Intersting find in my elk..

[david g ranes]

They're awful tough. I crossed a blood trail in the snow a few years ago, and could see that it's left front leg was broken and flopping around (not me that shot it). Losing blood steadily. So I took off tracking it. It had no trouble keeping ahead of me, up a mountain, over the top, down the backside and up another. All this in about 16" of snow. I never did see it, it didn't lay down long enough to stiffen up. I'm sick that I didn't get to put it out of its misery. D**n the man who took that shot.

No tougher than any wounded wild animal with the will to get away don't care what you shoot hit them good you will find it most people always think the shot was better than it was angles do strange things a degree or two either way makes a lot of difference never lost an animal shot through the lungs with a two blade broadhead out of a recurve or long bow it isn't rocket science. I just left the gun shop a 35 year old came in said needed new arrows and broadheads because something was wrong his boy shot a big Buck at 65 yards didn't get good penetration said he shot a deer himself this morning at 100 yds same thing it was equipment fault before I left I had to apologize to the gun shop owner for calling the guy stupid in his shop so shoot to kill and just poke and hope sorry for the rant but I'm still ****ed at that guy. David

 

[LTH181818]

It's funny that the OP mentions the 7 mag, Roy Hindes; famous deer dog tracker here in Texas says the number one call he gets to trail wounded deer is from being shot with a 7 mag.

View attachment 409103

Hunters could not handle the recoil, or it is used most?

 

[epoletna]

Thanks, Crkchkr. As a soaring pilot with a lot of wave flights, I know a little about A/C stress.

Grim story about the former F-I-L. understandable reaction on your part.

 

[dogz]

Piles and miles of speculation. Pass through, hit a branch or tree, long range, pistol, blah blah blah. Just a lot of variables that can easily be argued and none matter in the end since the real story will never be told. Some people go big or go home with theories in their pocket, others choose big to make up for potential poor shot placement, and some push the limits of any cartridge they use. The 6.5 caliber is more than capable of doing the job. The user may not be up for it or recognize the limits however. I'm mixed on the use, guiding lots of elk hunts and seeing a lot of success with a 6.5, doesn't mean it's the best choice but it does work. Never good to see or hear of any failure, but it happens.

Good words

To tough to referee this game that we didn't see, only guessing

Side note, most all of the 6.5's out there are more than elk capable!

As for the talk about what the guides have to say about Big 7's or whatever. The guide that is actually knowledgeable about cartridges and bullets are a rare breed. A lot of guides are darn good hunters, but darn poor ballisticians and even worst at keeping a client calm and cool and get them into a position to win. IMO and IME too darn many guides blow up the deal by not keeping their calm and cool as well keep the client cool. Then they blame the round not themselves!

Anyone who doesn't believe that the Big 7's and the 270 are darn fine elk rounds either have no experience in taking elk with these rounds and or they're **** poor shots!

 

[dogz]

I haven't shot an elk yet. A friend of mine works for the wildlife dept out west. He controls predator populations and does culling work. His gun is a 22-250 and he uses it on everything, including elk. I'm not sure what bullet he uses.

He invited me out to hunt elk and asked what I had to hunt with. I quickly replied that I had a crossbow and he said that wasn't legal there. I told him the only deer rifle I had was my 22-250. He said very seriously "that'll work just fine". I was a little shocked and asked him about it, and he said that he has killed piles of elk with it and never lost one. He said most people who show up to hunt cant shoot or are scared of their gun. He told me if you poke em in the ribs or brain, they go down. I have shot whitetail with my 22-250 and it's a fabulous killer.

I was too busy to make it out this year, but hopefully next year I can get a nice cow elk. (I'm not a trophy hunter)

I've used the 22/250 more than a bit at elk (as have several of my friends) and yes it does just fine. A 55 Horn w/c, 63 Sierra, 60 Horn sp or hp and the old Nosler solid bases will kill them just fine. I prefer to keep the range to 300 or less. Doink them behind the front and they'll kill over just fine

Last winter I had a couple of elk front leg bones so I took them to the range. I hung them on the 100 yard target butt and with the first one I shot the big knuckle joint with a 140 Berger out of my .270. The blew on thru, blew up the joint and punch right on thru the target behind with zero problem.

I hung the blades and on one of them I used my 63 Sierra out of my 22/250 and it punched thru just fine and then went thru the target spot on. Same with my 60 Horn HP.................killing elk just isn't rocket science unless one chooses to make it such!

 

[the gman]

A bunch of Fudd-lore here that's been passed around for years.

Most EU countries require you display proficiency with a rifle prior to obtaining a hunting license.

Not in the UK. If you can get the firearms certificate with a condition to allow hunting (usually have to show you have somewhere to hunt, as there is no public land to hunt on so its private hunting with permission or a lease) you can go hunting. We call it shooting because there's no need to hunt anything much, just show up. If deer are damaging crops, you can get a license to shoot them at night with a spotlight if needed.

I've lived in the US since 2005 and I miss 4 things about the UK: my family, the food, the hunting and socialized medicine. I used to go hunting nearly every day in the summer, raised pheasants to be released and shot in the winter, shot rabbits by the truck load, (literally, once shot over 200 in one night then sold them the next morning to a local butcher buddy, selling game is legal there) and with the long seasons and no tags, I ate a lot of deer, birds and other game. Good times but the UK is screwed politically so I'm happier here.

 

[Mr. Magoo]

Piles and miles of speculation. Pass through, hit a branch or tree, long range, pistol, blah blah blah. Just a lot of variables that can easily be argued and none matter in the end since the real story will never be told. Some people go big or go home with theories in their pocket, others choose big to make up for potential poor shot placement, and some push the limits of any cartridge they use. The 6.5 caliber is more than capable of doing the job. The user may not be up for it or recognize the limits however. I'm mixed on the use, guiding lots of elk hunts and seeing a lot of success with a 6.5, doesn't mean it's the best choice but it does work. Never good to see or hear of any failure, but it happens.

I'm mostly trying to study the effects of velocity, bullet construction and terminal effects where I have the opportunity, to figure out a good universal cartridge, load and bullet to use for myself so that I can use one setup for anything under the sun that I'll hunt and become extremely proficient with it. In this case I think it's going to be more than I'm shooting now since I'd like to stretch my range out if for nothing else than to be more well rounded in my skills, and take shots when they present themselves (not getting any younger lol).

I think we can at least infer that since I found no other bullet fragments in the area that the bullet passed through something that absorbed the rest of the bullet at a quite high velocity before hitting my elk.

 

[Mr. Magoo]

I've used the 22/250 more than a bit at elk (as have several of my friends) and yes it does just fine. A 55 Horn w/c, 63 Sierra, 60 Horn sp or hp and the old Nosler solid bases will kill them just fine. I prefer to keep the range to 300 or less. Doink them behind the front and they'll kill over just fine

Last winter I had a couple of elk front leg bones so I took them to the range. I hung them on the 100 yard target butt and with the first one I shot the big knuckle joint with a 140 Berger out of my .270. The blew on thru, blew up the joint and punch right on thru the target behind with zero problem.

I hung the blades and on one of them I used my 63 Sierra out of my 22/250 and it punched thru just fine and then went thru the target spot on. Same with my 60 Horn HP.................killing elk just isn't rocket science unless one chooses to make it such!

Yes, testing is key! Its one of the things I advocate in alot of areas, not just hunting. The 22-250 i used to own (got stolen) was my go- to gun for just about anything besides elk because I had the utmost confidence in it because i tested with it. It was a killing machine with those bonded soft points.

 

[Mr. Magoo]

Pretty sure it was a pass through. A bullet has to go through some stuff to look like that. If it wasn't a pass through, then it was the crappiest bullet ever and going about as fast as an arrow. I have recovered bullets on the far hide that looked just like that.

As far as performance preference, two holes are better than one, but dynamite in the chest is worth more than two holes in a deer. They can't go far without vital organs...or a brain.

Thats a very accurate statement..i like it

 

[Hard rock]

Crack Checker... I was an aircraft inspector at an airline until my retirement. I was pretty good at finding cracks in stuff! You were thinking something dirty, weren't you?!

My (ex) father-in-law and I were in Montana hunting pronghorns. He says, you're pretty good at spotting these things, how about you find me a real nice one to shoot? I says, sure! So we go out to spot & stalk. I see one maybe 600 yards out, so we sneak in a bit closer, since I don't think he can make more than about a 200 yard shot at most, him using that same 7mm mag and scope (I had by this time painted an alignment stripe on it so he could easily see if it had moved). So we get up fairly close, laying down, me using binos and him using his scope (I tried really hard to break him of that nasty habit but never could, he just refused to carry binos, even though most of his hunting was done from a vehicle!). So looking this goat over I says, I think we should pass on this one, he's not that good. In reply I hear "boom" as he lets a round go from his cannon. He hits the goat... right in the lower jaw, removing it completely! Ah, rats! says I. Mr. GWH never bothers to fire another shot while this this dazed and confused goat takes off. My 270 is back in the vehicle. Me: choot 'em! GWH: total silence. Doesn't even rack another round into the chamber! Me: !#$%&!
So I hoof it back to the vehicle as quickly as my gimpy foot allows (motorcycle accident) and retrieve ExCaliber (the only rifle I own with a name, because anyone can pick it up and kill something with it) and the chase is on. I can barely see the goat by now as he heads out over hill and dale, so back we go to the truck again. By this time he's saying, Ah, we'll never see him again, let's just go find another one. I say: No way! You tagged him, he's yours! We are not going to let that animal bleed or starve to death! So the chase was on!
I followed him using whatever roads the local ranchers had cut as best I could. I finally got to within a few hundred yards of him. He had run out of gas and was actually trying to graze! I felt horrible but not my (already former, in my mind) hunting partner. I get out (alone, he stayed in the truck) and try a shot I am purely guessing at, since the longest range I'd ever actually shot this rifle was 200 yards! I knew the "abouts" from a computer program I had (Baltec, if anyone is actually old enough to remember back that far!) and it was pretty close but I only had it charted on my scope to 400 yards and right now I'm guessing this poor animal is out there at least 500 yards. So I lay down with my bipod and take a poke. No idea where the bullet hit but it was close enough to make him move a few yards... farther out, of course. I try another one and this time I see the splash way too short. I try another and get close enough to make him trot away. Back to the truck and off again! Clearly I need to get closer to him. GWH is still trying to talk me into letting the animal go and "let nature take it's course." I say, nature didn't have a thing to do with this! I was really kind of mad by this time and the more he talked, the madder I got. Grrrr.
So I get us up to within maybe 300 yards and I'm thinking this is perfect! I get out and start my sneak, hoping he doesn't move. I'm within 200 yards now and open the bipod and find a good spot. I don't even get him in the scope and he starts to run! WTH? I look back and here's the GWH standing on the ridgeline watching me! Arrrgh! I turn back and now our wounded warrior is out there, maybe 400 yards. I settle down and take a poke... right over his back! !##$%$&!! He takes off again and runs another couple hundred yards and stops. I take another poke and don't see a splash but he runs a bit farther. What else can go wrong? I'm ready to cry! I guess at a hold over since he's now about 700 yards out and hail Mary another shot. He stands there for a second then flops over. Doesn't kick or anything, DRT. The hunting gods have smiled upon my 130 Partition and put it right between his ribs, just a bit behind his shoulder! Its finally over!

Anyone want to take a bet as to who dressed the animal out and but him in the back of the truck... alone? No? No one? Well, good guess, because the GWH sat in the truck with the heater on, talking to his daughter (my now-ex witch) about his hard headed son-in-law while I did the work. I was not in least surprised but to be honest, I wasn't really in the mood for company anyway. And that was the last time I hunted with him, although... his daughter did manage a perfect shot on a walking deer at 200 yards with her .243 a few days later. He had never even considered letting his wife or daughters go hunting with him before. I was as proud of her as her mother was, since she was with us too! And bought a tag herself, deciding that she could do it. And she did, too. I think it rocked the GWH's world a bit, and for that I felt much better about the longest shot I had ever even tried on animal. I paced that shot off, by the way, at just over 700 yards, give a few either way!
The End (finally!)
Cheers,
crkckr

What I want too know is how did you put a alignment stripe on that goat

 

[Predator 22]

Piles and miles of speculation. Pass through, hit a branch or tree, long range, pistol, blah blah blah. Just a lot of variables that can easily be argued and none matter in the end since the real story will never be told. Some people go big or go home with theories in their pocket, others choose big to make up for potential poor shot placement, and some push the limits of any cartridge they use. The 6.5 caliber is more than capable of doing the job. The user may not be up for it or recognize the limits however. I'm mixed on the use, guiding lots of elk hunts and seeing a lot of success with a 6.5, doesn't mean it's the best choice but it does work. Never good to see or hear of any failure, but it happens.

Most accurate statement in the hole thread. All speculation here.
I've killed a pile of elk, both cows and bulls, with 6.5's. Never had one get away. Only shot one twice, didn't need it but he took a couple wobbly steps and stopped so he got another one.

 

[RockyMtnUT]

Oh man that's crazy. 22 huh.

Im surpise we dont find more damage from antlers.

My very first elk came walking up through the top of a canyon after a bunch of shooting in the canyoin below. Really nice 5x7. I nailed it solid through the heart but it kept going and i had to trail it for 300 yards. Came upon it and found it had 6 or 7 rounds through the guts, butt, neck, and leg. Those 6 guys that had shot it all to hell but not hit the vitals came up to me while my dad was showing me how to gut it and decided they wanted it more than me. Got a little western for a minute. I let them have it after telling them what I thought of them and their hunting skills.

Bs. Heart shot, travel 300 yards.

 

[Mr. Magoo]

Bs. Heart shot travel 300 yards.

You probably will continue to call bs till you've seen it in real life, but im sure there are some here who have experienced the same. It blew my mind at the time but I have a dr friend who had trauma patients with puncured/ lacerated hearts from gunshot and made it through. It is not automatically an immediate death sentence (depending on where it's hit).


It was my lesson on how a wounded animal, with a hole in its heart and a broken front shoulder can keep going with enough adrenaline going. It's also the reason I dont shoot for the heart specifically anymore. Lung shots have proven to bring them down quicker.

The heart wasn't 'blown up' but bullet did pass through and made a decent hole through it. The bullet had hit a large bone in the shoulder first, and since I never finished gutting it I never found the bullet or the fragment that went through heart.

 

[Hard rock]

You probably will continue to call bs till you've seen it in real life, but im sure there are some here who have experienced the same. It blew my mind at the time but I have a dr friend who had trauma patients with puncured/ lacerated hearts from gunshot and made it through. It is not automatically an immediate death sentence (depending on where it's hit).


It was my lesson on how a wounded animal, with a hole in its heart and a broken front shoulder can keep going with enough adrenaline going. It's also the reason I dont shoot for the heart specifically anymore. Lung shots have proven to bring them down quicker.

The heart wasn't 'blown up' but bullet did pass through and made a decent hole through it. The bullet had hit a large bone in the shoulder first, and since I never finished gutting it I never found the bullet or the fragment that went through heart.

Until the lungs collapse they can keep going , some farther than others , Adrenaline and a will too survive.