300 Savage Strikes! Herd Cow Down!

It was a crazy hunt. Saw the herd at first light, followed em to their bedding area, climbed 1350 vertical feet. Got busted by a satellite bull. Some of the cows believed him.....but the herd bull sauntered down and calmed em down. Took the shot with the 99F 165 grain SGK. 440 yards looks like a heart shot! I believe it was the herd cow I harvested as they all circled around and actually came closer to me and stopped. If Fireball can do it with that postmill monkey business, certainly an ol' fat boy can with a 300 savage! Pics to follow

Nice shooting John! Wow, heck of good shot! I'm assuming cow hunt only since you didn't dump a bull? Hopefully you put those mules to work.
Tell me about your load and sight in.

440 yds...nice shooting.

WOW... 440 yards... that's a "fur" piece, Pardner...!!! Great shootin' !~!~!

Hasn't anyone told you that you need a belted magnum to make a shot like that?????

Good job!!!!!!!

I finally got my wife to help with the pics. As you notice the bullet caused very little impact collateral damage upon entrance. There was no exit but some bruising on the opposite shoulder.There was 3-5 gallons of blood in the chest cavity,and the apex or distal tip of the heart or pericardium was discolored and hardened. (I cut my hand on the gutting procedure so I did not dissect the heart.)

Like I say the satellite bull had me busted and slide rock was between me and the Herd. I waited until I could see through my steamed glasses and with the firedot scope could easily check to see if I could hold steady. When I started firing, they were at 395 yards. I held dead on, the elk seemed very casual about leaving the area. I slightly held higher each shot. On the fourth shot I heard a CRACK! Before I chambered the fifth round a cow tumbled down the mountain! The main group circled and ran towards me, stopping at about 250 yards. The Herd bull stood with a few cows watching the downed cow. A few satilites headed up the mountain into the timber. WOW!

My 99F is serial # 955*** I was using 36 grains H 4895 165 grain Sierra Game Kings COAL of 2.56. A four power firedot 30 mm leupy scope made all the difference.The rifle was zeroed dead on at 200 yards. I finally have a rangefinder that can laze that far. (the scope and rangefinder bought here on the fire).

The Mules name is Chloe....her first big Job. The horse is a Tennessee Walking Mare named The Cats Meow aka Cat.

From what I can guestimate the bullet dropped around 24 inches, I do not believe it had more steam left in it, due to the little collateral damage it showed on the carcass.

Attached picture 1-20140929_141709.jpg

JOHN
CONGRATS and Great Going. Nice Job.
STEVE

Originally Posted by Angus1895

I finally got my wife to help with the pics. As you notice the bullet caused very little impact collateral damage upon entrance. There was no exit but some bruising on the opposite shoulder.There was 3-5 gallons of blood in the chest cavity,and the apex or distal tip of the heart or pericardium was discolored and hardened. (I cut my hand on the gutting procedure so I did not dissect the heart.)

Like I say the satellite bull had me busted and slide rock was between me and the Herd. I waited until I could see through my steamed glasses and with the firedot scope could easily check to see if I could hold steady. When I started firing, they were at 395 yards. I held dead on, the elk seemed very casual about leaving the area. I slightly held higher each shot. On the fourth shot I heard a CRACK! Before I chambered the fifth round a cow tumbled down the mountain! The main group circled and ran towards me, stopping at about 250 yards. The Herd bull stood with a few cows watching the downed cow. A few satilites headed up the mountain into the timber. WOW!

My 99F is serial # 955*** I was using 36 grains H 4895 165 grain Sierra Game Kings COAL of 2.56. A four power firedot 30 mm leupy scope made all the difference.The rifle was zeroed dead on at 200 yards. I finally have a rangefinder that can laze that far. (the scope and rangefinder bought here on the fire).

The Mules name is Chloe....her first big Job. The horse is a Tennessee Walking Mare named The Cats Meow aka Cat.

From what I can guestimate the bullet dropped around 24 inches, I do not believe it had more steam left in it, due to the little collateral damage it showed on the carcass.

John, I love you man, you know I do, but you gotta know the trajectories before the shooting starts! Tape it on the inside of the flip up scope covers and it'll always be at your fingertips. Glad it worked out but I winced reading your account! At any rate, ended well.

Don't let anyone say a 300 Savage won't get er done!!!

Originally Posted by Angus1895

It was a crazy hunt. Saw the herd at first light, followed em to their bedding area, climbed 1350 vertical feet. Got busted by a satellite bull. Some of the cows believed him.....but the herd bull sauntered down and calmed em down. Took the shot with the 99F 165 grain SGK. 440 yards looks like a heart shot! I believe it was the herd cow I harvested as they all circled around and actually came closer to me and stopped. If Fireball can do it with that postmill monkey business, certainly an ol' fat boy can with a 300 savage! Pics to follow

Originally Posted by Angus1895

I finally got my wife to help with the pics. As you notice the bullet caused very little impact collateral damage upon entrance. There was no exit but some bruising on the opposite shoulder.There was 3-5 gallons of blood in the chest cavity,and the apex or distal tip of the heart or pericardium was discolored and hardened. (I cut my hand on the gutting procedure so I did not dissect the heart.)

Like I say the satellite bull had me busted and slide rock was between me and the Herd. I waited until I could see through my steamed glasses and with the firedot scope could easily check to see if I could hold steady. When I started firing, they were at 395 yards. I held dead on, the elk seemed very casual about leaving the area. I slightly held higher each shot. On the fourth shot I heard a CRACK! (Was this the one at 440 yards?) Before I chambered the fifth round a cow tumbled down the mountain! The main group circled and ran towards me, stopping at about 250 yards. The Herd bull stood with a few cows watching the downed cow. A few satilites headed up the mountain into the timber. WOW!

My 99F is serial # 955*** I was using 36 grains H 4895 165 grain Sierra Game Kings COAL of 2.56. A four power firedot 30 mm leupy scope made all the difference. The rifle was zeroed dead on at 200 yards. I finally have a rangefinder that can laze that far. (the scope and rangefinder bought here on the fire).

The Mules name is Chloe....her first big Job. The horse is a Tennessee Walking Mare named The Cats Meow aka Cat.

From what I can guestimate the bullet dropped around 24 inches, I do not believe it had more steam left in it, due to the little collateral damage it showed on the carcass.

After looking up a few things, doing a little figuring, and given the load you cited, I think 2250 fps is a reasonable estimate of the muzzle velocity for your load. Plugging that figure and the BC for the 165 Sierra into a ballistics program shoes me that with your 200 yard zero the bullet has dropped about 36" at 395 yards. At 440 the drop is about 52". The remaining velocities are about 1580 and 1500 fps respectively.

Wow!!! That is awesome. Congrats.

Old style hunting still works, eh?

Congrats! I miss elk steaks..

http://www.amazon.com/Caldwell-7200...2583&sr=8-2&keywords=chronograph

http://www.jbmballistics.com/cgi-bin/jbmtraj-5.1.cgi

Originally Posted by Calhoun

Old style hunting still works, eh?

Back at camp he could wind down with a scotch, Johnnie Walkthemin. Or Glenmortarfire.

Congratulations. Nice to see it done with a .300 Savage.

Congrats on fine hunt. 300s rule the day!

Great job, Great gun

Thanks for all your congratulations and comments. I admit this had more to do with luck than preparation. I have not done much long range shooting nor do I own a chronograph. I should have gotten closer to them but the Satellite bull had me pinned down.

One thing I would like to add is how stable the rifle becomes shooting freehand with the "Elanco Wormer" strap I got for free from a feedlot.

All things aside, one would not expect a 4 power scope, a 300 savage cartridge, and a inexperienced fat-boy who wears ashtray thick scratched glasses with no spotter to get this done.

I guess the saying " I would rather be lucky than good" truly applies to this situation.

However I have NEVER shot a more accurate rifle than this 99F. I even have a "triple tap" documented on my phone freehand at 80 yards, and yes this rifle has had trigger work.

With practice you might be pleased with what an "only 4x" scope can do. I've "educated" a few folks with a little 1.5-4x20 Leupold Mark AR Mod 1 on an accurate 308.

I'm a fan of the 300 Savage. With a little judicious handloading you can improve the performance a good bit compared to what you were shooting.

nothing wrong with a 4X. I hunt with my variable power scopes at 2 1/2 or 3X.

Originally Posted by Angus1895

Thanks for all your congratulations and comments. I admit this had more to do with luck than preparation. I have not done much long range shooting nor do I own a chronograph. I should have gotten closer to them but the Satellite bull had me pinned down.

One thing I would like to add is how stable the rifle becomes shooting freehand with the "Elanco Wormer" strap I got for free from a feedlot.

All things aside, one would not expect a 4 power scope, a 300 savage cartridge, and a inexperienced fat-boy who wears ashtray thick scratched glasses with no spotter to get this done.

I guess the saying " I would rather be lucky than good" truly applies to this situation.

However I have NEVER shot a more accurate rifle than this 99F. I even have a "triple tap" documented on my phone freehand at 80 yards, and yes this rifle has had trigger work.

Ya got her - end of story. I think a lot of people keep a goin' when things go bad at first. Good job!

Don't underestimate the 300 Savage. It was our grandparents 308 before there was a 308

It is the parent of the 308, which military snipers can routinely kill with at 1000 m.

You do not have to be a military sniper or an expert rifleman to make the 300 Savage work at 300 or more yards if you know the trajectory of the load you are shooting and the range of your target.

Just sayin...