Elk with a roundball stories

[grndhntr]

My son wants to hunt elk with a .50 cal. ML this year. I have experience hunting elk with a 30-30 and have never had a problem and the ballistics are similar. I don't think that he'll have a problem getting good penetration with a .50 patched round ball as long as he takes a bow-type shot, broadside through the lungs. I would like to get stories about elk hunting with a PRB though, just to increase my confidence. Please include distance of shot, location of hit, and penetration. Thanks.

 

[Bill Hall]

How about a "what not to do" story?

As I was standing on a barren hillside, I bugled and could hear an answer way back in the thick woods. I made my way to the timber, calling now and then, and thinking he was still way back in there. As soon as I entered the trees, there he was, about 60 yards away, rubbing his antlers on a tree, and I swear he was smiling. I was trying to get a good look at his rack, to see if I wanted him or not, but it was somewhat dark in there, and he wouldn't hold those horns still. As soon as I determined that he was a keeper, his head jerked up and he was staring right at me, with a look on his face like, "What the (bleep) are you?". His body was behind the tree, so all I had was a straight-on head shot. I knew he would bolt any second, and I was confident I could hit him where I wanted, so I aimed right between his eyes and fired my .54 percussion. That was a mistake. He hit the ground and rolled over twice and popped right back on his feet. I was reloading and thinking this guy will recover any second and run off wounded. When I finished reloading, he was dancing back and forth, walking backwards, then spinning around so fast I couldn't keep my sights on a good spot. Everytime I started pulling the trigger, he would spin around again and walk backwards. Finally he spun around and I was ready. I shot him right through both lungs, and that stopped him from moving. He stood there for maybe five seconds and dropped like something had pulled his feet out from under him. CRASH!!!

When I got to him, I found that he was a nice 5 x 5, bigger than I thought, and the head shot had hit exactly where I aimed, right between the eyes. One of his eyes had even popped out. The lungs were jelly. When I got home, I sawed off the horns and found the ball's path. The brain is actually a little higher than I realized, and ball had gone into pure bone and sorta vaporized in there somewhere. If I had to do it again, I would still take the head shot, only I would aim a little higher, like just under the top of the skull.

Moral: Head shots can be taken, but know where that brain lies, as head shots are not a sure thing. Best shots are lung shots, as they ARE a sure thing if hit well. Bill

 

[Pete Gaimari]

My son wants to hunt elk with a .50 cal. ML this year. I have experience hunting elk with a 30-30 and have never had a problem and the ballistics are similar. I don't think that he'll have a problem getting good penetration with a .50 patched round ball as long as he takes a bow-type shot, broadside through the lungs. I would like to get stories about elk hunting with a PRB though, just to increase my confidence. Please include distance of shot, location of hit, and penetration. Thanks.

Not sure I can say the ballistics are similar to a 30-30. With the Leverevolution ammo a 200 yd kill is possible. I'd never try that with a RB.

 

[Idaho Ron]

I was on a late ML cow hunt in eastern Idaho. I was still hunting an area I saw elk the night before. About 9:00 am I heard a shot from a ways in front of me. Well instead of turning back I decided to see if it was someone I knew from our hunting group. I first cut sign of a wounded elk. The blood spots were not as heavy as they should have been. I didn't see human foot prints in the snow so I knew the hunter would be coming. Soon a guy showed up. He told me his story. He thought he had a good hit and he was using a PRB. He also said his shot was under 75 yards. We talked about it and I offered to help, and we took off after the cow. We tracked her for a long time. A couple of times we found spots where she stood for a while and one where she laid down. The hit looked like a shot in the shoulder. After more deep snow tracking the hunter was done. He told me he was turning back. I told him I was going to find her and he wished me good luck. I found the cow about an hour later and finished her off with a double lung hit. It took me the better part of the next day to slide her out. The ball was found in the shoulder and it stopped at the blade. She might have lived if I had not followed up be most likely she would have died. The guy that first shot her should have not given up. I am glad I didn't. I shot her with a Hornady Great plains bullet. Ron

 

[rawhide]

never shot one with a round ball all mine were shot with cast conical bullets. longest shot was 60 yards maybe small cow broad side. 1 shot from the .54 witha .380 grain bullet and 90 grains of 777 FFFg. boom wack dead elk. closest shot on a huge cow was 10 feet! my cusin is still mad at me for that one...

 

[longcruise]

I see by your profile that you are also from CO. Heck, that's half the battle is being near the elk to start. Also see by your profile that your birthday is the day before mine. Oh well, for whatever that's worth! :haha:

I don't use a .50 rb for elk, but that does not mean it won't work. I've always felt better with a .54. Not saying your son should go out and get a bigger gun, just throwing out my opinion. There are plenty of guys on this board who have used the .50 ball with great success on elk.

Marginal angles are not a good idea regardless of caliber. He should stick with broadside and quartering not over 45 degrees, IMO. The funny thing about a round ball is they seem to penetrate pretty good regardless of velocity/range. Up closer and at higher velocity they tend to get pretty flat which slows penetration a bit but it is more than adequate. At lower velocity they tend to retain their round shape and still penetrate pretty well. Kinda makes for a favorable balance in performance.

I hit a big cow broadside right behind the shoulder at about 35 yards with a .54 ball that broke a rib going in and tore up both lungs before stopping just under the skin on the far side. She ran all out for about 100 yards and never left a drop of blood at the site of the hit or along the way as she fled. When the lungs are so completely collapsed, the blood does not always flow from the entry. If there had been an exit wound shey may have left some blood.

I have seen over and over even deer hit very hard up close with .50 and .54 balls where the ball does not exit. It turns up against the skin on the far side. It's not because it ran out of steam, it's because the skin is so elastic that it actually stretches way out, holds the ball and then snaps back into place. I saw a video of this once where a deer was facing the camera and was hit broadside. The skin tented out on the off side of the shot to a point several times the width of the deer and the bullet did not exit.

The subject of powder charges always seems to come up in these discussions but, IMO, they are pointless. The differences in velocity potential among various guns, powder granualtions, powder manufacturers and patch/lube combos make comparisons between mine, yours and anybody else's guns meaningless. I have chrongraphed many round balls from many different guns in many different calibers over the past 20 years and the picture that emerges is that they are unpredictable. :shocked2:

I have a 24 inched .50 that shoots at 1425 fps with an 80 grain charge of goex 3f. True, it's a short barrel, but the same load in another .50 with a 28 inch barrel shoots around 1850 fps. That's not all coming from four inches of barrel! :shocked2:

Only thing I can suggest for your son is to shoot as much powder as he can without giving up the accuracy he will need for good shot placement. That along with knowing his own shooting limitations under field conditions should put meat in the freezer!

 

[grndhntr]

Awesome stories. Keep 'em comin'

 

[Bill Hall]

Heck man, I got a ton of stories. Most with a .54 roundball. Here's one with a quartering away shot.

Five minutes into my cow elk hunt on opening day, I spooked two cows standing on the side of a canyon. My bad, I didn't expect to see anything so quickly and it caught me off-guard. I know this canyon very well, and I knew the elk would trot down the canyon without going over the top. I ran down the bottom of the canyon as silently as I could, and stopped where I thought I might see then again. Sure enough, they were standing right there watching me, about 50 yards away. As I pointed my .54 at the bigger cow, she turned and made a couple of steps, offering me a quartering away shot. I put the sights just behind her ribs and fired. I could hear her run a short distance and then a crash. I reloaded and got out my camcorder to video the rest. I stopped at the spot where I hit her and panned the camera in the direction she had travelled. There she was in a heap, her head tangled in a small tree. I paced off 20 yardish steps to where she fell. Apperantly, she had run in a daze until she was stopped by a young juniper, but her momentum pushed her body forward, and the tree bent her head back towards her butt.

I was using 110 grains of goex ffg, and the .54 ball had entered her abdomen, destroying the liver, then travelled up into her chest. It was close to three feet of penetration. Not too shabby for a little round piece of lead. Everything in the ball's path was pretty torn up, including one lung. I never did find the ball, I guess it fell out with the inerds or it was lodged somewhere in her shoulder.

Since roundballs have such good penetration, you can get the ball in the chest even if you have to aim at the abdomen or off-center of the brisket to get it in there. Roundballs are awesome. Bill

 

[hoochiepapa]

More, Bill, more! :bow:

 

[Bill Hall]

Your turn Mike. :grin: Bill

 

[hoochiepapa]

I haven't killed an elk with a roundball...yet.

 

[Bill Hall]

Well, hopefully we'll get a story this fall. Good luck. :thumbsup: Bill

 

[grousehunter]

be sure your rb ballistics arent even in a league with that 30-30. i have killed elk with a ball in my 54 and use only conicals now. that is one creature that dosent know when its dead. i would use a stout load and keep the shot to under 50 yards. good luck

 

[KHickam]

I have killed elk with 50, 54 and 62 no problems - furthest one went was 45 or 50 yds

 

[KHickam]

It was the Moon of the Drying Grass. He moved up along the north fork of the creek, taking a few steps and listening. The gentle sound of the creek and the chattering of squirrels the only sounds falling on his ears. His fusil was cradled in his arms as he scanned in front of him for some movement. A well used game trail crossed the overgrown logging road and headed up the ridge.

He knew the trail well and started up it. Not far from the fork of the trail, the young, dense forest of pine, and hardwoods opened up into a meadow. Early in the summer, he was sure it was covered with blue flowers of quamash. This was a staple of the Yakamas and Klickitats in the days of old and still some kept the tradition alive because there was evidence of harvest as he skirted the meadow. A beautiful mule deer buck was grazing on the other side of the meadow, unaware that the young man watched him from the cover of a small stand of young spruce trees. The buck was safe for now because the hunter was after wapiti not deer.

He continued to climb, progressing slowly - taking a few steps, scanning and listening straining to hear or smell wapiti. The bugles of bull elk echoed from time to time up and down the drainage, and the sound stirred his blood. His destination was an heavily sheltered meadow over the ridge some ways away yet. As he topped the ridge he was greeted by the stirring sight of the snow covered mountains called Loowit and Klickitat - known today as Adams and St. Helens. He cut a well used elk trail that dropped into the valley below and decided to follow it. He was amazed by the amount of fresh sign along the trail. He followed a small seep that drained into the larger fork of the Ahtanum, heartened by the abundance of wallows, rubs and sign along the seep through the aspens, and black cottonwoods.

The area was closing in, dense underbrush and trees choked the drainage and he could not see far to the front or sides. He reached into his shot pouch and pulled ten buckshot from one of his small ball bags and poured them down the barrel on top of the patched round ball, on top of this he pushed some hornets nest to ensure the small balls did not roll out of the barrel. He felt that this would be the most efficient load for the dense forest that was closing around him.

The sign was getting fresher and he moved more cautiously with his gun at the ready. He saw movement up on the side of a hill, his eyes focused on this. It was a small herd of elk, moving down the hill towards the meadow below. He knew that the another small drainage split the meadow ahead and a dense stand of what his dad had called dog hair hemlock and he was determined to beat the herd to the meadow. He moved as quickly as he could trying to make little noise. He arrived at the meadow before the herd as they were unaware of his presence and grazing as they went.

He found a spot near a heavily used trail in the meadow and waited. The wind was favorable and he could smell the elk long before he saw them after they disappeared along the drainage.

He had guessed wrong and he watched helplessly as the herd kept a dense stand of timber between him and them. He could see their legs from time to time between the trees. He had committed to his course of action and knew he could not move from his spot without spooking the herd. He resigned himself to another unsucessful day hunting. Oh well, the Ahtanum was beautiful and he had lots of days of leave to go after returning from the war.

He watched as the herd moved off and into the deep canyon below. He was about to get up and head back to the trailhead, when he heard a thrashing and cracking of brush behind him. The deep bugle of a mature elk split his ears, perhaps 100 yards away. He cocked the hammer of his hunting gun and made himself as small against a dead fall as he possibly could.

He watched in eager anticipation as the bull stepped into view, it was a good sized three point bull. The hunter was almost afraid to breath as the bull made it's way slowly across the meadow and it hastened it's pace as another bull answered the challenge from the ridge above. The bull was moving right down the game trail, slowly inching closer to the waiting hunter. At twenty yards, the bull bugled again, the deafening sound sent chills running down the spine of the hunter. One, then two more steps the bull took, standing parrallel to the hunter and offering a beautiful broadside shot.

The hunter slowly raised his gun, the elk unaware of the hunter crouched fifteen yards away. He squeezed the trigger, the hammer fall was followed by the thundering boom of the fusil echoeing through the forest.

The bull stumbled, dropped to it's knees as the stout load of buckshot and ball slammed into his side propelled by 100 grains of blackpowder. The bull tried to run, his back legs willing but his front legs betraying him, he scooted 3 steps on this front legs before he succumbed to the shock and blood loss and rolled over kicking a few times before he expired. The hunter reloaded out of habit, even though it was obviously unnecessary.

The bull had taken the full brunt of the load - being hit by ten of the eleven balls. The big ball at transected completely through the bull tearing a hole through the heart and exiting the far side of the bull. The buck shot had hit the bull in the liver, lungs, shoulder, spine and neck. None of the little shot had exited.

It took 6 trips to pack out the meat, hide, and head. Over the course of the rest of the day, and into the night. The weight of the fresh meat was satisfying. He would eat well this winter and perhaps he would have enough leather from the hide for several pairs of the centerseam moccassins he was fond of.

He felt immense satisfaction in the efficiency and craftsmanship of his weapons and tools. His iron mounted fusil de chasse that he partially crafted. It was stocked in cherry, long and light. It had a 44 inch barrel that was 1 1/8 inches across the flats at the breech, tapered and swamped. His butcher knife crafted by Prairie Elk forge was well struck and held a keen edge it made the work of dressing and skinning the bull very quick. His small axe bounced on his hip crafted by a fine smith in South Dakota, it had cut through the bone and flesh of the elk like butter, making the quartering of the elk simple. His pack frame was old crafted by his Pa a long time ago and gifted to him when the older hunter was no longer able to get out much.

 

[Kentuckywindage]

My son wants to hunt elk with a .50 cal. ML this year. I have experience hunting elk with a 30-30 and have never had a problem and the ballistics are similar. I don't think that he'll have a problem getting good penetration with a .50 patched round ball as long as he takes a bow-type shot, broadside through the lungs. I would like to get stories about elk hunting with a PRB though, just to increase my confidence. Please include distance of shot, location of hit, and penetration. Thanks.

Not sure I can say the ballistics are similar to a 30-30. With the Leverevolution ammo a 200 yd kill is possible. I'd never try that with a RB.

And not to mention the knock down energy difference.

 

[grndhntr]

Neat story, KHickam. Thanks.

 

[hellerodsyahoo.com]

Marmot slayer is right on the money. Shoot as much powder as you can through your gun as you can before season!!!! I have hunted elk, aka. (tanks), for over fifteen years in the high country of Co. with the same group of guys with a bunch of different caliber rifles. Elk are tuff and shot placement is everything. I haven't used a black powder gun on elk, just Ca. deer and still believe shot placement is critical, even a 120lb deer won't die right away shooting 90 grains, 54 ca. prb unless you hit vitals!! ask me how I know this :redface:

 

[grndhntr]

I guess I should say that the ballistics are similar when comparing regular 30-30 ammo (I've never tried the Leverevolution but have heard the hype) and the max. load for a traditional .50 cal with a 175 gr. RB (the 30-30 bullets I've used for elk have been either 150 or 175 gr.). The ML numbers aren't quite there with the 30-30 but the're closer than comparing a 30-30 with a 30-06 that most guys claim is the absolute minimum for elk. My TC manual says that with 110 gr. black powder and a 175 gr. RB I should have about 1,772 foot pounds of energy @ the muzzle. The 30-30 ammo I've used successfully for elk has had a Muzzle energy of 1,830 foot pounds. I would call that "similar" with only about a 3% loss of energy with the .50 RB compared to the 30-30 bullet.

 

[Vaino]

The day before had smelled elk in some heavy timber but seeing it was getting dark, didn't go in. Next AM while sitting close by to this same area eating a Snickers, every so often I'd give a toot on the cow call. After 20 mins or so, I heard a racket and through the clearing came 8 cows and a 6x6 bull headed right for me. They stopped in a wooded area about 50 yds from me and the lead cow got nervous at not finding some cows and started down hill and stopped in front of me. Shot her in the ribs and she came back towards me 40 yds and didn't see her go down, but the aspens were shaking. Went over and she was laying on her back which was quite handy. This was the first elk for my new built .54 Hawken using a PRB and 120 grs of 2f. Paced off the distance at 107.
Another year was sitting in the same place for a couple of hrs and from in back of me I heard a cow call...doggone it, another hunter. Snuck over just in case and there were 3 cows and shot the larger one, aiming for the shoulder on a frontal quartering shot and she dove into a heavily wooded canyon. Went along the canyon looking for blood and heard a branch crack, looked ahead and saw her standing but weaving from side to side facing away from me. Shot her in the back of the neck and down she went. The bad thing was that she slid under a large log and her body wedged pretty tight. Took me close to an hour to "jack" her out of there w/ a decent sized dead tree and rope. Same load in the Hawken and the first shot was 60 yds and the 2nd was 40 yds. Nothing as good as elk hunting in the San Juan Mtns in SW Colorado.....Fred