Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Snubbie & Rock Chuck's pack hunt (Long & pic heavy)

We had condensation in our tent as well (BCS)while camping at ~10k in the Rockies. The stove really makes things nice in the evening though. Warms it up nicely in a few minutes. Actually made things very nice during a very heavy snowstorm. It's part of my min-essential for hunting if there is any chance of cold/snow.

Great story & pictures, thanks for sharing it !

Nicely done and great story! Gotta love the Sawtooths

Thanks for sharing.

Man what a great trip. I am going to look for a new place outside of town so I can get my own herd. My brother has two llamas and they are great. They walk slow but that is fine. Thanks for sharing your trip with us. I did not share because I forgot my camera on both my deer and elk hunt.

Forgetting my camera would be as bad as forgetting my rifle. I take lots of pics. Then every fall I use them to make family calendars.

If you decide to get llamas, let me know before you buy anything. I can give you a few hints. I've done some right and some wrong. Remember - when it comes to packing gear, Craigslist is your friend.

Congrats!

Just for the record...
Snubbie said he uses a Tikka 7mm-08. It's very light and ideal for deer at a reasonable range. I also hunt elk and want more oomph so I use a Savage 300 WSM. With the scope, it outweighs Snubbie's rifle by nearly 3 lb. That really adds up after a while. The 300 WSM is probably available in a lighter rifle somewhere but without the weight, it would probably hit the shooter harder than the elk. I'm a 1 rifle type and like to use the same one for all big game.

My scope is a Bushnell 3200 3-9 with the Firefly reticule. The Firefly feature works as well as they advertize, but I wouldn't get it again. In open country, it's just not needed but it would work great in the thick forests of the east. It's biggest drawback is the crosshairs. They're too thick for pin point long range shooting.

For loads, I had a minor disaster in preparing for this season. For years, my pet load has been 180 gr Speer Hotcores and IMR4831. Neither can be had this year at any price. I had to start over late in August to find a load using what powder and bullets I could find. After some trial and error, I ended up with 66 gr of IMR 7828 and 180 gr Speer Deep Curl bullets (which I found in the 24hr classifieds). I don't think this load is quite as accurate as what I've used in the past but it will have to do for this year.

My Kimber Montana in 338 Federal does a number on elk and weighs under 6lb including the sling. At 10k ft elevation, the bullets would be doing over 2000fps at 500yds. So, it's not limiting my range at all. Not saying its a 300 WSM in terms of long range capability, but it's enough. If you spend much time in the mountains the Kimber is a dream. I've enjoyed the writeup of your trip.

Exofficio...

Your boys will thank you.