Just a little update on how the gong show is proceeding, as it seems some folks want to know. 
I guess we start back in September, with my Darling wife looking to fill her NT Sheep tag. We knew she would get drawn after building priority for a long time. Much to my dismay and Nuggets joy she decided to pack his plastic stocked Kimber in 338 Federal instead of the Brno she has done quite well with thank you very much.
So much for just getting her used to shooting in the alpine, now we get to develop a load too. The search for bullets soon had us way more than we'll ever need and a suitable load was found with 180gr Noslers. Now she remembered why the Brno was better, it didn't kick the shooter into next week. Holy moly that little feather wieght can pound.
Off we go opening weekend, my bride with a bad back, me with a bumb knee thanks to past sheep hunting exploits and Nugget in tow as the Mule. He'd be packing us or a Sheep of the mountain and was game to try either.
We picked an area that has quad access for obvious reasons but it didn't really prove too much easier. First day was fun, You cannot pack a firearm on a quad before noon so we left them in the truck and just grabbed the glass and tripod, and headed up the mountain.
Found a couple rams a long way off and then I caught movement below us...... a big hungry sow and her cub tearing up grubs for brunch. These are the first Grizzlies I have ever seen and we took great delight in watching them after we got over the ridge out of harms way.
Second day out we spotted a large group of sheep a few miles away and to our joy and much energy expended got to within 80yds of them undetected. Christy did her part and killed a fine young ewe. We have almost eaten all of it already, delicious!
Christy loved packing that rifle but found the recoil intimidating, even with only mid range loads. She gave the rifle back to Nugget and opted for the Brno 7x57 for her Cow Elk tag. Atta Girl!
Season would open on Monday, it was Saturday morning and I headed to our back field in the morning fog to see what was around. Dad's been having trouble getting a crop to catch in the back field and turned it under yet again this year, planting Rye in July or August. There are young shoots popping up and I guess the Elk are addicted. You can't tell in this pic but there are over 30 head out there browsing. I was caught in the wide open and had to flop down on my back real quick.
Foggy mornings continued thru the weekend and lil Noely couldn't have been happier about that.The herd stayed out well into shooting light, feeling safe in the misty blanket around them. Sunday night we got snow which lifted the fog...... and the elk left during the night. Such is the life of hunting elk at home.
Nugget was with us and got a call from the neighbor saying they found a small group and invited us over. We were almost there when the shot rang out. Too late! We hiked all over through the bush, Christy learned how hard it is to be quiet in the bush and was pretty much done by noon so we called it a day.
Off to work on Tuesday the 26th and I got an unexpected call from Nugget. The herd was coming across at first light and he smacked the first legal bull he saw. It is perhaps the ugliest one you could see too.
Leaning on his bipod with his fat 6-18 Leupold on 10X he smacked the bull from clear across our hayfield first at 350yds then soon as it came into view two more well placed hits at 428yds put the bull down for good. Rifle is an exceptionally ugly Win 70, plastic stocked and stainless tossing 160gr Accubonds from a 7mm Rem Mag case.
He had not seen any other legal bulls in the group but there is always hope early in the season. I had Thursday and Friday booked off and was ready to fill a tag.
Thursday the back field was empty except for deer so I toured around to some properties with Nugget, packing a newly aquired Winchester 1895 in 30-40 US and some 220gr Hornadys. Look out Elk!
And they were scared all right, not a one to be seen! It was a fun time to be out anyway which is just as good as getting something, certainly better than being at work!
That following Saturday the 30th Christy and I right where Nugget had been a few days before and looking again at a herd of Elk. A bull stepped out but it was dark enough I could not count points..... adrenaline was not my friend either and the shakes were getting to me. The bull melted into the brush and only two cows remained in the field, hidden by trees. I gave up on the bull and we hauled down the trail to get around the wind break of trees and found the cow. Again the Brno came to life and two 154gr Hornady's hit home, one a double lunger and the second through both shoulder blades at 90yds. Whew, that was easy!
Friday the 5th I was heading to the field again with not only the 30-40 but also my 7x57 in case I had to shoot farther than I wanted with the 1895. Didn't get 60yds from the back yard fence and from the north came a small buck. I layed flat on the pasture which was thankfully dry. He approached where I had stepped and did not care for my scent, he went back the way he came.
I sat up and as the morning sun started coming up I scanned the back field thinking it was empty but the whole herd of elk was out there.
The adrenaline hit hard and I wanted to get sick. Always been that way, no better way to settle my nerves than to do some excersize. The herd was well over 500yds away and were not aware of my presence so I grabbed both rifles and made for the drainage ditch Dad put in years ago with his old D2 Caterpillar. It is only two feet deep but if you crouch low it will provide excellent cover.
I got to the edge of the field and rested the binos on the fence, scanning the herd...... there was a bull beyond the herd! I layed the 1895 down and lined up the 7x57. I put three inches of sky between the Kahles cross hair and his back and time stood still at the rifle's report.
My ringing ears did not hear the thump, but the bull swung 120 degrees. As he landed from spinning his stance was real wide in the back and his front hooves were touching together, he began to wobble. He was now about 10 degrees off of facing straight in my direction, not a shot I wanted to take.
The herd all gathered in the field looking in all directions. It had been only a few seconds since the shot but it felt like eternity. The bull raised his right back leg as if stretching out a cramp and lifted his head looking to his left. Finally he took one step to rotate enough for the second shot which hit home on the point of his shoulder hit lung, knicked the spine, really hit the other lung and then stopped between the ribs offside. He only stood a second more and fell. First shot had been a perfect double lung hit and pass thru. Range 366yds.
The Deer season has been really dull this year. Five or so bucks come around but they are all runts to we are letting them grow since we are so nice. I did finally get tired of the nonsense and got a supplemental tag allowing two does to be tagged. The next Saturday the 1895 finally got to blow the cobwebs out. Not far from my Great Grandfather's blacksmith shop a young doe fell to the 30-40 at 90yds. A quick follow up shot was used which did not lend to a nice photo for my first kill with this rifle and cartridge so we had to improvise. Built in 1901 I don't think it got to shoot much game. That is about to change.
The next morning was a special morning for me, for the first time I was packing a Savage Model 40 in 250 HP. Gramma's Brother had used one for years as you have likely seen me blather on about. Well this was her first day out. I rested post recticle of teh Weaver J4 right behind the doe's shoulder and one shot from 80yds put a 117gr RN thru both lungs. She ran 40yds and toppled over, out of my view. When I got over the rise, she was getting back up but she was dead on her feet. She fell right back over and never moved again. Just the way a first kill with a dear rifle should be.
The 250 is going out this weekend in hopes of a Buck and maybe even seeing the Father in law get his Moose.
Thanks for taking time to read, hope you enjoyed the yarn.
And thanks to all who have helped with procuring these old rifles, the scopes and ammo. Most of it came thru CGN. It means a lot.
I guess we start back in September, with my Darling wife looking to fill her NT Sheep tag. We knew she would get drawn after building priority for a long time. Much to my dismay and Nuggets joy she decided to pack his plastic stocked Kimber in 338 Federal instead of the Brno she has done quite well with thank you very much.
So much for just getting her used to shooting in the alpine, now we get to develop a load too. The search for bullets soon had us way more than we'll ever need and a suitable load was found with 180gr Noslers. Now she remembered why the Brno was better, it didn't kick the shooter into next week. Holy moly that little feather wieght can pound.
Off we go opening weekend, my bride with a bad back, me with a bumb knee thanks to past sheep hunting exploits and Nugget in tow as the Mule. He'd be packing us or a Sheep of the mountain and was game to try either.
We picked an area that has quad access for obvious reasons but it didn't really prove too much easier. First day was fun, You cannot pack a firearm on a quad before noon so we left them in the truck and just grabbed the glass and tripod, and headed up the mountain.
Found a couple rams a long way off and then I caught movement below us...... a big hungry sow and her cub tearing up grubs for brunch.
These are the first Grizzlies I have ever seen and we took great delight in watching them after we got over the ridge out of harms way.
Second day out we spotted a large group of sheep a few miles away and to our joy and much energy expended got to within 80yds of them undetected.
Christy did her part and killed a fine young ewe. We have almost eaten all of it already, delicious!
Christy loved packing that rifle but found the recoil intimidating, even with only mid range loads. She gave the rifle back to Nugget and opted for the Brno 7x57 for her Cow Elk tag. Atta Girl!
Season would open on Monday, it was Saturday morning and I headed to our back field in the morning fog to see what was around. Dad's been having trouble getting a crop to catch in the back field and turned it under yet again this year, planting Rye in July or August. There are young shoots popping up and I guess the Elk are addicted. You can't tell in this pic but there are over 30 head out there browsing. I was caught in the wide open and had to flop down on my back real quick.
Foggy mornings continued thru the weekend and lil Noely couldn't have been happier about that.
The herd stayed out well into shooting light, feeling safe in the misty blanket around them. Sunday night we got snow which lifted the fog...... and the elk left during the night. Such is the life of hunting elk at home. Nugget was with us and got a call from the neighbor saying they found a small group and invited us over. We were almost there when the shot rang out.
Too late! We hiked all over through the bush, Christy learned how hard it is to be quiet in the bush and was pretty much done by noon so we called it a day.Off to work on Tuesday the 26th and I got an unexpected call from Nugget. The herd was coming across at first light and he smacked the first legal bull he saw. It is perhaps the ugliest one you could see too.
Leaning on his bipod with his fat 6-18 Leupold on 10X he smacked the bull from clear across our hayfield first at 350yds then soon as it came into view two more well placed hits at 428yds put the bull down for good. Rifle is an exceptionally ugly Win 70, plastic stocked and stainless tossing 160gr Accubonds from a 7mm Rem Mag case.
He had not seen any other legal bulls in the group but there is always hope early in the season. I had Thursday and Friday booked off and was ready to fill a tag.
Thursday the back field was empty except for deer so I toured around to some properties with Nugget, packing a newly aquired Winchester 1895 in 30-40 US and some 220gr Hornadys. Look out Elk!
And they were scared all right, not a one to be seen! It was a fun time to be out anyway which is just as good as getting something, certainly better than being at work!
That following Saturday the 30th Christy and I right where Nugget had been a few days before and looking again at a herd of Elk. A bull stepped out but it was dark enough I could not count points..... adrenaline was not my friend either and the shakes were getting to me. The bull melted into the brush and only two cows remained in the field, hidden by trees. I gave up on the bull and we hauled down the trail to get around the wind break of trees and found the cow. Again the Brno came to life and two 154gr Hornady's hit home, one a double lunger and the second through both shoulder blades at 90yds. Whew, that was easy!
Friday the 5th I was heading to the field again with not only the 30-40 but also my 7x57 in case I had to shoot farther than I wanted with the 1895. Didn't get 60yds from the back yard fence and from the north came a small buck. I layed flat on the pasture which was thankfully dry. He approached where I had stepped and did not care for my scent, he went back the way he came.
I sat up and as the morning sun started coming up I scanned the back field thinking it was empty but the whole herd of elk was out there.
The adrenaline hit hard and I wanted to get sick. Always been that way, no better way to settle my nerves than to do some excersize. The herd was well over 500yds away and were not aware of my presence so I grabbed both rifles and made for the drainage ditch Dad put in years ago with his old D2 Caterpillar. It is only two feet deep but if you crouch low it will provide excellent cover.
I got to the edge of the field and rested the binos on the fence, scanning the herd...... there was a bull beyond the herd! I layed the 1895 down and lined up the 7x57. I put three inches of sky between the Kahles cross hair and his back and time stood still at the rifle's report.
My ringing ears did not hear the thump, but the bull swung 120 degrees. As he landed from spinning his stance was real wide in the back and his front hooves were touching together, he began to wobble.
He was now about 10 degrees off of facing straight in my direction, not a shot I wanted to take. The herd all gathered in the field looking in all directions. It had been only a few seconds since the shot but it felt like eternity. The bull raised his right back leg as if stretching out a cramp and lifted his head looking to his left. Finally he took one step to rotate enough for the second shot which hit home on the point of his shoulder hit lung, knicked the spine, really hit the other lung and then stopped between the ribs offside. He only stood a second more and fell. First shot had been a perfect double lung hit and pass thru. Range 366yds.
The Deer season has been really dull this year. Five or so bucks come around but they are all runts to we are letting them grow since we are so nice. I did finally get tired of the nonsense and got a supplemental tag allowing two does to be tagged. The next Saturday the 1895 finally got to blow the cobwebs out. Not far from my Great Grandfather's blacksmith shop a young doe fell to the 30-40 at 90yds. A quick follow up shot was used which did not lend to a nice photo for my first kill with this rifle and cartridge so we had to improvise. Built in 1901 I don't think it got to shoot much game. That is about to change.
The next morning was a special morning for me, for the first time I was packing a Savage Model 40 in 250 HP. Gramma's Brother had used one for years as you have likely seen me blather on about. Well this was her first day out. I rested post recticle of teh Weaver J4 right behind the doe's shoulder and one shot from 80yds put a 117gr RN thru both lungs. She ran 40yds and toppled over, out of my view. When I got over the rise, she was getting back up but she was dead on her feet. She fell right back over and never moved again. Just the way a first kill with a dear rifle should be.
The 250 is going out this weekend in hopes of a Buck and maybe even seeing the Father in law get his Moose.
Thanks for taking time to read, hope you enjoyed the yarn.
And thanks to all who have helped with procuring these old rifles, the scopes and ammo. Most of it came thru CGN. It means a lot.
