I'm still recovering from the road trip home but thought I would throw up a couple photos of my annual elk hunt in Meeker, CO. We were fortunate enough to setup camp one day before it snowed on us. The little wood burning stove inside the tent was a great accessory.



We were hunting with either-sex tags and my buddy filled his with a 5-point bull withing the first hour of the first day (lucky dawg!). I wasn't as fortunate. I saw a heard of about 150 head with 4 or 5 nice bulls but they were too far away. On the morning of the 4th day we spotted a small group of cows on the top of a ridge under some aspen. The range finder said 408 yards. I knew my rifle was good to about 300 yards. I held the cross-hairs about 6-8" over the back of one cow that was quartering away. Fortunately I was prone and had a solid rest using my bipod. I struck her just in front of the diaphragm and the bullet exited under the shoulder with no damage to the meat.



We rented some horses and packed the meat out that morning. I hate horses but they're kind of like lawyers -- when you really need them they become your very best friend!



I was shooting my trusty 7mmRM with an 160gr Swift A-frame bullet in front of 65gr of Reloader 22. I have been planing on building a 338-06 out of a Mauser action for elk so this may be my last season using the seven. It was freezing cold and my body is thrashed but it was a great to put some meat in the pot.

-- ale

Congradulations, looks like you had a great hunt....

Good job, thanks for sharing!

Awww, don't ditch the 7mag!! Look at what it did for you! Nice going!

Great Job man! Congrates. Why dump the 7? Seems like it works fine to me, but maybe you are like me. There is always a reason to buy a new rifle
I love horses as long as I don't have to ride them. But they sure help packing stuff out of the hills.
MM

Nine out of 10 elk surveyed say they HATE the 7mm Rem mag!

That said, I have a couple Mauser actions and '09 Arge bottom metal that I'd like to build into a matching pair of deer/elk hunting rifles. 338-06 AI for elk and 257 Roberts AI for deer.

The seven was my first hunting rifle and I have taken a lot of wild game with it. This was the second long-range shot I've taken and I appreciate the long/flat shooting capabilities. However, most of my hunting is done under 200 yds and from the photos I posted you can see how dense the brush is. I want a heavier caliber that is better suited for the area where I like to hunt. The seven will always be my back-up rifle, just in case...

aleaddict ----- That scene looks real familiar, it snowed my off Thornburg mountain the first afternoon. We just got back from hunting halfway between Meeker and Craig the 4th season. My group of 13 took 8 Elk, 6 Bulls and 2 Cows, plus 4 Deer. One Bull was a nice 5 X 5, the remainder rag horns, the Deer were ordinary but nice. As long as I get to hunt with my son and buddies the game is good no matter what size it is, and it all eats well. I used a .358 STA with 250 grain North Fork on my Cow and a .270 WSM with a 140 grain Barnes TSX on my Deer making a bang flop at 285 Yards. Good shooting.

Conglads---Looks like a good hunt. A wood stove DOES make it nice & toasty. CB

Hey Brother Brian,
Last time I saw you unshaven was on your fishing trip to Alaska this summer. You need to take care of that. I enjoyed your play by play of the events on the phone today. Looks like you had a successful hunt.
Butch

Ah what the hell man?!? THATS where all our snow went 4th season!! just kidding Congrats on filling your tags. We got 3/5 5 minutes after first light opening morning, but in 551 is was dry as a bone and warm enough to hunt in a sweatshirt.

Here's a pic of my buddy with his bull. Not a trophy animal but it was his first elk so he's very happy. I got a lot of ribbing from him on that trip because all I could find was a cow. The only satisfaction I got was telling him that I shot mine at twice the distance and used half as much ammo

Well, if a 6.5x284 with a 140 Berger VLD over Retumbo will kill a bull elk at 925 yards, I can't imagine why ya need anything bigger than a 7mag.