Help on BP elk hunting

[Jim Fitzgibbon]

I have never hunted a Elk in my life.I live in
east Okla & most of our hunting is under 100 Yd.

I have a friend that wants to go Elk hunting, but
I don't know where just yet.

Ok guy's give me a clue to how far most Elk are shot & what Cal would be best?Also with real powder how many grains @ what bullet?

Fly :idunno:

 

[Pete Gaimari]

Elk are shot from 10yds to 800 yds with CF guns. Keeping it under 100 yds for a traditional ML is a good plan.

A .54 cal and up with 90-100gr of BP and a PRB will get the job done. Shot placement is critical. Go for a double lung shot.

 

[BrownBear]

I have never hunted a Elk in my life.I live in
east Okla & most of our hunting is under 100 Yd.

I have a friend that wants to go Elk hunting, but
I don't know where just yet.

Ok guy's give me a clue to how far most Elk are shot & what Cal would be best?Also with real powder how many grains @ what bullet?

Fly :idunno:

One huge difference you'll find, elk are generally herd animals while deer tend to be more solo except in rut. That means a whole lot of blank spaces between elk encounters, compared to deer. It also means a whole lot more eyes, ears and noses at work looking for your mistakes in stalking.

Forget about elk standing out in the middle of meadows or "parks" like you see in the pictures. That's CF rifle country, but archers and muzzleloader hunters generally have to work the tighter cover.

Fortunately for both, elk really do like the thick stuff, and the more idiots in the hills, the tighter the cover they'll find. That means the wood craft you've probably already developed on deer will help you a lot. The generally steep terrain and large size of the animal when down means you have to be in better shape. High elevation makes that moreso. The general rule of thumb for elk hunting is to bring your brawn or carry a fork and a hearty appetite. :rotf:

 

[MercerLake]

:v I agree with Capper, .54 and up. The question of how far should be how close can you get? Closer the better and do put it through both lungs! Don't be surprised if it just walks/runs off after the shot. They can lose a lot of blood and keep going, if the trail starts to fade out you are getting close. Don't quit, believe your shot placement. Have fun! :v

 

[oletymepreacher]

Most of my elk kills have been less than 75 yards, three were less than 20 yards, so there is no reason to shoot across a canyon. If you can hunt, you can get close. Look for the steepest, nasty,thick dark timber to get into the elk.

 

[longcruise]

Ok guy's give me a clue to how far most Elk are shot & what Cal would be best?Also with real powder how many grains @ what bullet?

All of my elk have been under 50 yards with CF and ml guns except one that was at 130.

The comments about elk and the thick cover are right on.

 

[HOGGHEAD]

If you have never hunted elk before then I would suggest you try to draw for a cow permit on your first hunt. A cow is considerably easier to get than a bull. IMO the meat tastes better also. Also the cows are a bit smaller, but they are still some tough old birds to kill. Shot placement is still very important.

Alot of guys like the thick dark timber for hunting elk. But it is just not for me. Sure the elk are there. But dark timber is a very difficult hunt. Especially for a hunter who has not even hunted elk before. They would have you use "dyed in the woll" hunting tactics in dark timber-and that is just not doable for the average guy just starting.

The bottom line is that hunting in dark timber is a very difficult thing to do. And it is very very very physically demanding. I have don it. And I have been in spots I never thought I would get out of. The lay downs of dark timber can flat be miserable to hunt in. I know it is the PC or cool thing to say you hunt and stalk in dark timber. But the honest truth is that few do it. and even fewer succeed. To me the dark timber hunt is a week of misery. I go west to hunt and enjoy my time. Not to spend a week in misery conditions. And what really broke me of hunting in the dark timber was the one time in CO that we had to drag a nice bull that we shot out of the dark timber. That was the most miserable 1-1/2 day job I have ever done in my life!!

Personally I like hunting in the wide open Aspen forests on the side of a CO mountain. One that has patches of dark timber. I like to hunt the skirts of the dark timber where the elk travel between patches of dark timber. Or come out into the Aspens to feed.

Nothing like a beautiful sunny afternoon sitting on the side of a mountain at 10,000 feet in CO looking out over a beautiful valley. And waiting on a nice fat cow elk to come within shooting distance of your MZ.

Especially if you can draw a tag during the rut!! Then learn a little more about elk hunting then go after that bull. But take home meat your first year. And that normally means a cow hunt. Tom.

 

[sdhunter]

i have been on one elk hunt in the black hills of south dakota and i found a small creek that ran for about 4 miles with quake and aspen thickets on both sides going up the draw. couldnt see my hand in front of my face most of the time but ended up killing a nice bull at 50 yrds with a cf 7mm. Moral to my story is running creek with thickets on both sides led to alot of good elk hunting.

 

[Dphar]

I have never hunted a Elk in my life.I live in
east Okla & most of our hunting is under 100 Yd.

I have a friend that wants to go Elk hunting, but
I don't know where just yet.

Ok guy's give me a clue to how far most Elk are shot & what Cal would be best?Also with real powder how many grains @ what bullet?

Fly :idunno:

54 or larger RB. 100 gr or more of BP.
If this don't work you placed the shot wrong.

I suppose a 62 is best for most people but it needs a well designed buttstock to manage recoil.
A 62-69 will out kill any of the conicals. But at 1600 fps or so the recoil of a 69 can be significant. Some conicals are actually inferior the 54 RB but its not PC to say this to gun magazines.
In the timber elk are

 

[Pete Gaimari]

You must have good eyes to shoot accurately to 130 yds with open sights Dan.

 

[rawhide]

most of the elk hunting I did here in western wa. was in thick over. lots of under brush black berrys devils clubs and reprod. nasty crap to hunt in but thats where they were. I use a cva hawken .54 with 90 grains of FFFg and a 380 grain cast real bullet from a lee mold. longest shot on a cow was 60-70 yards. closest one was 10 feet! with the right shot placement they all whent down fast and hard with this load combo!

 

[BrownBear]

most of the elk hunting I did here in western wa. was in thick over. lots of under brush black berrys devils clubs and reprod. nasty crap to hunt in but thats where they were. I use a cva hawken .54 with 90 grains of FFFg and a 380 grain cast real bullet from a lee mold. longest shot on a cow was 60-70 yards. closest one was 10 feet! with the right shot placement they all whent down fast and hard with this load combo!

And those are Roosevelt elk, closer in size to moose than those dinky Rocky Mountain elk. :grin: I really enjoy being around guys familiar with the RM variety when they drop their first Roosevelt. Their eyes get big and their tongues go kinda goofy, especially when it's time to pack one out. :rotf:

 

[Kootenai]

The best advice I can offer for elk hunting is get in shape. You cannot be in too good a shape. Elk hunting is a whole lot different than deer hunting, especially if you actually shoot one. Then the real work begins.

If you and your buddy decide to go, hiring a guide service would be worth the money. Otherwise your chances are better at winning the lottery.

Mark Horvat
Montana

 

[larry wv]

I will also add the fact that they will run clear out of an area and stay out. They are not like deer. A deer will usually stay in the area or be back shortly. In other words try NOT to scare them. :grin: Larry Wv

 

[BrownBear]

I will also add the fact that they will run clear out of an area and stay out. They are not like deer. A deer will usually stay in the area or be back shortly. In other words try NOT to scare them. :grin: Larry Wv

Excellent point. I've watched a herd make tracks over 5 miles (by the map) and disappear over a distant ridge without stopping. And they never returned to the area over the next week.

 

[rawhide]

yep there big!!! biggest cow I shot waigh in at over 1000 lbs. live waight! my uncle and cousin cused me the rest of the day for taking it! took all 3 of us to pack out a 1/4 at a time. wish I could find the pic's of it I'd post them...

 

[BrownBear]

yep there big!!! biggest cow I shot waigh in at over 1000 lbs. live waight! my uncle and cousin cused me the rest of the day for taking it! took all 3 of us to pack out a 1/4 at a time. wish I could find the pic's of it I'd post them...

I have no doubt about that size whatsoever! Last cow I shot yielded 534# of pure boneless meat, so heaven knows what she weighed on the hoof. Up here they don't get as high/wide racks as yours down there, though the racks tend to be really massive. But the body size of ours is in the realm of Yukon moose, according to ADF&G who has weighed a whole lot of them live while tagging, using a helicopter and scale to lift them in a cargo net. Dandy critters, wherever you find them!

 

[misher]

I hate Devil's Club. Yard is full of it. Hard to get rid of but it does make it harder for theives to sneak around at night. When we do have night that is. No real night for a while yet.

 

[mnbearbaiter]

Im also new to elk hunting, but a friend and i were drawn for Unit 71 in sw CO! Ill be toting my trusty 54cal Renegade shooting 85gr ffg T7, over powder bore button, .015 Mink Tallow lubed cotton patch with a .530 Hornaday rb! Its a tack driver out to 100yds, maybe a tad more on an elk! Ive done a few "Crude" penetration tests at various hunting ranges that i expect to see! Ive shot through carpet, buffalo board, cardboard, newspaper, etc, usually with a shook up full 2 liter bottle of pop behind the penetration board! Kinda funny to watch Sunkist explode after its been destroyed via prb :wink: , hope thats what will happen to the lungs of a big bull elk in september :thumbsup:

 

[longcruise]

And what really broke me of hunting in the dark timber was the one time in CO that we had to drag a nice bull that we shot out of the dark timber. That was the most miserable 1-1/2 day job I have ever done in my life!!

I can't for the life of me figure out why anybody would "drag" a bull elk out regardless of the conditions.