The American Way ? ... Oh wait .... that's one of my "other" personas. This is an update on the otherwise (Beeeg-Horn) Sheep hunters, who after (2) 12 hour days of driving, had made their way Eastward from Portlando, reclaimed their trailer out of storage near Ogden Utah and motored on South, through Moab, Monticello ... stopping just short of Springerville/Eager AZ. The next morning, after being awakened by the sweet music of bugling bulls ... they head into town. Filled the tanks with diesel, then they hit a nearby Mickey-D's for some breakfast sliders.
Who should they spot sitting in the restaurant, but 2 out-of-state Archery Elk hunters, who were just finishing up their hunt (in units 1, 2B 2C). They had taken a 320 class 6x6 and complained about how all the really-big Bulls they were bugling in, always seemed to hang-up, between 100-125 yards out. When Chris mentioned that he had a muzzle-loader tag for the units upcoming season, they couldn't whip out the maps fast enough and share some of their knowledge of the unit, that they had gleaned over the previous 2 weeks of hunting. - - - An afternoon drive past a nearby lake, let them spot a herd of 18 elk, with a 6x6 bull as herd master. The herd was just far-enough out of the camp area, to be on N-Forest lands ... buy alas, the season wasn't to open for 3 more days and the Bull didn't meet the "criteria" anyway. As they scouted a nearby mountain, they encountered a bachelor band of young Rams ... all apparently the same age (showing just past 1/2 curl). - - - A second call today, confirmed that they have been set-up in a great camp spot ... with some cell-coverage spots close to camp, so I'm hoping for faster updates. They are being kept awake at night by bulls bugling on both sides of their trailer, but the Bulls are quite nocturnal ... sounding off from around 11pm to 5am. He want's me to overnight him an infrared-scope for the CVA muzzle-loader. Mostly seeing cows and smaller bulls ... with the big guys in hiding during the daylight. The season starts tomorrow .. the 23rd ... and runs to the 29th.
Hope he Whacks a Big-un (360+) in the first 3 or 4 days, so he and his bro' can head right back up to Wyoming for Laramie Bighorns, Part-Deux.
. . . Silver Bullet
E=MC^2 ... 168gr TSX, just an "Einstein" below the Speed-O-Light
Meanwhile back at the ranch, with Tonto bravely disguised as a door knob,,,,
Keep us posted!!!!!
Founder Ancient Order of the 1895 Winchester
"Come, shall we go and kill us venison? And yet it irks me the poor dappled fools, Being native burghers of this desert city, Should in their own confines with forked heads Have their round haunches gored."
Chris called in tonight. Apparently he shot a bull on Friday, opening day ... (er: evening) ... at last light. Branch bull, herding his 6-7 cows and trying to keep 2 other 6x6 bulls at bay. Lots of bugling and posturing going on. Wasn't sure of the quality of the hit ... 120 yard kneeling shot. Other bulls kept right on bugling ... lots of cows “ker-spoding ” <--- (a technical term) up/out of nearby draws. He flagged the shot spot ... then backed out rather than spook him. It was down in the 20's overnight ... they’re up at 7,500+ feet. Quickly located the bull next am ... he had only gone 100 yards. Double lunged ... .45 cal hole in ... 1+ 1/4" out. Taking out ribs on both entry/exit. The 250gr Barnes muzzle-loader "Boolit" is still going ... last seen headed toward Mexico ! Looked for but couldn’t find the empty cartridge ... (Oh Wait, muzzle-loader) ... ! Heavy massed (like a coastal Roosevelt) 7x7 ... both bases were 11-3/4" diam ...typical 6x6 frame, with some palmation at the top and a scorable 7th point on each side ... with "Character". - - - The terrain was mostly gentle rolling hills, with tall old growth Ponderosa Pines, small patches of undergrowth and lots of grass ... very Park-like. He said only three of the bulls they had seen over 5 days (4 scout, 1 hunt), were rag-horns ... everything else was 6x6 or better.
They are packed-out (only 500 level yards from a drivable road), boned-out, caped-out and sleeping in a motel in Springerville/Eagar AZ overnight (trailer is pretty "full" as they added a small chest freezer before the trip). Plan to drive non-stop 12-13 hrs tomorrow, back North to the Wyoming Bighorn camp site ... Will drop the elk meat for processing in Wheatland, before heading into the Laramie mountains. With Monday as a travel day ... they will have 5 days to hunt/scout "together", before John flies back home. - - - I am awaiting a cell-phone photo ... maybe tomorrow ? . . . Silver Bullet
"Come, shall we go and kill us venison? And yet it irks me the poor dappled fools, Being native burghers of this desert city, Should in their own confines with forked heads Have their round haunches gored."
Tonoto, you head into town, hang around barber-shop. Try to overhear the plans of the outlaws, while they get their monthly shave (and a few hairs-cut). I will stay here ... wash my never dirty Powder-Blue long sleeve shirt, kerchief and mask .... then take a nap while they all dry out. After you are discovered (and beaten up) by the locals, hurry back here and report to me. - - - Just found a single Elk photo on my cell-phone. Will post in a moment.
Silver Bullet
Evil Kneivel, to a Blonde bimbo reporter, who asked him (just prior to his Snake-River canyon jump attempt). "Why does your helmet cost over $750 ? " "Lady ... if ya' only got a $10 head ... wear a $10 Helmet."
Here's the only photo I’ve received, of Chris with his opening-day (er: evening) Arizona Bull. 120 yard kneeling shot at dusk, 250gr Barnes all-copper TEZ saboted muzzle-loader "boolit", from a new (Virgin) CVA 30” barreled front-stuffer ... using 110grs Triple-7 (synthetic black-powder) pellets (a 60+50 gr pellet) ignited by T-7 primers. Double lung pass-through ... impacted about 2” higher than aim point. Enough smoke (in the cold air) that it was hard to follow the Elks reaction. Chris was alone at the shot ... as Bro’ held back, due to lack of cover.
It’s hard to tell from a head-on photo, as I can’t get a good read on the front 4. Nice mass, which he carries on up though the 5th points. It’s almost as if the 4th points were “extras” and the 5ths should be considered the 4ths. For scale, though he is kneeling, Chris is 6-2”. The Bulls left beam (with the huge vertical 5th point) goes palmated (flat) beyond where he is supporting it ... then runs back past him, to where it forks ... to create the 6th and 7th points. The Bulls right beam (a more typical) 7-point shows (in that light angle) how “knarley” the surface is. I always like to see that rugged look vs. a smooth surface appearance in the main beams and even in the points. - - - A side shot or two would really help, but main-beam lengths appear to be in the 50-54” range. I’ll guess it will gross between 350 and 365 as a non-typical. While the rack is narrow, he said the main beam lengths made it appear to be a butt-scratcher, when viewed broadside just before the shot. - - - The background was truly representative of the rolling Park-like Ponderosa-Pine country that they were hunting in. It’s Goldilocks country .... where it's difficult to see/shoot over 200 yards (often closes down to 150 or even 100 yards). In other words ... almost too-open for archery hunters and yet "just-right" for muzzle-loaders. I can see why the Archery hunters complained that they often called in (or snuck-in) on bugling bulls ... were able to identify and judge them ... but it was difficult to get within a 30-40 yard shot-range.
. . . Silver Bullet
We now return to our regularly-scheduled ... Wyoming Bighorn hunt.
"Come, shall we go and kill us venison? And yet it irks me the poor dappled fools, Being native burghers of this desert city, Should in their own confines with forked heads Have their round haunches gored."
Here's the tale of the tape ... on the Arizona 7x7 Elk (photoed above), from cousin Chris's Muzzle-loader hunt. I dropped it off at his taxidermist last week.
Ins-spread . . . . 33-5 . . . . . . . . ----- Gross . . . 345-3/8 - - - - The main beams were each a couple inches longer than I had estimated, the mass was right on ... but the lack of overall tine-length and the mere 33 inches of inside spread kept the gross score down. A rack with 14's and 15's on the front end doesn't get you there ... but as he said ... with the overall mass and palmation at the end of the left beam ... the rack has "Character".
While this Bull was a first-day selection, he mentioned that the bulls from the nearby reservation had seemed to learned from the prior (extended) archery season, that if they strayed off the reservation and onto National Forest lands ... that guys dressed like shrubs, were going to start flinging pointy sticks at them. It was much safer to not jump over the short 3-strand barb-wire boundary fence ... no matter how horny (er: sexy) that "invisible" cow sounded.
Having previously shot lots of Bull Elk .. and knowing that if he shot a Bull early in this short 7-day season, that he could head back up to Wyomoing and get several more days of Bighorn sheep hunting in ... he may have compromised a little, on holding-out for da' Biggest one in the unit.
... Silver Bullet
It's just like Dancing-with-the-Stars ... without the Stars ... (or the Dancing)
In recounting his story concerning the actual muzzle-loader shot and shot placement, I was very glad that he followed some of my suggestions. He has always been a sneaky/stealthy hunter and often shoots his Bull in Idaho, at under 90 yards ... sometimes at under 20 yards. This is the very same country, where my average shot would likely be 380 yards.
He's complained that his 3-10x scope (set on 3x) is filled with Elk hair, when he goes to aim/shoot. At those ranges and normally shooting his "old-faithful" .300 Win mag with 180gr Speer G-S bullets, he tends to literally aim at the top of the heart ... taking out the Elks plumbing, while leaving the heart intact (and edible).
That approach takes a "calm", steady, solid aim, good trigger control, a fairly accurate rifle and a "shooting-window", through the brush/trees.
I pointed out that when launching a 250gr .45 caliber Barnes all-copper bullet (at 1930 fps) into a broadside Elk ... you don't have to worry about penetration or expansion .. and therefore ... your aim doesn't need to be quite as "precise". While his scoped M-L rifle was accurate to 300 yards, the expected shot distances in Arizona were under 200 yards and even more likely to be under 150 yards. Forget heart shots ... just aim center of chest ... and that Elk will have a very short life expectancy.
Aiming center-of-chest was exactly what he did ... hit a rib on the way in (.45+ cal hole in) ... exited the off side, also through a rib and made a 1.5" Gazz-outa hole. The Elk wheezed out blood as his lungs collased and his blood pressure dropped during a 100 yard sprint into the darkness.
Sad news is, that unless he draws some other out-of-state Muzzle-Loader hunt ...he likely won't use this rifle again, since Oregon doesn't allow scopes, primer ignitions or saboted bullets. But ... the whole rush to purchase, scope it, sight it in, learn to reload and consistently shoot this 32" barreled smoke-pole, was both a challenge and a lot of fun.
We now return to our regularly-scheduled Wyoming Bighorn Sheep hunt.
thumbs up!
