Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting 115 grain ballistic tip

It's been a good year, 2015, even though it ended on 2 Jan 2016. My son took his first deer at 200 yds with my custom pre '64 M70 in 257 Roberts and the 115 BT running 2965 fps. Hit in the neck she dropped like a rock, the bullet severing the spine.



Yesterday morning I spied 3 cows up the mountain behind my house. Texted Cory, a young friend and he was Johnny on the Spot getting here. The cows were up and moving but to "eat" so they weren't but a few yds from where I'd last seen them. After a 45 minute hike through the snow, I literally crawled into position and used my Eberlestock Team Elk pack as a rest. Layed there in the snow for some 15 minutes waiting for the perfect broadside shot, again, using my beloved custom pre '64 M70 in 257 Roberts and a 115 gr Nosler BT. At 220 yds I put one behind the left shoulder; no reaction. Turned quartering to me. 2nd one through the front left shoulder; she lifted up her leg. 3rd a few inches away. Front left quarter was pretty broken up. She turned to go into the draw and piled up only 20' from where it all started. Cory, thank goodness, offered to take out both hind quarters and I got the rest; all in one trip.

GSSP, nice... I love the Rob, and the wood on yours, to quote the young, is "sick!"

Fantastic! a case of prep. and opportunity meeting again.that 25 cal combo is heard to beat.

Congrats on the fine cow and a great hunk of wood on the stock.

Bullet recovery? I'm especially curious about how the one into the cows shoulder did.

Congratulations, on the deer and the elk!

And my goodness - what a beauty of a rifle...

Regards, Guy

I wish I had recovered a bullet but alas, we used the gutless method to break the carcass down and pack it out. The left shoulder, being hit 2x from the the front quarter was pretty busted up; all wobbly with broken bone. Upon examination, we saw zero bullet fragments in or around the shoulder itself and the surface of the rib cage after the shoulder was removed. What we did see was 3 entrance holes into the thoracic cavity. Also, blood was coming from the nose/mouth of the cow indicating lung blood. Something to note: At the two entrance holes into the thoracic cavity that went through the shoulder, their was vegetation. We ascertained it was from the Esophagus as their is no way vegetation, from the gut area, could have made it forward to the entrance hole area.

To reiterate, it was a clean broadside 1st shot to the left side. I even waited until she put her left leg forward, exposing her rib cage even more. I used an aim point mid torso, just behind the left leg, trying to drive the bullet towards the right/off leg. A few seconds after the shot, she turned quartering to me and the next 2 shots went into/through the left shoulder. I know my shooting position, over the pack, was optimal and I wasn't shaking even though I'd been laying in the snow for almost 15 minutes and the ambient temp was about 20 deg F. My B&C crosshairs were very steady, shooting within 1-2 seconds of rechambering a fresh round.

Once she was down the 2 other cows had zero ideas of where I was; one running up the mountain draw at 10 o'clock, away from me and the other running nearly directly towards me, getting to within 50 yds of of me before veering off to go over the ridge to my left. Here is where I shot from, the elk being just below the tip of my barrel.