Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns 44 Magnum pic and discussion thread.

My dad and I both filled our cow tags the first two days. Weather was cold and nasty.

We were fortunate on the first day to meet some great guys who saw us coming out with my elk quartered up in my plastic sled, being pushed and pulled by us. They came over to us on 4 wheelers and saved our bacon, as it would have been hours after dark before we would have made it back to my truck and temps were dropping fast. Two days later an eastern Idaho radio station said wind chills were 25-40 below zero.

I would not be surprised if they were members here. Good men.

I was all tuned up for a long range shot but the wind was howling so I left the LR rig at the cabin and took my short barrel .308. There was no way any long range shooting was going to be taking place.

My dad and I were looking at a once in a hunting lifetime moment. Two big herd bulls stepped out at about 100 yards. With us on a ridgeline and the sun to our backs, they were broadside to us and the wind was blowing straight at us, hard. For a full 10 seconds they stood staring at us while we looked at them. Never during elk season have I had two bulls do that, ever. Too bad we had cow tags. No matter, it was a sight to remember.

They took off down the steep hillside as we watched. My dad said, "You know, they just covered in 30 seconds what it would take us 20 minutes to cover,and they made it look easy".

As soon as he said that, he said "There!" off to our right was a cow poking her face around the corner of the ridge we were on. All I could see of her was from just behind her front shoulder, neck and head as she stared at us.

She looked like she was going to bolt so I snap shot her. A whopping 75 ish yards. She piled up. The little .308 Tikka did the job.

The next day my dad popped his a 300 yards with his .300 Win Tikka. She was on a dead run. We were standing 20 feet away from the 4 wheelers discussing the ever important subject of lunch when she bolted. He ran to the wheeler, used it as a rest and plowed a Nosler into her shoulder. Great shot.

She did not know she was dead though. She had piled up. She then got up and ran down the hill 500 yards with a destroyed shoulder where he finished her off. On the way down there, I kicked out a big Bullwinkle.

We quartered his cow up and headed for the cabin. The next day we headed for the local hot springs and soaked our chilled bones.

Overall it was a great time.

Backdrop: