kcebcj
Well-Known Member
Hunting with my son on my ranch in Idaho and took this little bull. This is the first time I have actually ranged a bull looked at the drop card dialed the scope and all I can say is it works and works well.
The wind was blowing really hard and raining lightly when the little 5 point bull came out of the timber across the canyon and a little below me following a cow. My son was above me somewhere on the ridge as we were working our way back to the quads and he probably spooked them. We had seen three bulls on this ridge the night before one of them being a good bull so to see this little bull was no surprise.
My range finder was in my pack and by the time I got to it, the elk had covered another hundred yards kind of quartering and climbing away from me across the canyon. Trying to hold the range finder still in the wind was hard and being on a steep open hillside there was nothing to rest on. The bull read 380 yards. Then I ranged the trail they were following where it went into the timber above at 460 yards. My rifle was lying across my legs as I was sitting. I dialed 5.75 into the scope from the drop chart cranked it to 10 power wedged my elbows into my knees and put the cross hair on the bull. I followed the bull as they neared the timber thinking if he did not stop I would not shoot. Then right at the edge of the timber the cow stopped and the bull stopped behind her. I did not like the look in the scope so I waited and **** if he didn't turn almost broadside and grabbed a mouth full of grass. The wind was blowing so hard that holding on was hard but when the crosshair moved behind his shoulder I let it go. He humped up spun around and was gone in the timber. The cow confused spun around and started back towards me. It was just a few seconds when the bull came out of the timber following the cow. I could see he was sick so I just followed him and as I knew he would he stop. I let another go as he wasn't that far away from where I had shot originally. That shot sent him straight down the hill into the timber and out of site.
My son beat me to him and put one shot into his neck and it was over. The first shot hit him too far back to put him down and the second was low and took out his right front leg. It was enough to put him on the ground. Not the best shooting but with the wind and shooting off the knees it worked out. The rifle is a 30-06 and I was using the 165gr Accubond but going to start using the 200gr as shot a nice buck two days later also at 460 yards with the same rifle using the 200gr Accubond and it was devastating to that buck. I hunt both for horns and meat but don't want to lose an animal so meat damage is of little importance.
Check out this video. It's the way we load elk in Idaho!
The wind was blowing really hard and raining lightly when the little 5 point bull came out of the timber across the canyon and a little below me following a cow. My son was above me somewhere on the ridge as we were working our way back to the quads and he probably spooked them. We had seen three bulls on this ridge the night before one of them being a good bull so to see this little bull was no surprise.
My range finder was in my pack and by the time I got to it, the elk had covered another hundred yards kind of quartering and climbing away from me across the canyon. Trying to hold the range finder still in the wind was hard and being on a steep open hillside there was nothing to rest on. The bull read 380 yards. Then I ranged the trail they were following where it went into the timber above at 460 yards. My rifle was lying across my legs as I was sitting. I dialed 5.75 into the scope from the drop chart cranked it to 10 power wedged my elbows into my knees and put the cross hair on the bull. I followed the bull as they neared the timber thinking if he did not stop I would not shoot. Then right at the edge of the timber the cow stopped and the bull stopped behind her. I did not like the look in the scope so I waited and **** if he didn't turn almost broadside and grabbed a mouth full of grass. The wind was blowing so hard that holding on was hard but when the crosshair moved behind his shoulder I let it go. He humped up spun around and was gone in the timber. The cow confused spun around and started back towards me. It was just a few seconds when the bull came out of the timber following the cow. I could see he was sick so I just followed him and as I knew he would he stop. I let another go as he wasn't that far away from where I had shot originally. That shot sent him straight down the hill into the timber and out of site.
My son beat me to him and put one shot into his neck and it was over. The first shot hit him too far back to put him down and the second was low and took out his right front leg. It was enough to put him on the ground. Not the best shooting but with the wind and shooting off the knees it worked out. The rifle is a 30-06 and I was using the 165gr Accubond but going to start using the 200gr as shot a nice buck two days later also at 460 yards with the same rifle using the 200gr Accubond and it was devastating to that buck. I hunt both for horns and meat but don't want to lose an animal so meat damage is of little importance.
Check out this video. It's the way we load elk in Idaho!
