2011 Montana Pronghorn Hunt

Kirby

Great write up.

For me, it's all about the details. All those details is what makes it interesting to read and you always give all the details. Without them, it's just some guys going out and plugging some speedgoat.

I, too, am a big fan of "old green". I always like to hear when "old green" puts another critter down. It's kinda funny, reading about "old green's" accomplishments over the last few years, it's almost as if it has taken on its own personality. Although, I'm still more partial to your 300AX kills. :D

Bryan
 
Fifty, glad to hear the big 5 X 5 is back. Are ya still gonna try to get the better half on to him? His rack sounds really nice. Must be tough to wake up in the morning, look out the bedroom window and see something like that! When you are ready to work on the 300 Raptor, let me know please, I need a bit more practice. Good luck finding Roy a goat!

J
 
Thanks for sharing the story and pic, Kirby! It's easy to forget what the "good 'ol" Wildcat 7mm 200g ULD RBBT AT can do! Sure wish we were seeing the number of stories about that bullet taking game that we used see regularly just a few years ago. Don't see too many stories about the Wildcat .338 265g ULD RBBT AT anymore either. Too bad--ah...back in the 'heyday'...
 
Jmden,

Ya, it would be nice to have easy access to them again. Maybe it will happen yet but hard to say. They were surely several steps above the rest!!!
 
Ol green has pretty well taken on a life of her own, that is for sure. Its funny, it took a while for me to warm up to her. To be honest, its not that accurate of a rifle on paper. 3/4 to 1 moa most of the time at 100 yards. I was not very happy with her when I started the original load development.

Since then however, she has never missed a big game animal I pointed it at and currently I believe she is up to 18 head of big game taken with 12 of those over 500 yards, 8 over 600 yards, and 5 over 800 yards with the longest being a bit over 900 yards.

I get a kick out of guys telling me all the time that if their rifle does not shoot under 1/2 moa then its useless for long range hunting. If your rifle is consistant day in and day out and you have a good accurate drop chart, it will get the job done quite nicely for big game hunting out to 1000 yards.

You DO NOT need 1/4 moa groups to have a hell of a long range rifle, you need a consistant rifle, consistant load and good drop chart. THOUSANDS of "good" load are passed up on every year by guys looking for greener grass, no problem with that but Ol Green is a perfect example of a legit 3/4 to 1 moa rifle that has time and time and time again proven that to kill big game at long range, you simply DO NOT need a 1/4 moa rifle.

Now, it your shooting or hunting WELL past 1000 yards such as 1500 or a mile, obviously the most accurate rifle you can get is the best but the VAST majority of us, even the serious long range hunters RARELY kill game past 1000 yards unless we INTENTIONALLY set up for such a shot. Its pretty easy to get within 1000 yards of big game, that is why most of our long range kills happen in the 500 to 900 yard range. For that a well made, consistant, high performance rifle with good drop chart, good ammo and good shooter can do amazing things.

Its to the point now with Ol Green that if I do miss, I know 100% why, ME!!! My confidence with this old rifle (round count anyway) is so high that I feel that I can make pretty much any shot out to 900 yards easily. That is not something I have found to common with a rifle that weighs 9 lbs with Leupold Mk 4, Harris bipod, sling and full magazine ready to hunt with.

It has been mentioned that she has a worn out barrel. In all honesty, she does have a worn out barrel. I started shooting this rifle with a load using the 200 gr ULD RBBT Wildcat bullet loaded to 3200 fps. It was simply amazing at long range with that combo. At around 500 rounds, the 200 gr ULD RBBT started to loose accuracy which largely was due to the fact I had been pretty hard on this barrel with ballistic and load development.

Most would have said its time for a new barrel, I did not, I simply switched to the 175 gr SMK loaded to just shy of 3400 fps which shot extemely well and used that load for a couple seasons but it just did not open up as well on game asI would have liked so I switched to the 160 gr Accubond and just told myself that I would limit myself to 600 yards. That was until I actually tested this load at long range. I will admit that at 100 yards, the 160 gr Accubond load holds tighter groups then the 200 gr load did, between 1/2 and 3/4 moa consistantly.

So, if you have a rifle that will not shoot the thin jacketed match bullets anymore, try the Accubonds and see what happens, may get you another 4-5 or more seasons out of your rifle!!!

Ol Green has killed more long range big game with the Accubond then any other bullet used in this rifle.
 
Great for Old green I love to hear about her. I agree with you, that you dont need bug holes and I have known that for along time. I just forget now and then, or I get to caught up in my own awsome.

Carlos Hathcock did his work with a 30-06 that barley held 2 moa. It must have been very consistant.
 
ATH,

I know the eastern part of the state got hammered with winterkill but here in the north central part of the state we usually have enough farm land to get the animals through hard winters, plus we usually have enough wind to clear the heavy show off the ground to expose plenty of feed.

I think, at least in the case of the pronghorns, the last two very cool and extremely wet winters have been the main factor in the reduction of their numbers. New born pronghorns do very poorly in wet cool conditions!!!

I was in the Fort Peck area, which is consistent with your assessment. No farmland at all there. Apparently Fish and Game says everything came through the winter OK, but all the locals we talked to -- and our own observations -- said otherwise. We did not get an opportunity to get out to west/west-central MT where we typically go this year, which has lots of farmland.
 
It usually takes out fish and game about 5 years to realize numbers are down before they start to limit hunting tags!!! I think they are more worried about selling tags instead of correctly managing wildlife.

Oh, that is except for the wolves!!!! The MT wolf management plan is little more then a bad joke, wyoming has something in their plan.
 
I am still using the 200 gr Wildcat bullets and would just agree that when things get windy and the range gets long and you wish a safety factor for your shot, the 7 Allen Mag is a great cartridge to use. I think I am about 350 rounds into the barrel and it still has lots of accuracy with the Wildcat bullets.

Last year I hit an antelope with the bullet just clipping the bottom of the spine and when I went to gut it out, the body cavity was filled with blood. later, I went up on the internet to find out where all the blood had come from and found that the "thoracic aorta" runs underneath the spine and it is huge and death is quick when it is cut.
 
I am still using the 200 gr Wildcat bullets and would just agree that when things get windy and the range gets long and you wish a safety factor for your shot, the 7 Allen Mag is a great cartridge to use. I think I am about 350 rounds into the barrel and it still has lots of accuracy with the Wildcat bullets.

Last year I hit an antelope with the bullet just clipping the bottom of the spine and when I went to gut it out, the body cavity was filled with blood. later, I went up on the internet to find out where all the blood had come from and found that the "thoracic aorta" runs underneath the spine and it is huge and death is quick when it is cut.
Bob
When ever I think of antalope or Allen Mags I think of the video you posted last year of your shot. The puff that comes off the back side of the amimal wow!
 
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