Friend of mine sent me photos of his son's first. He used a Sako TRG42 in 338 Lapua. It was shot at a range finder distance of 502yds. It was loaded with 250grn SMK bullets and 92grn of H4831.
I question his bullet choice and letting him make that length of shot. It was a good one shot kill in this instance.

Butch

hell of a first bull!!!!



Why?



Why?

Not joking and I guess that we disagree. That is OK. He will have to hunt a little bit to find a bigger one.
Butch

Wow. Private land? What's the kid gonna do for an encore?

Butch, no doubt I try shooting under 400, but I bet ALOT of guys would drop the hammer on something wearing that head gear! Alot larger vitals, but energy/penetration needed, certainly that behemoth 338L has plenty, but GOSH I'd hate to tote it, let alone hear it's blast w/that brake.

On bullet choice, well, not my choice, but when you go to snipershide and longrangehunting sites, those guys like VLDs whether SMK or Berger, etc. Not a typical choice, but often they have proven very effective, seen elk hit at near 1,000 yards on youtube, NEVER something I would do, or condone, but there are those who practice for it and do well. Ethics are debatable no doubt.

I can certainly see your point, no doubt. I am ALL for clean kills however one gets them. At that range, a Partition or TSX would have left ZERO doubt on terminal performance. On occasion you hear of failures with SMKs for whatever the reason, failure to open when the tip closes up, etc.

Nice! I'd like to find a bull like that someday. 500yds is not a big deal if you're shooting prone with a familiar rifle. As for bullets, 250gns of copper and lead of just about any flavor at that speed is going to work.

He hasn't answered my email. I believe it was in Wyoming and it was a draw hunt. I'm not an elk hunter and don't understand it all. It seems there are ways to get more points to increase your chance of being drawn. Am I close?
Butch

I have shot that model Sako. With a good scope, 500 yds is really a chip shot.

I'm not familiar with Wyoming regs but if it's like Colorado, it could be public land. If it was, it would have to be as you say, a very limited entry unit that would probably take years to draw. Which doesn't seem likely, given that the boy doesn't look old enough to have been applying for enough years, at least not enough years to draw a tag in one of the premier units in Colorado.

The reason I'm guessing it was private land or very limited entry is the rifle, the Carharrts, and the open park. You won't usually find a bull like that on hard-hunted public land where you could walk to it toting that rifle in Carharrts.

Awesome bull! That is a great photo!

that's an AWESOME animal!!
Yep, it will suck to try to better that bull, though

Weidmannsheil to the kid.



Pretty much sums up my feelings.

Nice bull but I'm glad I didn't have to tote that rifle up the mountain.

Congrats to the young hunter.

congrats to him


smk's kills critters all day long

Great bull for sure. That isn't from this year is it? That bull's left G4 is broken and there is not a trace of velvet. There also looks to be a touch of snow in the extreme right part of the photo. Maybe rocks?

Interesting.. very nice bull and well done.

I wonder... what failures Butch has had with the 250 smk out of the 338 at 500 yards? smart azz question? Sure.... but the point is... if you haven't done it... comments like that are not required then. And I respect Butch very much so I don't have a personal issue with him FWIW.

PS in right conditions I'm smack that one all day long with that setup... I know more than a couple of kids that shoot religiously so much that it would be a chip shot to them too..... and the kids i know/knew... could have done that with iron sights...

Jeff

BTW smokepole, is it hard to walk up to elk in carhartts? I"m curious cause I"ve never worn camo when elk hunting. Of course I"ve never shot one either, but thats because the couple of times I"ve gone, I've had cow tags and keep running into bulls, even as close as gravy bow ranges... none over 125 yards yet...