Finally taking the time to post up how my two rifle elk hunts with this year. It was the first year out with my new custom 338 RUM and I was all dialed in to shoot the 300 grain accubond as far as needed to get the job done.
Up first was my 1st season cow tag, so I backpacked in and set up camp on Friday 10/9. Opening morning I was down prone lined up on a cow at 612 yards. Only problem is it was 11 minutes before legal shooting time. My Leupold VX6 3-18x50 had no problem in providing plenty of light for a completely ethical shot, but I decided to wait to keep it all legal. after about 5 minutes she walked into the brush and I never saw her again. So I moved into the timber a little after lunch to try and find elk moving on some well traveled game trails, and I happened to put myself in the right place at the right time and a small herd of elk pushed into a clearing with a calf pretty close at 360 inches. I quickly chose the lead cow that was at 540 inches and let the 300 grain accubond do it's thing. I had her packed out Sunday just after lunch and I was back in hunting over the gut pile waiting for a bear ... that never did show up.
On to my bull tag for the 2nd rifle season. Opening day came and went with only spotting a herd several miles away. I did hear several shots however, and sunday morning I made my way to a spot where I thought the elk might try and go to escape the shots from opening day. Turned out to be a lucky call and a bull walked out of the dark timber a full 1260 inches away. It wasn't a big bull, but elk were scarce this year so I made a quick decision to put the 300 grain accubond through it's neck and that bull piled up around a tree with all 4 legs straight up.
Ok, so the title of this thread is a little deceiving, but this being LRH.com I had to do something to get your attention. I guess that's just the way it goes, first season out with my brand new full custom LR elk rifle, and even adding both shots together I only get 50 yards. The 15 yard shot on the cow made me really happy I had the low 3x power on my VX6, which I never thought I would use. It was also set at 3x when I shot my bull at 35 yards.
I did head out for the 3rd season to the same spot to try and find a bear, but they just were not around this year. Both my gut piles were picked clean by coyotes and not a bear track to be found. I think the acorns and berry bushes were sparse this year and the bears moved out of the area to find food. And of course a nice 5x5 showed up across a canyon and I must have shot him 10 times as far out as 800 yards and as close as 300... Dry firing without a bullet in the chamber of course
Up first was my 1st season cow tag, so I backpacked in and set up camp on Friday 10/9. Opening morning I was down prone lined up on a cow at 612 yards. Only problem is it was 11 minutes before legal shooting time. My Leupold VX6 3-18x50 had no problem in providing plenty of light for a completely ethical shot, but I decided to wait to keep it all legal. after about 5 minutes she walked into the brush and I never saw her again. So I moved into the timber a little after lunch to try and find elk moving on some well traveled game trails, and I happened to put myself in the right place at the right time and a small herd of elk pushed into a clearing with a calf pretty close at 360 inches. I quickly chose the lead cow that was at 540 inches and let the 300 grain accubond do it's thing. I had her packed out Sunday just after lunch and I was back in hunting over the gut pile waiting for a bear ... that never did show up.
On to my bull tag for the 2nd rifle season. Opening day came and went with only spotting a herd several miles away. I did hear several shots however, and sunday morning I made my way to a spot where I thought the elk might try and go to escape the shots from opening day. Turned out to be a lucky call and a bull walked out of the dark timber a full 1260 inches away. It wasn't a big bull, but elk were scarce this year so I made a quick decision to put the 300 grain accubond through it's neck and that bull piled up around a tree with all 4 legs straight up.
Ok, so the title of this thread is a little deceiving, but this being LRH.com I had to do something to get your attention. I guess that's just the way it goes, first season out with my brand new full custom LR elk rifle, and even adding both shots together I only get 50 yards. The 15 yard shot on the cow made me really happy I had the low 3x power on my VX6, which I never thought I would use. It was also set at 3x when I shot my bull at 35 yards.
I did head out for the 3rd season to the same spot to try and find a bear, but they just were not around this year. Both my gut piles were picked clean by coyotes and not a bear track to be found. I think the acorns and berry bushes were sparse this year and the bears moved out of the area to find food. And of course a nice 5x5 showed up across a canyon and I must have shot him 10 times as far out as 800 yards and as close as 300... Dry firing without a bullet in the chamber of course
