Long Range Late Season Cow Hunt

Wedgy

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Feb 9, 2013
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Two weeks before I left I went for a range session with the .338 Edge running an HBN coated 275 grain Lazer at 3,010 fps with N570 and I was hitting about 15" high at 1,631 yards then noticed the new batch of bullets were Gen 2 and had a slightly higher BC so I adjusted from .740 to .763 and I was back on target. I left Los Angeles about 2:30pm and got to Cedar City around 9pm(which is10pm there) and crashed for the night. The next morning once I hit the I 80 the temperature really started to drop from 30F it had been most of the way, and it just kept dropping all the way to single digits at 3pm and -1 F when I got to Cody's house North of Evanston WY just before dark. What the hell is this ? I'm still wearing shorts as it was 68F when I left Santa Clarita, North end of Los Angeles County.
The next morning nice clear day -5F we left Cody's and spotted some elk(all cows) mostly bedded up on a big hill
about 1.5 miles away and set off to close the distance, getting to a flat spot and glassed for about 20 minutes and see what the wind was doing. As they were starting to get up and slowly feed to the left I picked out a large cow and waited until she cleared the herd, wind was ~5mph from 9 o'clock, maybe a bit more higher up where they were, ranged at 1,058 yards facing left, perfectly broadside. I dialed 21.50 MOA then knocked off .25 as I was shooting East and 2.25 MOA left for wind and spindrift and held a bit more forward directly on the shoulder in case there was more wind up higher. I usually stay off the shoulder and aim at the heart and lungs. I extended the bipod legs and got as comfortable as I could laying on top of my pack in two feet of snow at -5 F, made sure Cody was on the same elk in the spotter and broke the shot. We both watched the elk drop like a sack and never get up with Cody spotting the hit right in the shoulder. With big smiles we took a congratulatory hug and started packing gear to head up the hill, the good news being that it was all downhill on the way back. We got it skinned, quartered, and loaded in the sled right at dark. The sled was great but hard to steer and stop from going too fast downhill sometimes and the last flat section and crossing the frozen creek sucked. It was -19F when we got to the car but no wind so it wasn't as bad as it seems but our lungs kind of burned like we had smoke inhalation and coughed most of the night. We took it easy the next day then I drove straight thru 14 hours on the way home.

Smith was Mike at Hells Canyon Armory ; Lone Peak Razor with a Wyatt's 4" box, 28" HCA Carbon Killer 8 twist, Manners EH1, ATACR 7-35x56 bedded in a 20 MOA Audere Adversus one piece mount, five port Big Beast 2 brake, Trigger Tech at 2.0lbs. This makes 4 elk I have taken with this gun from 660 to 1,058 yards and all 4 have dropped instantly, even from a broadside mid height lung shot so this thing really seems to pack a wallop and I am happy with the 275 grain CEB Lazer. The bullet went thru both shoulders, shredded the lungs, left a 1.5" exit hole, and I found 4 BB size bullet chunks around the exit wound hide.
Special thanks to Cody Adams for all the help, hospitality, and a **** good time ! And great wind calls....
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I'm finally done with the bones after boiling degreasing, etc. I drilled out each end of the long bones so the marrow and fat could drain out, otherwise they will keep oiling up and never have that bleached white look. I used a 1/4" x 12" long bit after drilling a pilot hole. Note the holes punched thru both shoulder blades from the 275 grain Cutting Edge Lazer from 1,058 yards, that thing carries a lot of energy !
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The Revic BR4 spits out the "shoot to" distance. Pretty sure everyone knows how modern range finders work...
3 4 5 right triangle... LOS = hypotenuse which is not your shoot range... basic trig
 
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