Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Elk with a sharps!

Who has done it? I have a 45/70 sharps that I want to take out west. Looking at a cow/spike hunt in Utah on horseback. Never been out west or elk hunted, but thought it would mean more to kill one with the old sharps. I'm fine with tag soup but at the same time I want to make sure my equipt will do the job and not be chasing a wounded animal all over the mountains. I load 405 hard casts at about 1300fps. I have no doubt about putting one in the boiler room at 150 or less. Is this feasible, or do I need to just take my 375 h&h or 30-06

Can’t see why not if that’s what you want to do.

I carried an1886 Win 45-70, that weighed 13 pounds fully loaded, shooting 405 gr jacketed bullets and killed a few elk with it, so a Sharps will do the same thing.I got tired of lugging it around and it was hard to keep my saddle straight when it was riding in the scabbard. As long as you are not hunting big open country, go for it.Mine carried a Williams receiver sight .The two elk I killed with it were less than 50 feet.

My sharps prob is in the 11lb range. Ive never been a long range person as its not common where I hunt here in SC unless you hunt beanfields. Furthest shot at a deer was 210 yds. Most have been 100 or less. I thought about taking my marlin or even one of my 375's. Ive been eyeing some win 71's as well. All my guns are heavy so it will be a tossup picking the lightest. I didn't want to overthink it and I figured Id have pretty good opportunity to get close with a cow or spike tag. I'm odd and like doing things the hard way. Hopefully this season i'll lay a few whitetails down with it. Decided not to pick up another rifle until the sharps gets to bark.

Sounds like fun. But for your first elk, may be asking quite a bit. Especially if you are going on a DIY hunt.

What Ive done with similar armament, I REALLY recommend a jacketed soft point over the hard cast. If you insist on using hard cast, aim for bone. Thank me later.

This will be guided. It shoots the 350gr hornadys well too. I can push tgem a hair faster too since i dont have to worry about leading. Maybe work up a 400 gr jacketed load?

Sounds interesting. Who will you be hunting with? I have a sharps saddle rifle that should be perfect for this type hunt.

I've carried a 45-70 Sharps to Africa shooting cast bullets at 1240 fps. It worked like a champ. Go to youtube and look up "Black Powder zebra kill" to see a Sharps put it on a zebra at 161 yards. Definitely use a hardcast flatnosed bullet. I have also taken two elk with a 45-70 Sharps with black powder and cast lead bullets. I can't for the life of me see why anyone would want to use a jacketed bullet when a hard cast flatnosed bullet works so well.

I use 405 laser cast over 3031. My guide gun will shoot em in the same hole and my sharps will do about the same. Ive always been of the mindset to keep the 45/70 for what it is. It killed a pile of stuff with a 405gr lead bullet at 12-1400 fps. If you want more, buy a 458 win mag imo. I load my 45 colts the same way. 255 swc at 900fps.

That bullet and 3031 is a great combination. I would say you are good to go.

Just watched that video. That was stellar sir. Older I get the less I'm concerned about what I kill and more concerned about how I do it. In a day of instant gratification, its nice to really appreciate the hunt whether you kill anything or not. Ive talked to the guide and his everyday rifle is a marlin 95 cowboy with iron sights. When I mentioned about wanting to hunt with a sharps, he sounded pretty excited. I figured a horseback hunt with cabin tents and cooks, it would only be fitting to use a levergun or a sharps and have a 45 single action on your hip. Its the stuff you dream of doing as a kid reading Elmer Keith

People kill elk with bows and arrows. I doubt there is an elk made capable of stopping that slug (405). Have at it.

One of the elk I killed with the 405 gr and 3031, I shot it broadside about 30 feet, it turned, came down the hill towards me and dropped about 5 feet in front of me

I have killed elk w/ a 45-70 & a 50-90, both loaded w/ the "Holy Black"
They worked as well as anything else! At bp velocities use a soft(40 or 50-1)
alloy. The 50 weighed right at 9 pounds, you knew you had fired a real rifle!

any of ya'll use verniers on your sharps? Ive been thinking about adding one and there are so many, its hard to know which would be the best for the money and the job

Both of mine had tang sights, think the Marble, Lyman types one would see on a Savage
or Winchester lever action. I like any aperture type sight! I use a vernier for match shooting
and believe it may be a little delicate??

Whatever you put on there for a sight make sure it is tough. Horses tend to be hard on stuff.

Keep the Vernier off your hunting gun. Not only are they fragile, but most importantly, they are too slow to adjust for different distances. BTDT. The standard barrel ladder sights, correlated with a laser rangefinder, are the way to go. An elk broadside at 400 yards is an absolute gimme with a ladder buckhorn sight and a blade front. I have taken numerous animals in Africa at distances in excess of 300 yards with barrel sights and blade front, including kudu, wildebeest, springbok, and blesbok. I have taken blesbok at 451 yards, and a springbok at 540 yards, first shot, with barrel sights and cast bullets. I have most of it on dvd. Learn to use the barrel sights, and you are way ahead of the game.

good deal, that's what I wanted to know. I wish mine was a buckhorn. Its a tiny little narrow rear sight. I wanna see if the buckhorn from c sharps will work on it