Due to lack of time off and buying a new house this year, we were unable to do a cow hunt out west this year.
We love elk meat and were out. After doing some research we were able to locate a game ranch about 1.5 hours from the house. i told the man providing the "hunt" we were only looking for a nice meat cow. He stated they were trying to reduce the number of elk on the ranch and had just what we were interested in.
He stated they were very wild and spooky and this would not be a slam dunk "hunt". the enclosure is roughly 600 acres of southern missouri ozark hills.
We got there at daylight today and saw a small bull in an open meadow. We got down wind of him and worked our way to a higher vantage point. We spotted several cows and a big bull. As the herd fed up hill and back towards the timber, Gwen and the guide picked out a fat 2-3 year old cow.
She got my 6.5 creedmoor settled on the shooting sticks and waited for the cow to clear the other elk. After it cleared the others Gwen touched one off. At the shot, the cow shuttered and went down in the front end. The cow regained her footing and ran about 20 yards with it's right shoulder flopping before giving up the ghost.
Loony details:
shot: 125 yards
rifle: left hand rem 700 6.5 creedmoor
load: 130 accubond 42 grains rl-17
Gwen shot it a little forward and hit the point of the right shoulder. Bullet stopped under the opposite shoulder. Will post the bullet after i get it from the processor.
It was an enjoyable "hunt", freezer filler, and cartridge testing trip. It was a good experience compared to some of these outfits ive seen or heard about.