Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Elk at 300yds

No sir! I didnt take it that way and I hope you dont think my post was as well.

Thanks for your response and I do understand where your coming from. I wish I had the problem of to much elk in my freezer. My family loves the stuff.

You're lucky to be where you can hunt elk. I have to drive 27 hours to get to Colorado. Then get maybe 5 to 7 days to hunt. Passing on a shot at a less than perfect angle or at 300 yards isn't very appealing. I only get to go every 3 years or so, and want to bring something home. That's why I practice my arse off and use a fairly large gun. I've got pretty comfy with my .338-06 to about 325 yards.
Luckily my wife and son love that elk meat, so it's not too hard to justify going!
Come on 2005! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

That is the absolute best answer to that question. I have taken antelope at 525 yds with a steady rest in the open and would do the same on elk if conditions were perfect. Heck to Big Stick thats not even half way........

SU35, I echo your feelings. That bullshit about "It ain't hunting unless you are close" is just that. I have seen FAR more game missed or wounded at short range than long range. If you have 2 weeks off and hunt private land, great, get close, but in the real world of public land, short vacation time and LOTS of hunters. Getting closer is pure fantasy and I don't think I have EVER seen anyone pass up a 300 yard shot at a bull, just to get closer and call it hunting. If you have hunted all week and haven't seen anything and one pops out at 300 yards, are you gonna eat your tag by trying to get closer????? I don't think so. That makes about as much sense as, "I don't hunt to kill something. I don't care if I get anything. I just go for the camping." Okay, then leave your rifle home and don't buy a tag. Let's see how much camping you do in the snow then <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> Like I said, I am glad I am not handicapped by someone elses narrow minded thinking about what "hunting" is. I go to punch tags by whatever means that are legal. Gosh, that was a heck of a tangent <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> Flinch

Don't worry B-boy, I'll share....................... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Oh God was that funny!!!! Glad I wasn't drinking my coffee.....<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

"Nuts."

3 or 4 years ago I found a herd of 80 or so elk atop a knoll in open sage country. We got within 600 yards from a higher knoll but were absolutely unable to get closer without exposing ourselves in the sage. After watching them for 4-1/2 to 5 hours through sunshine, rain, sleet, snow and finally more sunshine, they finally started to move at sundown. As they moved off the knoll, I was able to get closer. The last 100 yards were covered on my back, pushing myself head-first through 6" of snow, the sage and cactus with my feet. At the end I was still 350 yards (measured later with a GPS) from the bull I wanted. With only minutes of shooting light left and no way to get closer, I took the shot. The bull went down in his tracks, got up and took 2-3 steps, and went down for good.

Granted, I practice shooting at 200 yards for the most part, 300 yards frequently, and 400 yards once or twice a year. I was prepared for the shot.

I put people who feel there is never a need for long range shots in the same category as people who feel there is no reason to push .45-70 bullets past 1800fps. If that is their decision, fine - but I'll make my own decisions. That 350 yard shot was the result of more hunting and rifleman skill than any other I have taken in 20 years of Colorado big game hunting.

Well Flinch, you got along way to go to figure out just why you are hunting. If it's just to kill something, why not just go buy an old cow, or bull, turn it lose in your back yard and shoot it. All my hunting is done on public land. For at least the last 15 years, I have shot an elk every year, sometimes two, some where bulls, some where cows.This isn't to brag, just to show some folks that you can hunt elk, take home some meat from the freezer and have fun.

[quote]Well Flinch, If it's just to kill something, why not just go buy an old cow, or bull, turn it lose in your back yard and shoot it.

saddlesore, I think Flinch has already done this <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />


...maybe he can show some pics, or even maybe a vidoe,

I am not missing anything saddlesore. I like the mountains and the trip as much as anyone, but I sure ain't hunting to go home empty, although it does happen. You can't justify the "meat" as cheaper than beef, so the "I hunt for the meat" saying is pure hogwash. Tags aren't cheap, neither are rifles, fuel and all the other things that go with hunting. The meat is a nice excuse to get out and kill something <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> My full intention when shouldering a rifle and pack is to punch tags. That is what I am there for. The other things that go along with it are the pleasurable biproducts of hunting (nature, the smells, being outdoors...etc). Maybe when I get a lot older, sitting around the campfire telling lies, sleeping in, and going for a horse ride in the hills will be more important. For now, I will keep punching tags and shooting steers...I mean elk. I don't have horses or access to horses either. I am sure if you didn't have those available, your "hunting" practices and success would surely change <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />. Here are the pictures you requested of a "leisurely" cow hunt <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> Flinch

LMAO! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Flinch, details man! what cartridge/bullet combo did you shoot that critter with anyways?
Did you hunt it or did you just shoot it at long range?

Good one, Flinch! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Dang, saddlesore, stick your tongue out at someone around here, and you're liable to get a #3 snapped on it.

Personally, 300 yards is my "limit"- simply because that is pretty much "point blank" range for most rifles. And I don't have a rangefinder. Anything beyond 300 yds is mortor country, and one SHOULD have a rangefinder for that, as bullet drop becomes critical , and range "estimation" sucks, no matter how good you are.

Never-the-less, I'm mentally prepared to shoot to 500 - if I can make a reasonable determination of range, the conditions are right, I have an appropriate caliber, and I can't get closer. My preferred range, however, is inside 50 yards. Can't hardly nothing go wrong if the critter is in "from the hip" country, and you actually AIM!

In August, I took a nice bull caribou at about 357 yards (about 300 yards farther than my druthers), paced off, with a 17 inch barrelled .30-06, group centered 3.5 inches high, 1.5 inch groups, 180 grain factory Remington Corelocts.

I estimated the range at 300 yards, with no closer approach possible, held 1/3 forward from the back of his shoulder hump, even with his back line, and darned near missed him because of that last 57 yards (and the velocity loss from the short barrel). I'd planned the bullet to go 6 to 8 inches higher than it did. The bullet shattered his brisket, sliced open one lower chamber of his heart (if it wasn't a richochet piece of bone or bullet) and the jacket lodged in his far knee. I suspect I was luckier than I deserved.

I dislike gadgets, but I might just have to buy me a rangefinder yet if I'm gonna keep shooting open country sheep and caribou at those distances. Especially with "Stub".

Curiously enough, the other planned "long range" shot that I've executed satisfactorily was also made with this same rifle, shortly after I first acquired it about 15 years ago. 330 yards on a nice Dall ram. Plus or minus maybe 5 yds. 4 days later I killed a 42 inch moose at 70 yards. Quickest I have ever had a gun pay for itself ($80 - minus the 5 inches of barrel to get rid of the bulge at the end).

My partner gives me no end of crap about my "long range mortor". He also keeps reminding me of the time I missed 3 out of 4 shots at a wounded moose at 20 feet with my 26" barrelled .338 Mag. (I was trying to head shoot it as it ran in a half circle around me - I had it "trapped" against a lake shore - on the other hand, had he shot it correctly to start with, I wouldn't have had to. Unless you count the one thru the nose- then it's only two out of 4. Things were a little quick and tense there <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> ). He shoots either a 7mm Mag or a .300 WM with 24 and 26 inch barrels, respectively, , and considers anything over 200 yds to be "long range". My guess is that if he ever has a 300 yard shot to make, he'll shoot over its back, or higher than planned, anyway.

I don't believe I have ever bench shot "Stub" at anything but 100 yards, but when I touched 'er off, I KNEW that caribou was going down . I was almost wrong, but not quite.

It wasn't in the short barrel/bullet drop, but in the range estimation, IMHO, that I almost went wrong.

See "Success story with Interbonds(Colo. Elk)", that was a 400yd shot with a 7600 Rem. '06' J

las, I think you summarized my preferences on shooting as well. To 300 yards, no question about it. To 500, I'm prepared if the stars align. Preference is close and tight!

BTW, wish I was there for that show with the moose. Though I'd feel bad for him as I'm sure you did, it'd have been a riot to witness!!!

Man Flinch, I'd almost forgotten about that GPD hunt ... especially that stalk ... nope, better get closer ... nah, closer ... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

I couldn�t disagree more that hunting is just about �punching tags�. I hunt to test myself, and to glimpse the character of those I hunt with. My favorite tale at the Campfire this fall is Big Stick�s hunt with his young daughter. I figured there was going to be a dead deer at the end of the story but that didn�t matter to me - I enjoyed the glimpse.

My son�s first deer hunt was brutally cold � the exact opposite of the weather you hope for. I spent more time worrying about him than hunting, but in the end my son survived it better than I did. At one point during the hunt this 12-year old offered to trade gloves with me because his were warmer. I don�t remember if I punched a tag that year and it doesn�t matter.

I don�t pheasant hunt in the Dakotas as much as I used to � all those birds flyin� around kinda detract from the hunt. I�ve seen some really crappy dogs �punch tags� for masters that were equally crappy shots. Put those same dogs and masters in a 300-acre CRP field with one runnin� rooster in it, and let�s see how they do.

Muley Stalker and �Hunt Colorado� is another great example. Here�s a guy with such faith in his hunting skills that he offers to place a yahoo like me in a situation to see game without him being there � with enough confidence that he can make dough doing it. Holy crap, talk about testing oneself.

I do almost all my deer hunting with a handgun now - I suck at it. My main problem is the slight up-kick in heart rate I still get when I see deer. I don�t notice it with a rifle, but the little extra shake to my hands really makes the handgun dance. I still hunt with a rifle occasionally, but now it always feels like a concession � I�m not good enough with a handgun in that particular situation. I�ll work on that.

As for 300-yard shots, do what you will. The trouble with getting as close as possible is going one-foot too far. That said, a guy doesn�t have to get around much to discover that hunting skills and woodcraft are dying arts. The technology of long range shooting, be it from the side of the road or from a ridge top, is playing a part in that. Hanging an arbitrary range (200? 300? 400?) on hunting skill is silly, but nonetheless there�s a progression at work that I can do without.

Flinch,

Good one dude, I LMAO on that one !!! (WTF, I almost wizzed my pants laughing so hard !!!) <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Now THAT is a SPIKE !!!!

I have been out west : many times hunting elk, deer, moose, goats, Mt goat, bear etc.... Of all my trips, only two kills were under 200...one a mule deer and that last one, the moose I just took in BC.

Most of my shots have been between 200 and 300 yards, several over 300 and my longest, @ 450, which BTW was on a 6x6 bull elk, which BTW didn't take a step after the fact .............

And, YES I was hunting, not shooting.

YMMV, or as they say up in Pa. : "Yous guys milage may vary"

Tony.

One more point about long range shooting at game..............in the words of Clint Eastwood : "A man's got to know his limitations"..... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Tony.

I think there is an echo in here <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> Flinch