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Post by sixshot on Dec 27, 2017 13:52:35 GMT -5
Hey Whit, what happened to the photo's?
Dick
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Post by whitworth on Dec 27, 2017 15:34:15 GMT -5
Hey Whit, what happened to the photo's? Dick I suspect server trouble.
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Post by sheriff on Dec 27, 2017 15:38:26 GMT -5
Must be, they're showing on mine.
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Post by sixshot on Dec 27, 2017 22:48:25 GMT -5
Must be, I can't get them here or on Handgun Hunter Forum.
Dick
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robrcg
.30 Stingray
Posts: 301
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Post by robrcg on Dec 29, 2017 14:50:42 GMT -5
Great hunt Mark! Congratulations to you, Michael and Mikey.
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Post by warhawk on Dec 31, 2017 1:37:45 GMT -5
Tradmark, congrats to all of you, some fine eating ahead. Was the same load used on each cow?
I shot a big cow on a Texas game ranch a few years ago, planning to do it again in 2018, should say hoping to. Always interested in the details on how sixgun loads work on game the size of elk.
And to the free range elk comment ... I scraped up enough cash to do a horseback elk hunt in Idaho when I was a youngster, 2 years of saving for it and I still had to sell most of my guns to finance the trip. I never fired a shot, still had a great time. Fast forward 25 years and now I can afford it, but I’m too crippled up for this type of hunt, and damn sure couldn’t get an elk off the mountain without a lot of help. So, that leaves the game ranches, which also make for a good opportunity to use a sixgun.
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Post by tradmark on Dec 31, 2017 14:25:09 GMT -5
Theres some good deals down on ranches in texas that can be as hard or as easy as u want them to be. We did some hunting for em on a small ranch down in the south hill country. Got my cow but in 5 days couldnt get a shot on the bull my buddy was after.
To answer your question, me and my cousin used the factory barnes vortex 454 loads and my son used the hsm sierra prohunter load. 300gr..
As far as free range these could walk to mexico or colorado should they choose.
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Post by warhawk on Dec 31, 2017 16:55:33 GMT -5
Thanks, I appreciate the info. I can tell you for sure that a Hornady factory XTP (44 Mag 240 grain) is NOT a good elk bullet. I wasn’t thinking and shot for the shoulder, same as I would do on a deer. Three of the XTPs hit the left shoulder and nothing but tiny fragments penetrated to the vitals. A fourth shot to the neck broke her spine and ended it.
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Post by sixshot on Jan 1, 2018 15:21:09 GMT -5
warhawk, congratulations on getting a elk with your sixgun! At least you didn't stay home, you went for it & if that's high fence & the only way you could do it you deserve a pat on the back, great job to fulfill your dream. You're right about any 240-250 gr cup & core bullet for elk, they can fail. Either go with the heavy weight jacketed bullets or with one of the premium bonded bullets, or a heavy cast bullet. Elk are tough & angles can be a challenge. Many guys come to Idaho & other western states, buy an out of state license & tag & go on a fair chase hunt & never fire a shot, elk are very tough to hunt as you found out. Last night was my 31st trip trying to fill my cow tag, didn't happen & the season is over! Saturday I had elk all around me with 5 head right in my lap. They knew something wasn't right & 4 of them trotted off in the deep snow & one walked into view at 52 yds broadside, a spike bull. I could have shot him in the eye ball but my tag was for a cow, he stood there for 3-4 minutes before following the cows, that's free ranging, public land elk hunting, it can break your heart if you let it. Again, good job on getting an elk with your sixgun, not many can do it.
Dick
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Post by tradmark on Jan 1, 2018 15:27:20 GMT -5
Thats been my experience as well, not a fan of the hornady’s on elk for sure. Good job on the neck shot. If i was hunting elk with a 44 mag instead if our 454’s i woulda used a 280gr aframe. Not as long as the 300 as far as taking up powder cap but length in ration to the 44 as the 300gr 45 cal and opens well durable and can be pushed pretty fast.
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Post by tradmark on Jan 1, 2018 15:40:00 GMT -5
warhawk, congratulations on getting a elk with your sixgun! At least you didn't stay home, you went for it & if that's high fence & the only way you could do it you deserve a pat on the back, great job to fulfill your dream. You're right about any 240-250 gr cup & core bullet for elk, they can fail. Either go with the heavy weight jacketed bullets or with one of the premium bonded bullets, or a heavy cast bullet. Elk are tough & angles can be a challenge. Many guys come to Idaho & other western states, buy an out of state license & tag & go on a fair chase hunt & never fire a shot, elk are very tough to hunt as you found out. Last night was my 31st trip trying to fill my cow tag, didn't happen & the season is over! Saturday I had elk all around me with 5 head right in my lap. They knew something wasn't right & 4 of them trotted off in the deep snow & one walked into view at 52 yds broadside, a spike bull. I could have shot him in the eye ball but my tag was for a cow, he stood there for 3-4 minutes before following the cows, that's free ranging, public land elk hunting, it can break your heart if you let it. Again, good job on getting an elk with your sixgun, not many can do it. Dick Yeah but being out in the mountains all those days is its own reward for sure. Makes sense that the one that stops for ya was the one ya didnt have a tag for. It was nice to get 3 in 2 days but ive had as much fun chasing for days, seeing and hearing em and not getting em as i have shooting em. Getting one is the icing in the cake but its a damn good cake without icing! 😀👍
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Post by warhawk on Jan 2, 2018 2:32:36 GMT -5
warhawk, congratulations on getting a elk with your sixgun! At least you didn't stay home, you went for it & if that's high fence & the only way you could do it you deserve a pat on the back, great job to fulfill your dream. You're right about any 240-250 gr cup & core bullet for elk, they can fail. Either go with the heavy weight jacketed bullets or with one of the premium bonded bullets, or a heavy cast bullet. Elk are tough & angles can be a challenge. Many guys come to Idaho & other western states, buy an out of state license & tag & go on a fair chase hunt & never fire a shot, elk are very tough to hunt as you found out. Last night was my 31st trip trying to fill my cow tag, didn't happen & the season is over! Saturday I had elk all around me with 5 head right in my lap. They knew something wasn't right & 4 of them trotted off in the deep snow & one walked into view at 52 yds broadside, a spike bull. I could have shot him in the eye ball but my tag was for a cow, he stood there for 3-4 minutes before following the cows, that's free ranging, public land elk hunting, it can break your heart if you let it. Again, good job on getting an elk with your sixgun, not many can do it. Dick It was a high fence hunt, only about 90 miles from home when I lived in Texas. They had too many cow elk and wanted to take one of the older cows. I went off an left a box of Keith loads on the workbench at home, all I had with me were 12 rounds of Hornady 240 XTPs. I elected to use them instead of plan B, a 45-70rifle. I’m planning to go again in the fall, maybe take a red deer doe this time. All depends on what they have too many of. A good friend runs the hunting operation at the ranch. Jim
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Post by warhawk on Jan 2, 2018 2:39:53 GMT -5
Thats been my experience as well, not a fan of the hornady’s on elk for sure. Good job on the neck shot. If i was hunting elk with a 44 mag instead if our 454’s i woulda used a 280gr aframe. Not as long as the 300 as far as taking up powder cap but length in ration to the 44 as the 300gr 45 cal and opens well durable and can be pushed pretty fast. Kinda funny that the XTP failed so badly for me, I knew better but in all my reading of Mr Keith’s work I always put the poor bullet performance stuff the “the old days” category. I should have paid more attention. Keith was primarily an elk hunter, and I followed his advice os a 338 Win Mag with Nosler partition bullets, but thought that the Hornady loads would be good to go on elk, ha! I had a good supply of Winchester 240 soft points from when they sold components. I killed around a dozen hogs with them and never recovered a bullet. I suspect they would have been OK on the elk too. I also have some carefully hoarded Nosler partition bullets for the 357 and 44 Mag. I think they would be OK too, but I’d only use the 357 in a Rifle on anything bigger than whitetails.
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Post by warhawk on Jan 2, 2018 2:42:42 GMT -5
warhawk, congratulations on getting a elk with your sixgun! At least you didn't stay home, you went for it & if that's high fence & the only way you could do it you deserve a pat on the back, great job to fulfill your dream. You're right about any 240-250 gr cup & core bullet for elk, they can fail. Either go with the heavy weight jacketed bullets or with one of the premium bonded bullets, or a heavy cast bullet. Elk are tough & angles can be a challenge. Many guys come to Idaho & other western states, buy an out of state license & tag & go on a fair chase hunt & never fire a shot, elk are very tough to hunt as you found out. Last night was my 31st trip trying to fill my cow tag, didn't happen & the season is over! Saturday I had elk all around me with 5 head right in my lap. They knew something wasn't right & 4 of them trotted off in the deep snow & one walked into view at 52 yds broadside, a spike bull. I could have shot him in the eye ball but my tag was for a cow, he stood there for 3-4 minutes before following the cows, that's free ranging, public land elk hunting, it can break your heart if you let it. Again, good job on getting an elk with your sixgun, not many can do it. Dick Yeah but being out in the mountains all those days is its own reward for sure. Makes sense that the one that stops for ya was the one ya didnt have a tag for. It was nice to get 3 in 2 days but ive had as much fun chasing for days, seeing and hearing em and not getting em as i have shooting em. Getting one is the icing in the cake but its a damn good cake without icing! 😀👍 My elk hunt was in the Frank Church in Idaho. It took two plane rides to get to base camp, then spent 8 days on horseback looking for elk. All in all it was one of the greatest experiences of my life, even if I never fired a shot.
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Post by sixshot on Jan 2, 2018 23:15:50 GMT -5
warhawk, been in there many, many times before the wolves moved in, always saw lots of elk. Not worth the trip now, although it's still a good bear hunt but a long way in there!
Dick
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