Success!!
 

Well, after 6 days of hunting I was able to get my first elk!! Not only was it my first elk, but it was my first big game with a muzzle loader!! The cow is hanging in a cooler right now. Her hanging carcass weight is 225 lbs!! We figure about 450 on the hoof, which is a good sized cow, especially for Nevada.

We hunted hard for 3 days before finally finding the majority of the elk at about 10,000 feet elevation. On Thursday I got a shot at a cow, but my bullet hit the dirt before it got to her, she was 150 yards away.

Friday found us looking into a meadow about 500 yards with 40 different elk in it. A stock found us being busted by a cow we didn't see.

Saturday found us parked on the main road and walking in to the area where we saw the elk the day before. We heard only two bugles from the herd bull to let us know where they were at. About half way into the walk, we saw elk at about 600 yards. I could see a good cow ahead of most of the other elk and singled her out.

The stock was on!! I used the broken timber as cover and closed the distance to about 150 yards. I had 3 more trees between the big cow and me. I dropped everything I had, and my dad stayed back. I took my smoke pole and made about another 60 yard stock to get behind a 5 foot tall pine. I eased around the tree and had the cow at 90 yards angling slightly towards me. I sat down, took aim near the top of her back, squeezed the trigger, and heard, "CLICK." The primer didn't go off, and the elk never heard anything. I reset the hammer, took aim again. I squeezed the trigger, the rifle barked, and the valley filled with smoke. I could not see the elk at all. My dad was yelling at me to reload, and I am trying to see the darn cow. Finally the smoke had cleared and I was able to see her head sticking up and her trying to crawl away!! I had broken her back. I finally got the gun reloaded, then it was a 100 yard sprint to the elk to put a finishing shot into her head. The bullet went in behind the right ear and came out in front of the left ear. The first shot went in above the 3rd rib on the left side, hit the spine and stopped. There was no exit wound.

The elk fell right near a two track road and we were able to litterally drive the truck right to her.

Pictures will come tomorrow, as the 1 hour photo center was closed and will have the pics ready by 10 AM. I will also be butchering the elk tomorrow (along with 2 more people helping) and will post pics when I get back.

BTW - the weapon was a .50 Caliber CVA Bobcat with a 370 grain T/C Maxi-ball pushed by 80 grains of Pyrodex RS.

RE: Success!!
 

Congratulations! I always thought one of those .50 cal. 370-grain maxiballs would be a good elk bullet!

RE: Success!!
 

CONGRATULATIONS CHARLIE BROWN!!!

It sounds like you had a great hunt. And not just because you were able to score which is always a plus. A CVA Bobcat did the trick. I guess all these fancy rifles we purchase are not really necessary. It is just a matter of getting a good shooting load and then putting that load in the right place.

Congratulations on a suscessful elk hunt and a trip I am sure you will remember the rest of your life...

RE: Success!!
 

Nice going, Charlie Brown. Hope you don't have recurring nightmares where you are squeezing the trigger on a big bull elk and the cap doesn't go off [8D]

Also, I'm somewhat amazed that the Maxi-ball, even with a modest charge of powder, didn't go clear through. I know there is a lot of bone and muscle in the upper back area, but they are known to shoot clear through elk on broadside shoulder shots.

RE: Success!!
 

Good Job! There will be no stopping you now. That smoke gets under your skin don't it?

RE: Success!!
 

Thanks for the congrats!!! I AM HOOKED on elk hunting!!

In 9 days of hunting, we saw about 100 elk. About 10 were 6 points, with 5 going over 300 B&C, and at two that were definately 350" +!!! These were monsters, and needed no further judjing to tell that!! We saw probably a total of 10 other bulls, all being 4 and 5 points! Nothing smaller than a 4 pt!!

All told, I was within rifle range of every bull we saw, and within muzzleloader range of 2 6x's and a 4pt one morning and 30 yards of one of the 300 class 6pts another morning!!

Just butchered her yesterday. The meat was litterally falling off of the bone as we were cutting it. 155lbs total cut and wrapped, and that was after having to toss some badly bloodshot meat from where I hit her.

So, here are some pics -

My elk and me


Me standing on a ridge at 8000 feet, the mountian behind is 10,750 feet, I shot the elk on the ridge that shoots off to the right from there.


My dad in the same spot.




Camp before we left on Sunday



The "character mark" on the truck, thanks to a tree that we slid into while
trying to go up a two track road in a recent burn, the day after it rained!!

RE: Success!!
 

It sure looks like you had a great time and a great hunt. Now you get to enjoy all that wonderful elk meat over the rest of the winter, and you still get to reflect on the excellent time you spent with your family hunting. Again, Congratulations...

RE: Success!!
 

sounds like you had a fun time.....congrats

RE: Success!!
 

Congradulations!

She will be great eating!

What did the Maxi look like? .......and why didn't the primer go off?

"dad was yelling at me" ......REALLY!

I love it when a plan comes together!

RE: Success!!
 

CB, that's outstanding, congratulations!

And a good story, good photos, etc...made me think I was part of it!!

:D:D