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I headed out to CO elk hunting last week. My father-in-law really wanted to go and was going to go alone so I told him I'd go along. Wasn't really expecting a whole lot as we were staying in a motel in Steamboat Springs and driving every morning to the hunting area he went to two years ago. We got there Thurs for the Saturday opening of second season, I bought a few USGS maps of the area to study and figure a few things out. We drove up to the area both days, and saw a few spots where there were always fresh tracks from the night before, so that gave me a start on where to look. Opening day I headed up a mountainside planning on side-sloping along the top of a band of aspen that the elk were feeding in. About 11:30 I spotted three bulls bedded on an opposite slope. Two were about 1000 yards away bedded in a large clearing, and one was down below in the aspen bedded also. The two up top would have been easy to get a shot on, but I would have to bump that one that was lower to get around on them. A little snow squall came by and made the decision for me as the two bull up higher got up and fed across the opening and into the black timber. One stayed along the edge feeding, but by the time I could get over there I figured he'd be gone. So I headed down towards the other bull. I had about 300 yards of open ground to get across downslope, so I got a large pine tree between me and him that was on his side and bailed off the mountain. I had taken some decent landmarks as there were a few large pines just on my side of him in the aspen, so I had those to go off of. I worked my way up slope through the knee-deep fluffy snow (quiet) and across a few draws and spurs in the way. As I got close to where he was (or I thought he was) I came up to the rise and there was a big bed under a pine. There was a little bit of snow in it, so I figured he was still there. Two more steps, and the movement of the rack only 30 yards away caught my eye. At that point the wind must have swirled enough that he turned his head a bit and then stood up in his bed... From there all hell broke loose as I tried to find an opening in the aspen to get a bullet in him OR the other bull that stood up with him. There were TWO of them. I finally got one through as he was quartering away and broke the base of one back leg. The bullet ranged all the way forward through the paunch, the liver, and came to rest on the hide behind the off-side shoulder....thank God I was using Barnes TSX bullets as the penetration was incredible. Anyway, at this point they disappeared and I didn't know I had hit him or not. I took the trail and didn't find a single spot of blood...I was could have puked...pretty disappointed at that point. I even sat down and sighted in on a black spot on an aspen tree at 50 yards and fired another shot...dead on, 1/2 inch high. At that point I turned back on the trail and spotted one speck of blood I had kicked up in the deep snow, so I knew there was a bullet in him, but I didn't know where. Another 150 yards on the trail and I came to a clearing. I followed the tracks across with my eyes and on the other side of the clearing (70 yards or so) there he was laying under a big pine with his head behind the trunk. I put him in the scope and squeezed off a shot into his chest and the SOB stood up!!!! He wasn't going anywhere fast as he was hurting real bad, and he ended up falling back in virtually the same spot... So I got him, but I was still a little pissed at myself. I dressed him and spread him out to cool as the evenings were in the teens and headed on down to the road. The next day my Father-in-law and myself got up to where he was in about 2 1/2 hours and boned him all out. We made up a makeshift toboggan with my framepack and a tarp and skidded him out in one load. Took about 2 1/2 hours to get him down to the road as we hit a pack trail about 200 yards from where he lay. Here's some pics. Not too bad for a public lands CO bull elk in the general season.        Shoot straight, shoot often. Matt | ||
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Nice report Matt but resize your pics. It will make it alot easier to read. Frank "I don't know what there is about buffalo that frightens me so.....He looks like he hates you personally. He looks like you owe him money." - Robert Ruark, Horn of the Hunter, 1953 NRA Life, SAF Life, CRPA Life, DRSS lite | |||
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That's the way they came out of Tinypic...usually they come out a smaller size...I don't know what happened. Shoot straight, shoot often. Matt | |||
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congrats----chris | |||
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Congrats! Nice bull. Reloader | |||
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very nice...good story Mike 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. | |||
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Nice job Matt, good bull and you are headed for a lot of good eating. Congratulations. | |||
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Thanks for the report. What is that white stuff on the ground?  Perception is reality regardless the truth! Stupid people should not breed DRSS NRA Life Member Owner of USOC Adventure TV | |||
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Very nice----Lots of good meat! ______________________________ "Are you gonna pull them pistols,...or whistle Dixie??" Josie Wales 1866 | |||
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Good Job....I was in the Gunnison National Forest that week but did not see a bull. But it was one of the most enjoyable hunts I have been on. Nothing like saddling your horse in 10 deg weather. Saludos...Frank | |||
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Congratulations! You should be proud of a public land bull. Ski+3 | |||
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Matt-thanks for sharing sounds like you had a super hunt and some excellent memories and steaks for the long Wis. winter. Nice job with the sled/pack by the way! Mark D | |||
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