That is a magnificent animal.
I am delighted that all of your hard work and thought was rewarded. May you savor the memories of that hunt long after the delicious taste of the elk is gone.
That is a magnificent animal.
I am delighted that all of your hard work and thought was rewarded. May you savor the memories of that hunt long after the delicious taste of the elk is gone.
Bookmarked link to give me something to aspire to, and...
Recovering Gun Store Commando. My Blog: The Clue Meter
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Waidmann's dank!Originally Posted by MolonLabe416
Okie John
“The reliability of the 30-06 on most of the world’s non-dangerous game is so well established as to be beyond intelligent dispute.” Finn Aagaard
"Don't fuck with it" seems to prevent the vast majority of reported issues." BehindBlueI's
Thanks for sharing such an awesome story.
Magnificent animal and hunt.
Congratulations on the elk! Definitely earned that one. Great story.
Congrats on the elk, and that was a great story and AAR.
"Gunfighting is a thinking man's game. So we might want to bring thinking back into it."-MDFA
Beware of my temper, and the dog that I've found...
Awesome post, it is a great read.
Question as a never been hunting especially big stuff. .308 doesn't have enough whatever for elk size stuff?
Thanks.
Having only taken one elk, I'm not really qualified to answer, but I do know that plenty of very savvy elk hunters, many of whom post here, kill elk with the 308 and even lighter cartridges every year. At some point, the margin for error starts to drop and you have to start passing up shots with a lighter cartridge, but that's more a function of the shooter, his or her ability, the time of day, terrain, vegetation, and other conditions. For instance, lots of cartridges can kill an elk with a broadside shot in full daylight in open country where any tracking job will be straightforward. But you might want more punch for a monster bull on the edge of acres of thick, swampy cover when it's pouring rain at last light on the last day of the season.
I originally planned to use a 30-06 on this hunt, but mine started giving me trouble at the last minute. I considered a 308, but I talked to some guys who have a lot of experience hunting Roosevelt elk, and they said that I should go up in power instead of down, so I used a 338.
Ultimately, shot placement with a premium bullet matters more than the headstamp on the cartridge. I hit my bull in the spine, and a 30-30 probably would dropped him just as fast as my 338 did. The problem is when you don't hit a place like that, or when the only shot you get is at a difficult angle where the bullet has to penetrate a long way to hit something vital. Some cartridges are better than others at doing that, and some hunters are better than others at finding those places and putting bullets into them.
Okie John
Last edited by okie john; 12-03-2016 at 07:25 PM.
“The reliability of the 30-06 on most of the world’s non-dangerous game is so well established as to be beyond intelligent dispute.” Finn Aagaard
"Don't fuck with it" seems to prevent the vast majority of reported issues." BehindBlueI's
Outstanding AAR. Thanks!
I'm not much of a hunter (a deer and some birds way back when) but really enjoyed your story. The technical bits as well as the feely stuff.
"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." - Thomas Jefferson, Virginia Constitution, Draft 1, 1776
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