More On Big Game Calibers
08-02-2007, 02:21 PM
#51
Typical Buck
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Denver, Colorado
Posts: 599
RE: More On Big Game Calibers
kdvollmer,
14 pounds for the AR-30 in 338 Lapua, eh? Less than I would have thought. My 375 HH weighs 11.5 pounds, so I guess it is not that much more, though every ouncehas a costin elk country.
Nice energy retention at 1000 yards BTW. The 338 Lapua story has its beginnings in one of my favorite cartridges, the 416 Rigby, interesting connect. I've used the 416 Rigby and 458 Lott on elk. Overkill for sure; however, they are very effective, and at least now that I have blooded those gunsI have a gut feel for what they'll do (in addition to as intellectual understanding)when the time comes for a different and more robust query.
While 338 Lapuas, 375HH's, the various .40+ cartridges, and then the 50 BMG are with in the realm of experience and consideration for some;for others theyappear to be a bit too far outside the boxand thus trigger thatsignature "knee jerk, off the wall" response that seems endemic.
After you've popped your fair share of elk using the morestandard array of equipment and utilized themainstream "you gotta shoot 'em up close if you're a real hunter" ethic, something a little more outside the box (whether different equipment or different hunting strategies) tends to make things more interesting.
For me,onefundamentalpart of the elk hunt (i.e. the "kill" portion of the hunt)is "how do they go down".... "just get by" or convincingly smoked. Some folks are content to "archery shoot" them with a rifle, watch them run off with out asign of a hitand then they follow the speckle traillooking for a carcass at the end of it. (If they are deer type hunters armed with deer type rifles, thenWE SURE AS HELLDO HOPE they look for that trail instead of uttering the all-to-common "musta missed").
Other folksprefer to be a bit more ah, er, aghh, hmm, "definitive" when putting the whack on an elk (I'm talking "boiler room shots" here not the riskier CNS shots). Especially if you have more than one tag to fill and youhave managed to get"into the elk" then you don't want to take your focus off of the one you just popped unless you know he is history on the spot.If he is still standing, then he ain't history yet.
Putting them down on the spotallows you to get right ontoyour second elkbefore the shot opportunity dissapears. For as sharp as elk are, it is amazing how confusedthey can get when you "get into a herd of them just right." We've had herds stand and stare trying to figure where the first shot came from and other herds have guessed the wrong direction and thenstampede right thru our positions with elk crashing thru on both sides and betweenus. It is a good thing to havethefirst elkyou just shot"down and out"so as to be able tojust stand behind your tree and enjoythe stampedeshow (best not to shoot when they are blowing by at 15 feet). This beats having to ignore the whole thing while maintaining ones stare right at the spot where you last saw your elkdisappear into the woods without showing you so much as aflinch or a stagger. (Because you are going to walk right over to THAT SPOT and start looking for the blood trail [remember?])
Seen it/done it both ways.... I'll take the heavies.
And so it goes.
14 pounds for the AR-30 in 338 Lapua, eh? Less than I would have thought. My 375 HH weighs 11.5 pounds, so I guess it is not that much more, though every ouncehas a costin elk country.
Nice energy retention at 1000 yards BTW. The 338 Lapua story has its beginnings in one of my favorite cartridges, the 416 Rigby, interesting connect. I've used the 416 Rigby and 458 Lott on elk. Overkill for sure; however, they are very effective, and at least now that I have blooded those gunsI have a gut feel for what they'll do (in addition to as intellectual understanding)when the time comes for a different and more robust query.
While 338 Lapuas, 375HH's, the various .40+ cartridges, and then the 50 BMG are with in the realm of experience and consideration for some;for others theyappear to be a bit too far outside the boxand thus trigger thatsignature "knee jerk, off the wall" response that seems endemic.
After you've popped your fair share of elk using the morestandard array of equipment and utilized themainstream "you gotta shoot 'em up close if you're a real hunter" ethic, something a little more outside the box (whether different equipment or different hunting strategies) tends to make things more interesting.
For me,onefundamentalpart of the elk hunt (i.e. the "kill" portion of the hunt)is "how do they go down".... "just get by" or convincingly smoked. Some folks are content to "archery shoot" them with a rifle, watch them run off with out asign of a hitand then they follow the speckle traillooking for a carcass at the end of it. (If they are deer type hunters armed with deer type rifles, thenWE SURE AS HELLDO HOPE they look for that trail instead of uttering the all-to-common "musta missed").
Other folksprefer to be a bit more ah, er, aghh, hmm, "definitive" when putting the whack on an elk (I'm talking "boiler room shots" here not the riskier CNS shots). Especially if you have more than one tag to fill and youhave managed to get"into the elk" then you don't want to take your focus off of the one you just popped unless you know he is history on the spot.If he is still standing, then he ain't history yet.
Putting them down on the spotallows you to get right ontoyour second elkbefore the shot opportunity dissapears. For as sharp as elk are, it is amazing how confusedthey can get when you "get into a herd of them just right." We've had herds stand and stare trying to figure where the first shot came from and other herds have guessed the wrong direction and thenstampede right thru our positions with elk crashing thru on both sides and betweenus. It is a good thing to havethefirst elkyou just shot"down and out"so as to be able tojust stand behind your tree and enjoythe stampedeshow (best not to shoot when they are blowing by at 15 feet). This beats having to ignore the whole thing while maintaining ones stare right at the spot where you last saw your elkdisappear into the woods without showing you so much as aflinch or a stagger. (Because you are going to walk right over to THAT SPOT and start looking for the blood trail [remember?])
Seen it/done it both ways.... I'll take the heavies.
And so it goes.
