RockyMtnMT
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We are off to a great start to the 2024 big game season. The last two weeks have been a bit crazy with hunting trips. I will get this thread started and hopefully will be adding to it as we continue to hunt in the MT general season.
This year we are hunting with some new prototype Hammer HHT bullets. We are now jumping into the "High" bc bullet designs. We decided that we have the designs for fitting factory magazines and weights for twist rates that are common pretty well covered. Now we can jump into designing bullets that will be long for caliber with aggressive ogive and boat tails. The are long for their weight and will fast twist for their weight and may have to single feed in some rifles, particularly factory. Everything that we have designed so far is running at about a .9 form factor. This is very good and in line with the highest bc bullets from Berger. The one that doesn't quite get that high a form factor is the little 89gr .257 cal. Just doesn't have enough weight to get that high. Enough of that, I will start a different thread on these when we launch them.
Season started off with Eric headed up to Alaska for a DIY caribou hunt. He used a 25-284 running the 107gr Hammer HHT prototype. He took his caribou with a frontal shot that exited the opposite side hind quarter. Great straight line penetration and quick terminal performance. He then went on an antelope hunt and took a buck with the same combo a couple weeks ago. I am hoping that he will chime in here and fill in his details.
Two weeks ago Brian and I headed out to Eastern MT to hunt antelope. We both took nice mature bucks. Nothing very big, about 12". I was running my 25-284 with the 89gr HHT running at 3450 fps. My buck was at 388y broad side. I had to shoot sitting and hugging my backpack for a rest because I could not lay down and shoot over the wheat field stubble. Not the most stable but I was able to make a good shot behind the shoulder but a bit high in the spine. A petal from the shedding nose took out both lungs so there was no follow up shots needed. Heck, he didn't even wiggle. Brian took his buck at the same basic yardage with his 7 SAUM running the 154gr Hammer HHT prototype. Broadside a bit forward through both shoulders. Our buddy Zac came on the trip with us and used his 300 rum with the 203gr Hammer HHT. We have a 192gr Hammer HHT prototype but there is no way he can get them in the factory Browning magazine and he did not want to single feed. He shot a doe at just over 300y.
Last week, two days after we got back from the antelope trip, Brian and I headed down to NM for a guided elk hunt. Our buddy Erin Throckmorton from Giving Back TV came with us to shoot another Hammer episode. We met Erin at his house in Great Falls and drove for the next 19 hrs in rain and snow storms almost the entire way. We took 3 to 4 hr driving shifts. Made it down there in the morning and got moved into the house on the concession with a couple other guys from Georgia. Kinda funny that they were both there from Georgia but did not know each other prior. We were hunting with Black Mountain Outfitters in unit 12. Very close to the Arizona boarder. The first morning we woke up to about 6" of snow. Two days prior it was in the mid to high eighties! Big change. For the most part it melted that day and then rained hard off and on the first two days. Made for some very muddy roads and extra heavy boots when hiking. Very similar country as where we hunt in the Missouri Breaks here in MT but with a lot of rock cliffs. It is really spectacular down there. I was first up for a bull on this trip since Brian shot a monster last year. We went on this trip to trophy hunt, so we were pretty selective to begin. We had a hard time finding big bulls that were not broken from fighting. The are seeing more broken antlers this year than usual because it has been so dry. The thinking is the nutrition was not good enough and the horns are a bit weaker than normal. On the second day we went to a piece of public land and hiked up to the top of a mesa, through the cliffs to where it was flat on top. From here we spent an hr or two glassing miles of country. We located some cows coming down off the side of the mountain and working their way toward us in a grassy drainage. We continued glassing around and keeping an eye on the progress of the cows. I took a look at them and a stellar bull stepped out from behind a juniper. We made a plan for Erin and I to cut the distance to the edge of the timber off the mesa and leave Reno (our guide) and Brian behind to watch from above. At the edge of the timber we were between 500y and 600y of the feeding elk. As we were sneaking into position we bumped two cows and calves with a spike. Fortunately they did not run into the ones we were after. I got all set up on my tripod for a standing shot. I am running a 7-08 built on a Falkor action with an 18" 1-8" twist Proof Sendero Light. Set in a MDT carbon fiber folding chassis with a Gunwerks 6ix suppressor. On paper this setup is good for 700y at the altitude. I felt like 600y was where I wanted to cut it off. So, basically we are right at the edge of my range. This rifle is running a 141gr Hammer HHT prototype at 2975 fps. All set up and watching the elk casually feed up the drainage, moving through shooting lanes in the junipers. Had the bull briefly in an opening but was too quick. He went behind another juniper where we could not see him and proceeded to bed down. We waited for over an hr for him to get up. We did not want to move our position in fear of getting caught by one of the cows. Reno was up on the hill cow calling but the wind was too much and the elk could not hear him. Finally the wind let down and we heard him call much louder. The bull then responded with a bugle and moved through one of the small lanes. Too quick for an accurate range and to get a shot. He then turned came back to the lane, feeding. But all that I could see was his antlers and a bit of his head. Finally he stepped into the lane but was hard quartering to. Almost frontal. I don't much like the frontal shots. Smaller target and a lot that can go wrong. I decided that it was now or never and got dialed for the 550y shot. Right after the shot broke you could hear the thwap of the bullet impact. Dumped him like a sack of taters! Holy cow! I got my bull. We watched him for what seemed like forever. Not even a twitch. We broke down and started to head toward him. After about 100y of walking I see him lift his head. Oh no!! I quickly get set back in the tripod and get dialed for the 460y shot. He was still nearly facing us. Crack, thwap! He humped and staggered behind the juniper to the right. He then comes out from behind the juniper, probably moved about 10y, and drops to his knees with only his hind end up. I moved about 15y to my right to get a clear lane. He had stood back up now and I hit him broadside through both lungs. Crack, thwap! He was down for good. In reality he did not need the 3rd shot. The second shot broke his shoulder and went through the onside lung. He wasn't going anywhere but it is a good policy with elk to shoot them again if they get their feet. The first shot I hit a bit higher than I wanted. The bullet went into his neck and ran along his spine and into the top of his lungs. If I had been an inch to the right it would have broke his neck and he would have never got back up. After about 2 foot of penetration down the neck the bullet just didn't have enough left to damage the lungs enough to bleed out quickly. If I had hit my aim point, it would have been center chest and one and done. It was a bit more intense than wanted! All in all I can't complain about my shooting and bullet performance was very good. It was now starting to get dark and we needed to break him down into game bags and get him hung up in a tree for the night and return in the morning to pack him out the mile or so to the truck. This is the biggest bull I have ever taken. We all guessed him at 340". He taped out at 331 and a fraction. He would have been 340 if he had not been missing half of one eye guard and a couple of tips. Doesn't matter to me, he is spectacular.
Now it is Brian's turn. We have two and a half days left to find another big one. We found a big mature bull that night but he was missing half of one side. The next morning we found a herd of about 200 and watched them head into the timber to bed for the day. They were quite a ways out but we thought there was a couple of good bulls watching in the spotting scope. We made a plan for Brian and Erin to slip into a patch of junipers that would have them at give or take 500y from where we thought they would come back out in the evening. Reno and I stayed back on the side of a mountain a couple of miles away and watched. Sure enough they came out right where we wanted! Elk after elk and about a half a dozen mature bulls, but nothing in the class of bull Brian was holding out for. The plan was perfect but he just didn't show up! Now we are down to the last day. We hunted that morning and passed up another bull that was about 300" or so. In hind site Brian probably should have shot that one. At lunch we heard from some of the other guides that they had seen a group of elk go into the timber near a water hole. They could not tell for sure what they were but they thought there was a mature bull in the group. We made a plan to go and put a hunt on this small group of elk. We drove to near where the elk were thought to be bedded for the day. Got to a vantage point and watched for a couple of hrs. Nothing. We then decided to sneak into the timber where they were supposed to be. We got into the timber onto a little high knob. Reno did a few cow calls. We were glassing an watching the water hole that was out at about 700y. Pretty soon there was some movement down below us. A spike snuck in to see what was going on. He came into about 30y and then wandered off. We then saw some branch antlers. Brian got set up on a shooting lane. We are in the final hour of the hunt. Now he is going to take the first legal bull that presents a shot. A bull steps into this lane at 220y and gave him a frontal shot. Crack, thwap! Bull drops to the shot and never gets up. Brian was once again shooting the 7 saum with the 154gr Hammer HHT prototype. Bullet entered center of the chest and took out the lungs. Bullet penetrated about 4' back into the paunch. There was half a dozen bulls in the group. Brian's bull is a five by seven rag horn and there was no big boy in the group. The biggest one was probably about a 300 class bull.
When we got to Brian's bull to do the chores, it just so happened that he was in an old Indian ruin site. You could see where they had stacked rocks for dwellings and such. Looking around we found a bunch of small pieces of broken pottery. Some of it very old and some more modern. You could see how the quality of the pottery got better over time. Very cool stuff.
I will add some pictures of this shortly. And hopefully we will soon be adding another elk story. Brian is currently in the Missouri Breaks hunting a trophy bull. He started Saturday. I haven't heard from him yet.
This year we are hunting with some new prototype Hammer HHT bullets. We are now jumping into the "High" bc bullet designs. We decided that we have the designs for fitting factory magazines and weights for twist rates that are common pretty well covered. Now we can jump into designing bullets that will be long for caliber with aggressive ogive and boat tails. The are long for their weight and will fast twist for their weight and may have to single feed in some rifles, particularly factory. Everything that we have designed so far is running at about a .9 form factor. This is very good and in line with the highest bc bullets from Berger. The one that doesn't quite get that high a form factor is the little 89gr .257 cal. Just doesn't have enough weight to get that high. Enough of that, I will start a different thread on these when we launch them.
Season started off with Eric headed up to Alaska for a DIY caribou hunt. He used a 25-284 running the 107gr Hammer HHT prototype. He took his caribou with a frontal shot that exited the opposite side hind quarter. Great straight line penetration and quick terminal performance. He then went on an antelope hunt and took a buck with the same combo a couple weeks ago. I am hoping that he will chime in here and fill in his details.
Two weeks ago Brian and I headed out to Eastern MT to hunt antelope. We both took nice mature bucks. Nothing very big, about 12". I was running my 25-284 with the 89gr HHT running at 3450 fps. My buck was at 388y broad side. I had to shoot sitting and hugging my backpack for a rest because I could not lay down and shoot over the wheat field stubble. Not the most stable but I was able to make a good shot behind the shoulder but a bit high in the spine. A petal from the shedding nose took out both lungs so there was no follow up shots needed. Heck, he didn't even wiggle. Brian took his buck at the same basic yardage with his 7 SAUM running the 154gr Hammer HHT prototype. Broadside a bit forward through both shoulders. Our buddy Zac came on the trip with us and used his 300 rum with the 203gr Hammer HHT. We have a 192gr Hammer HHT prototype but there is no way he can get them in the factory Browning magazine and he did not want to single feed. He shot a doe at just over 300y.
Last week, two days after we got back from the antelope trip, Brian and I headed down to NM for a guided elk hunt. Our buddy Erin Throckmorton from Giving Back TV came with us to shoot another Hammer episode. We met Erin at his house in Great Falls and drove for the next 19 hrs in rain and snow storms almost the entire way. We took 3 to 4 hr driving shifts. Made it down there in the morning and got moved into the house on the concession with a couple other guys from Georgia. Kinda funny that they were both there from Georgia but did not know each other prior. We were hunting with Black Mountain Outfitters in unit 12. Very close to the Arizona boarder. The first morning we woke up to about 6" of snow. Two days prior it was in the mid to high eighties! Big change. For the most part it melted that day and then rained hard off and on the first two days. Made for some very muddy roads and extra heavy boots when hiking. Very similar country as where we hunt in the Missouri Breaks here in MT but with a lot of rock cliffs. It is really spectacular down there. I was first up for a bull on this trip since Brian shot a monster last year. We went on this trip to trophy hunt, so we were pretty selective to begin. We had a hard time finding big bulls that were not broken from fighting. The are seeing more broken antlers this year than usual because it has been so dry. The thinking is the nutrition was not good enough and the horns are a bit weaker than normal. On the second day we went to a piece of public land and hiked up to the top of a mesa, through the cliffs to where it was flat on top. From here we spent an hr or two glassing miles of country. We located some cows coming down off the side of the mountain and working their way toward us in a grassy drainage. We continued glassing around and keeping an eye on the progress of the cows. I took a look at them and a stellar bull stepped out from behind a juniper. We made a plan for Erin and I to cut the distance to the edge of the timber off the mesa and leave Reno (our guide) and Brian behind to watch from above. At the edge of the timber we were between 500y and 600y of the feeding elk. As we were sneaking into position we bumped two cows and calves with a spike. Fortunately they did not run into the ones we were after. I got all set up on my tripod for a standing shot. I am running a 7-08 built on a Falkor action with an 18" 1-8" twist Proof Sendero Light. Set in a MDT carbon fiber folding chassis with a Gunwerks 6ix suppressor. On paper this setup is good for 700y at the altitude. I felt like 600y was where I wanted to cut it off. So, basically we are right at the edge of my range. This rifle is running a 141gr Hammer HHT prototype at 2975 fps. All set up and watching the elk casually feed up the drainage, moving through shooting lanes in the junipers. Had the bull briefly in an opening but was too quick. He went behind another juniper where we could not see him and proceeded to bed down. We waited for over an hr for him to get up. We did not want to move our position in fear of getting caught by one of the cows. Reno was up on the hill cow calling but the wind was too much and the elk could not hear him. Finally the wind let down and we heard him call much louder. The bull then responded with a bugle and moved through one of the small lanes. Too quick for an accurate range and to get a shot. He then turned came back to the lane, feeding. But all that I could see was his antlers and a bit of his head. Finally he stepped into the lane but was hard quartering to. Almost frontal. I don't much like the frontal shots. Smaller target and a lot that can go wrong. I decided that it was now or never and got dialed for the 550y shot. Right after the shot broke you could hear the thwap of the bullet impact. Dumped him like a sack of taters! Holy cow! I got my bull. We watched him for what seemed like forever. Not even a twitch. We broke down and started to head toward him. After about 100y of walking I see him lift his head. Oh no!! I quickly get set back in the tripod and get dialed for the 460y shot. He was still nearly facing us. Crack, thwap! He humped and staggered behind the juniper to the right. He then comes out from behind the juniper, probably moved about 10y, and drops to his knees with only his hind end up. I moved about 15y to my right to get a clear lane. He had stood back up now and I hit him broadside through both lungs. Crack, thwap! He was down for good. In reality he did not need the 3rd shot. The second shot broke his shoulder and went through the onside lung. He wasn't going anywhere but it is a good policy with elk to shoot them again if they get their feet. The first shot I hit a bit higher than I wanted. The bullet went into his neck and ran along his spine and into the top of his lungs. If I had been an inch to the right it would have broke his neck and he would have never got back up. After about 2 foot of penetration down the neck the bullet just didn't have enough left to damage the lungs enough to bleed out quickly. If I had hit my aim point, it would have been center chest and one and done. It was a bit more intense than wanted! All in all I can't complain about my shooting and bullet performance was very good. It was now starting to get dark and we needed to break him down into game bags and get him hung up in a tree for the night and return in the morning to pack him out the mile or so to the truck. This is the biggest bull I have ever taken. We all guessed him at 340". He taped out at 331 and a fraction. He would have been 340 if he had not been missing half of one eye guard and a couple of tips. Doesn't matter to me, he is spectacular.
Now it is Brian's turn. We have two and a half days left to find another big one. We found a big mature bull that night but he was missing half of one side. The next morning we found a herd of about 200 and watched them head into the timber to bed for the day. They were quite a ways out but we thought there was a couple of good bulls watching in the spotting scope. We made a plan for Brian and Erin to slip into a patch of junipers that would have them at give or take 500y from where we thought they would come back out in the evening. Reno and I stayed back on the side of a mountain a couple of miles away and watched. Sure enough they came out right where we wanted! Elk after elk and about a half a dozen mature bulls, but nothing in the class of bull Brian was holding out for. The plan was perfect but he just didn't show up! Now we are down to the last day. We hunted that morning and passed up another bull that was about 300" or so. In hind site Brian probably should have shot that one. At lunch we heard from some of the other guides that they had seen a group of elk go into the timber near a water hole. They could not tell for sure what they were but they thought there was a mature bull in the group. We made a plan to go and put a hunt on this small group of elk. We drove to near where the elk were thought to be bedded for the day. Got to a vantage point and watched for a couple of hrs. Nothing. We then decided to sneak into the timber where they were supposed to be. We got into the timber onto a little high knob. Reno did a few cow calls. We were glassing an watching the water hole that was out at about 700y. Pretty soon there was some movement down below us. A spike snuck in to see what was going on. He came into about 30y and then wandered off. We then saw some branch antlers. Brian got set up on a shooting lane. We are in the final hour of the hunt. Now he is going to take the first legal bull that presents a shot. A bull steps into this lane at 220y and gave him a frontal shot. Crack, thwap! Bull drops to the shot and never gets up. Brian was once again shooting the 7 saum with the 154gr Hammer HHT prototype. Bullet entered center of the chest and took out the lungs. Bullet penetrated about 4' back into the paunch. There was half a dozen bulls in the group. Brian's bull is a five by seven rag horn and there was no big boy in the group. The biggest one was probably about a 300 class bull.
When we got to Brian's bull to do the chores, it just so happened that he was in an old Indian ruin site. You could see where they had stacked rocks for dwellings and such. Looking around we found a bunch of small pieces of broken pottery. Some of it very old and some more modern. You could see how the quality of the pottery got better over time. Very cool stuff.
I will add some pictures of this shortly. And hopefully we will soon be adding another elk story. Brian is currently in the Missouri Breaks hunting a trophy bull. He started Saturday. I haven't heard from him yet.
