Redmt
Well-known member
He said expensive not TOO expensive. I agree they are expensive compared to other brands.
My First Elk Story to my Next Elk Story (Fly In?)
- Thread starter Hammsolo
- Start date
Yeah. Maybe. Tarriffs hit them hard also. Funny how guys complain about the nuts and bolts while spending a shitload on other gear. mtmuley
Redmt
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Yeah, I agree. I have thousands in my #1 but I try to trim corners anywhere else I can..
cgasner1
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A carbon savage I think is around 1500 bucks now. That’s the main reason I don’t have a new rifle is what I want would cost me about 5k to put together and the one I currently have has killed everything I’ve pointed it at.
Hammsolo
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I get it. I’ve shot Hammers for a minute. I love them and Steve is awesome. I love supporting “locals.” It’s tough paying over double. A sample pack of 15 of the bullet I want to try are $48. They’re the most highly engineered and precisely built bullets on the market.
I bought a Seekins to support local, and not another Tikka. Also, my goal has been to consolidate two nice rifles into one great rifle. I’ve worked hard and am wise with my money.
I really want to get into shooting steel. I didn’t throw out any “cheapy” ideas. Berger and Nosler aren’t entry level. I really want one bullet for NRL style shooting and hunting if game. What are your ideas?
I bought a Seekins to support local, and not another Tikka. Also, my goal has been to consolidate two nice rifles into one great rifle. I’ve worked hard and am wise with my money.
I really want to get into shooting steel. I didn’t throw out any “cheapy” ideas. Berger and Nosler aren’t entry level. I really want one bullet for NRL style shooting and hunting if game. What are your ideas?
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Redmt
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One thing that steered me towards Barnes is that they were affordable, copper legal monos and didn't fragment. Everything I have shot has been one shot dead. I don't think a cheaper or more expensive bullet would have made anything any deader.
cgasner1
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Seekins has been throwing some support at great things. If I was rifle shopping it would be on my short list and they make a phenomenal gun
Hammsolo
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Reloading update. I found a good sale on a three piece Redding die set on Midway, and ordered them. I also found 175 grain Berger Elite Hunters on Spokane Gun Broker for $70 for 117 bullets. Any thoughts on powders to try? I will be consulting load data and doing ladders of course.
Hammsolo
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Brass? I usually buy a couple boxes of Hornady Whitetail or the like for break and then use them for reloading and load development. Is it worth buying Peterson, ADG, Starline, Lapua, or whatever?
Elktrack
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Yes
Hammsolo
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What brass would people recommend?
Redmt
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I sort my brass into manufacturers. You will find different rifles like different brass better than others. One of my 6.5's absolutely will not eject nickel plated. After you find a load, my humble opinion is that it's not that critical which brand brass makes any difference for my shooting parameters. Some brass lasts longer than others but your not dealing with brass that is $5.00 each. Reload, shoot and repeat until the brass goes FUBAR then replace.
Caseknife
Well-known member
My 20" 7PRC shoots the 140AH at 3200fps with RL-16 and Petersen brass. Haven't had the chance to kill anything with it yet. BTW, the rifle began as a 70's vintage Rem 700 BDL 7Mag that I killed my first few elk with. Will have to work up the story.
Elktrack
Well-known member
I’m liking ADG a lot. Very uniform, clean flash holes, and primer pockets.
I’m not into NRL or competitive shooting but I like accurate ammo and crappy brass does effect accuracy.
I’m not a brass snob but if I were making laser accurate loads like your wanting, I’d go with all the same good quality brass. It ain’t cheap though.
Redmt
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I forgot he was after laser precision?
Irishman
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My first elk story. It was 1988 and I was living in married student housing at the University of Montana. I hadn't grown up where there wasn't any hunting and had only taken up hunting a few years before this. I was working full time in the evenings and going to graduate school during the day, had a wife, two little kids, and no pickup. Hunting opportunities where limited to a weekend day here and there, when someone I knew (with a pickup) would take me.
It was now the last weekend of hunting season, and final exams were the next week, so I was planning on spending the weekend getting ready for finals - no hunting. However, I found myself on the last day having a hard time studying as I was thinking about deer, so I decided mid morning to go hunt. I had a license to shoot a cow elk, but since my hunting vehicle was my Buick Regal, I decided to drive out the highway east of Missoula, park somewhere and hike in looking for a deer.
I hike in and soon come across elk tracks in the snow. I kept following the elk tracks for hours. Finally, about an hour before dark, I see something in the snow, just off the side of the ridge that looks out of place. At first I didn't know what it was, even though it was close. It was the lighter colored rump of a cow elk that was bedded down looking away from me. The elk stands up quartering away, and I shot. I hadn't taken into account the angle of the elk and shot it too far forward. That elk, and all the one's I hadn't seen ran down the hill. There was blood in the snow, but it was more like a spray of blood, that continued as I followed the tracks. I was happy to see that the elk were running downhill towards the highway, and despite knowing that I should probably wait before following the wounded elk, I was running out of daylight. Unfortunately for me the elk turned and started up hill again, I kept following. I knew the elk was struggling as I could see in the snow it had sat down and bled, but it kept going and so did I. I finally catch up with it on the opposite side of the mountain from the highway, and shoot it again in the middle of a steep shale slope - it dies. I'm running out of daylight, had no headlight (not sure that they were a thing then), and had to field dress my first elk. I was tough moving around that elk on the shale slope, especially when I didn't know what I was doing. The process was going too slow, and it was getting dark, so things got sped up. I remember yanking on stuff and blood getting all over me including my face - it was amateur hour, but the guts got removed.
I had to hike a mile or two over the mountain, down to the highway, and then a few miles along the highway to the Buick Regal. I got back to the apartment hours later than my wife was expecting me, so she had saw me pull into the parking area, and was outside the door when I approached. I had blood all over my clothes and face, so I decided it would be funny if I approached the apartment limping or dragging a leg. She didn't find it as amusing as I did.
A friend who owned a pickup helped me get the elk the next day.
It was now the last weekend of hunting season, and final exams were the next week, so I was planning on spending the weekend getting ready for finals - no hunting. However, I found myself on the last day having a hard time studying as I was thinking about deer, so I decided mid morning to go hunt. I had a license to shoot a cow elk, but since my hunting vehicle was my Buick Regal, I decided to drive out the highway east of Missoula, park somewhere and hike in looking for a deer.
I hike in and soon come across elk tracks in the snow. I kept following the elk tracks for hours. Finally, about an hour before dark, I see something in the snow, just off the side of the ridge that looks out of place. At first I didn't know what it was, even though it was close. It was the lighter colored rump of a cow elk that was bedded down looking away from me. The elk stands up quartering away, and I shot. I hadn't taken into account the angle of the elk and shot it too far forward. That elk, and all the one's I hadn't seen ran down the hill. There was blood in the snow, but it was more like a spray of blood, that continued as I followed the tracks. I was happy to see that the elk were running downhill towards the highway, and despite knowing that I should probably wait before following the wounded elk, I was running out of daylight. Unfortunately for me the elk turned and started up hill again, I kept following. I knew the elk was struggling as I could see in the snow it had sat down and bled, but it kept going and so did I. I finally catch up with it on the opposite side of the mountain from the highway, and shoot it again in the middle of a steep shale slope - it dies. I'm running out of daylight, had no headlight (not sure that they were a thing then), and had to field dress my first elk. I was tough moving around that elk on the shale slope, especially when I didn't know what I was doing. The process was going too slow, and it was getting dark, so things got sped up. I remember yanking on stuff and blood getting all over me including my face - it was amateur hour, but the guts got removed.
I had to hike a mile or two over the mountain, down to the highway, and then a few miles along the highway to the Buick Regal. I got back to the apartment hours later than my wife was expecting me, so she had saw me pull into the parking area, and was outside the door when I approached. I had blood all over my clothes and face, so I decided it would be funny if I approached the apartment limping or dragging a leg. She didn't find it as amusing as I did.
A friend who owned a pickup helped me get the elk the next day.
Benfromalbuquerque
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I suggest RP for everything. Never lets me down.
Benfromalbuquerque
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FIFY. I’ll even posit that right between AA4350 to 4831 burn rate is where you belong. Because your new gun will likely bughole 140gr mono just like its predecessors in the 6.8 and 7mm iterations.
SD_redbear
Member
Great thread, awesome stories here.
First tag, first elk in 2025 at age 51
South Dakota
I scouted all summer via satellite images and also went out a day early to scout in person. I did not see any elk while scouting, but did find tracks and scat. On opening morning, I left the truck just after legal shooting light. It was a foggy morning, and I would have sufficient cover in the fog to maneuver to a pre-determined glassing point. I planned to use a long cedar belt to get in position to glass for awhile after the fog lifted. With a very slight breeze in my face, i walked to the cedar belt which were mature, ~20 yards wide and 1/4 mile long. Let out a couple cow calls as I entered the trees, all was silent after that. I had walked maybe 20 yards into the trees and heard thundering of hooves not far ahead. I didn't know at the time if it was elk or deer. I threw out a couple calf distress calls anyway, and the whatever was running stopped. I kept slowly still hunting into the breeze, and maybe 50 yards later bumped a bull elk about 10 yards to my left. He abruptly whirled and disappeared into the cedars. I quickly threw out a couple calls, and figured I had just blown my chance in the first 20 minutes. I had no intention of walking directly at the elk from my truck! I worked to get the edge of the cedars quietly in the event he had stopped, all the while thinking he had run to the next county. I still hunted another 30 yards and found a shooting lane that I could use to get to the edge of the cedars. I suddenly saw antler tines peaking up over a cedar, a bull was about 20 yards away at the edge of the field, facing directly towards me and slightly to my left, but I could not see the whole rack nor any of his body. I slowly went to one knee and readied the rile. I threw out a couple calls, and to my surprise a large bull (2nd bull) came from my right at about 45 yards, in the field, and stopped in the shooting lane. I got on him, tried to calm myself, & fired. He did not flinch and disappeared to my left. I walked towards the field edge quickly and knelt again, he had made a u-turn and was now running left to right and about to enter another cedar grove. I let out a excited calf call, and he stopped. I shot again at about 75 yards distance. Again, no flinching and he ran into cedars and the second bull followed him. I waited several minutes, picked up my shell casings and started looking for blood. I could find none! I've hunted for many years, did not believe I could miss with a rifle at an animal of that size at those distances. I ended up tracking them from hoofprints in the moist ground through the cedars, and was relieved when the bull was piled up about 75 yards from location of the second hit. He did not bleed externally until about the last 5 yards. During filed dressing, determined both shots were good. 12 year wait for a tag, 340” gross bull on the ground. I wish I would’ve started hunting elk in my 20s, I’m hooked.
First tag, first elk in 2025 at age 51
South Dakota
I scouted all summer via satellite images and also went out a day early to scout in person. I did not see any elk while scouting, but did find tracks and scat. On opening morning, I left the truck just after legal shooting light. It was a foggy morning, and I would have sufficient cover in the fog to maneuver to a pre-determined glassing point. I planned to use a long cedar belt to get in position to glass for awhile after the fog lifted. With a very slight breeze in my face, i walked to the cedar belt which were mature, ~20 yards wide and 1/4 mile long. Let out a couple cow calls as I entered the trees, all was silent after that. I had walked maybe 20 yards into the trees and heard thundering of hooves not far ahead. I didn't know at the time if it was elk or deer. I threw out a couple calf distress calls anyway, and the whatever was running stopped. I kept slowly still hunting into the breeze, and maybe 50 yards later bumped a bull elk about 10 yards to my left. He abruptly whirled and disappeared into the cedars. I quickly threw out a couple calls, and figured I had just blown my chance in the first 20 minutes. I had no intention of walking directly at the elk from my truck! I worked to get the edge of the cedars quietly in the event he had stopped, all the while thinking he had run to the next county. I still hunted another 30 yards and found a shooting lane that I could use to get to the edge of the cedars. I suddenly saw antler tines peaking up over a cedar, a bull was about 20 yards away at the edge of the field, facing directly towards me and slightly to my left, but I could not see the whole rack nor any of his body. I slowly went to one knee and readied the rile. I threw out a couple calls, and to my surprise a large bull (2nd bull) came from my right at about 45 yards, in the field, and stopped in the shooting lane. I got on him, tried to calm myself, & fired. He did not flinch and disappeared to my left. I walked towards the field edge quickly and knelt again, he had made a u-turn and was now running left to right and about to enter another cedar grove. I let out a excited calf call, and he stopped. I shot again at about 75 yards distance. Again, no flinching and he ran into cedars and the second bull followed him. I waited several minutes, picked up my shell casings and started looking for blood. I could find none! I've hunted for many years, did not believe I could miss with a rifle at an animal of that size at those distances. I ended up tracking them from hoofprints in the moist ground through the cedars, and was relieved when the bull was piled up about 75 yards from location of the second hit. He did not bleed externally until about the last 5 yards. During filed dressing, determined both shots were good. 12 year wait for a tag, 340” gross bull on the ground. I wish I would’ve started hunting elk in my 20s, I’m hooked.
