.
10. 1 in a row is a trend, 2 in a row is statistically significant, and 3 in a row is an irrefutable fact.
11. Never buy a WSM or RCM cartridge for a safari rifle or your go to rifle in the USA because if they lose your ammo you can't find replacement ammo but don't worry 280 Rem, 338-06, 35 Whelen, and all Weatherby cartridges abound in Africa and back country stores.
12. A well hit animal can run 75 yds. in the open and suddenly drop with no initial blood trail, but the one I shot from 200 yds. away that ran 10 yds. and disappeared into a thicket and was not found was lost because the bullet penciled thru. I am 100% certain of this even though I have no physical evidence.
13. A 300 Win Mag is a 500 yard elk cartridge but a 308 Win is not a 300 yard elk cartridge even though the same bullet is travelling at the same velocity at those respective distances.