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My wife's first elk

Congratulations.

18 degrees shouldn't be an issue for any rifle or gun oil unless water froze up where it doesn't belong. If you left the rifle in the truck overnight and drive to and from your hunting area, then it is possible it went through several freeze thaw cycles with condensation seeping where gravity allows.

I don't see my truck until my hunt is over but even in my tent, I'll keep the bolt open on my rifle so moisture isn't trapped
 
central iowa couple said:
Hello everyone ! We just finished up our hunt in Colorado, first rifle. My wife got her first elk, a 5x5. She nailed it at 320 yds, one shot after an exciting beginning. We spotted the bull real early before shooting light in a meadow. Got as close as we dare on foot, crawled on hands and knees for final 50 yds. I left my browning xbolt 7mm rem mag lay in weeds as i wanted to film the shot and it was awkward with rifle in one hand and camera in other. We made it to a rock we could kneel behind. I took off my sweatshirt for her to lay her browning x bolt on for padding. She took her time , got steady. She was shooting a 6.5 prc with 124 hammers. The elk turned broadside...she squeezed....click. I thought...no round in chamber. Wrong. She did everything right. She ejected the round, no mark on primer. Crap. Tried 2nd time....click. third time click. I took her bolt out and put it in my shirt, blew on it, wrapped my hand around it to thaw it out. We had left the rifles in the truck overnight. Kim put a new magazine in. I put the bolt in. She aimed....click. thank god the elk was still grazing. We atleast had a very small dent in the primers. Our guide crawled back retrieved my 7 mm for her to use. Now she's only 5' 2", I'm 6'4". My rifle was set up way long for her. So she stretched out with the butt down her arm, not on her shoulder. Kinda funny she thought the scope was going to nail her head. But she aimed, sent the 143 hammer. It hit the elk, double lung, it trotted 30 yds toward us. And stopped. The guide and i were whispering.....hit him again. Kim was watching through the scope. He was facing us so she didn't shoot. He started wobbling....fell over. Total of 5 seconds from shot to on ground. We both shoot suppressed so we heard the hammer hit with a big whop. The round went completely through him. I was so dang happy for her. She had put in a bunch of hard miles on the last 2 hunts to get him. I was real impressed with how cool she stayed under pressure of the rounds not going off. We both use the same scope so the looking through the scope was exactly the same. I was glad we practiced a ton over the years.View attachment 305935
View attachment 305936View attachment 305937View attachment 305938View attachment 305940
Click to expand...
Congrats, very nice bull....
 
central iowa couple said:
Hello everyone ! We just finished up our hunt in Colorado, first rifle. My wife got her first elk, a 5x5. She nailed it at 320 yds, one shot after an exciting beginning. We spotted the bull real early before shooting light in a meadow. Got as close as we dare on foot, crawled on hands and knees for final 50 yds. I left my browning xbolt 7mm rem mag lay in weeds as i wanted to film the shot and it was awkward with rifle in one hand and camera in other. We made it to a rock we could kneel behind. I took off my sweatshirt for her to lay her browning x bolt on for padding. She took her time , got steady. She was shooting a 6.5 prc with 124 hammers. The elk turned broadside...she squeezed....click. I thought...no round in chamber. Wrong. She did everything right. She ejected the round, no mark on primer. Crap. Tried 2nd time....click. third time click. I took her bolt out and put it in my shirt, blew on it, wrapped my hand around it to thaw it out. We had left the rifles in the truck overnight. Kim put a new magazine in. I put the bolt in. She aimed....click. thank god the elk was still grazing. We atleast had a very small dent in the primers. Our guide crawled back retrieved my 7 mm for her to use. Now she's only 5' 2", I'm 6'4". My rifle was set up way long for her. So she stretched out with the butt down her arm, not on her shoulder. Kinda funny she thought the scope was going to nail her head. But she aimed, sent the 143 hammer. It hit the elk, double lung, it trotted 30 yds toward us. And stopped. The guide and i were whispering.....hit him again. Kim was watching through the scope. He was facing us so she didn't shoot. He started wobbling....fell over. Total of 5 seconds from shot to on ground. We both shoot suppressed so we heard the hammer hit with a big whop. The round went completely through him. I was so dang happy for her. She had put in a bunch of hard miles on the last 2 hunts to get him. I was real impressed with how cool she stayed under pressure of the rounds not going off. We both use the same scope so the looking through the scope was exactly the same. I was glad we practiced a ton over the years.View attachment 305935
View attachment 305936View attachment 305937View attachment 305938View attachment 305940
Click to expand...
Congrats to you and your wife and a great story too
 
Congratulations to the shooter! Great job staying focused under pressure. Thanks for the detailed post. Thanks for the pictures.
 
I had a similar experience deer hunting. It was exactly 18*F that morning. "Click, click, click...deer gone and my teenage son is shaking the stand he is laughing so hard and trying not to make noise.

Dissassembled the bolt, cleaned and left completely dry and replaced the striker spring with a Wolff Extra Strength spring. So now I have total confidence in the rifle (Win Model 70) that will never happen again no matter how cold it is.
 
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