Well, I have had my CVA Bobcat for about 4 years now, and have yet to kill something with it, until today!! No, it wasn't my elk, but I did need to get out and calm my nerves a little bit. I was out driving a two track road and saw a jackrabbit. I got out, and let a .490 round ball fly with 50 grains of Pyrodex RS. I MISSED!! Couldn't believe it, at 15 yards and I shot over the darn thing. Well, the guy didn't run very far. I was able to get another charge in the barrel as I saw him hide behind a tree maybe 50 yards away or so. I made my way towards the tree, and 10 yards away, he jumps out and runs up the hill, but stops after running only 20 yards or so. I let another one fly. BINGO!! Got him that time. Lights out, he only made one little twitch and that was it. I paced the shot to about 35 yards or so. Now my nerves are calm, and I am more confident that I can kill my elk as long as I can get within 75 yards. Whewwww, What a relief!!

Every gun needs its first "confidence kill" - even if it is something small. Actually, a jack rabbit at 35 yards is about as small of target as an elk at 200 yards! I wacked a coyote with my .45 Hawken on its first outing. We kinda bonded after that . . . .

The first blood I made with my .54 caliber Mountain Stalker (Bobcat)was a white tail deer at just under 40 yards. I had practiced with that rifle until I was really sure I could hit anything I wanted out to 70 yards. (I figured no use shooting further then that because where I hunt 50 yards was the maxium distance I could see anyway.) I was up in the tree and it was getting late afternoon with the sun setting. About then I heard deer coming down the trail. I told myself, I will only shoot if it is a big deer and a perfect broadside shot. Well, out walked a very large (and I mean really big) doe. Since this was the doe season, I watched her come closer. At 40 yards she stopped broadside and started that leg stomping stuff. I was sure she had not winded me, but I was looking over the sights at her. I had the hammer back and was all lined up. About then I realized I had fired. She took about four steps and dropped in her tracks. After that I just started filling tags with the rifle during the season. I ended up taking two more and then decided I had enough venison for the season so I stopped hunting for meat. I then went after RACKS!

We saw 12-15 cows by lages jctn last thurs. 25th. headed south towards your area, Jess got out and had em talking back to him.

I had thought about hunting that area. Only problem is the county line is the boundary and a lot of the water is just north of the county line!! I will be going out this weekend and have considered heading up in that area. I may just go there on Friday night and Saturday morning and head South Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning before coming home. Thanks for the tip!

Edit - I guess that would be right into 111, I was thinking 112 where the water is north of the boundary.

Charlie Brown - Good for you. I remember my younger days when my buddy and I would hit the woodchuck fields armed with nothing other than our 50 cals. He used a TC Renegade while I used a TC Firehawk. Boy, those sure were some good times. We both used 80 gr Pyrodex, but I used a saboted pure lead .44 cal bullet while my buddy used a .490 PRB.

I foundly recall one shot my buddy made across an open hay field that had just been cut the day before. A monster chuck was out in full view while my well-hidden friend was sitting in an overlooking hedge row quite a ways from the chuck. I witnessed the entire thing unfold from a distance of about 100 yards while glassing another field. After what seemed like...forever...my buddy sqeezed off the shot and I remember the chuck just falling over like a ton of bricks. Perfect upper chest shot. We were both amazed he hit it considering he was just using open sights. We paced off the shot to about 150 yards!

Some of you more experienced guys may not think this was that impressive of a shot, but again it was made with merely a PRB, open sites, while shooting prone. Admittedly, the chuck was standing when he shot, which made a verticle miss a little less likely, but hey, I was still very impressed.

I will replay that sceen in mind for many years to come.

-Hunter John

Congrats on the shot. My first blood w/ my ML was my own. Dropped the flint on my finger by accident. OUCH!! Other than that my first blood came last year from a shed antler buck. What a RUSH!

That would be an outstanding shot with any open sights no matter what kind of projectile. I shot a couple chucks in my life and they are not an easy target. When I first got my Renegade and my friend at the time shot a CVA Mountian rifle, we used to do a lot of target shooting. The special trick was after you shot the bull out of the target wasthen you went after the thumbtacks in the corner of the target.

First blood with mine was "scope eye"

LOL