Utah Trophy Bull Elk with a Bill Large .58 Hawken

[Herb]

Donald acquired a .58 Hawken with a Bill Large barrel and asked me to check it out and work up loads for it. I did, and he used it to take this fine bull. He will tell his story when he sees these photos, which he asked me to post for him (only took me about four hours!)

I think this is his son.

Another look at that great rack!

Packing it out.

I wrote about his rifle in the Percussion Rifle forum, .58 Hawken Loads, date of 8/03/09. There are photos of it there. Here are some of the loads I shot.

 

[1895man]

My thanks to Herb for taking the time to load my photos for me (in previous post). I struggled with it for hours also.
My thanks to him for working up a load for me and making some adjustments on my Hawken.

After 14 years of applying in the Utah hunt process I drew out on a Muzzleloader Bull. :grin:
I hunted with my two sons and next door neighbor.We hunted for 2 days, walking most of the time, couldn't get the bulls to come out. A 11 pound rifle works your arms and legs, after the second day you are a little sore but feeling great.
The morning of the 3rd day we hiked to an area that has been known to have a few bulls and cows.
We cow chirped only and after 1 hour a bull responded. He was about 300 yards above us and the wind was in our faces. We moved to a small clearing with large lava boulders. I moved behind a 5 foot boulder and my friend continued to cow chirp. The bull was moving closer and I was ready, when he was at 45 yards (broadside) I eased over the boulder and fired. My load was 130 grains of Goex 3f,felt wad, .020 lubed patch and .570 ball.
Smoke filled the air, he turned to the left and disappeared in the the aspens and ponderosa pines, We could hear him for about 30 seconds, not far away and then silence.We waited for 30 minutes, I reloaded, didn't place the stopper in my powder horn after filling my measure, poured powder on the ground. :redface:
We moved in the direction of the last sound and found the nice 6 point bull. I hit him in the front left shoulder breaking the bone, the ball fragmented and went through his heart.
I walked upon a ridge and called my brother, he loaded our pack horses and mules and came our direction. While we were waiting for him we dressed out the bull and placed the quarters and backstraps in meat sacks. My brother,one of my best friends and grandson came with the horses and mule.We loaded the pack animals and tied the head on two poles and started down the mountain.
Everything went as planned, I was able to hunt with my sons, be with my brother, laugh with my friends.My grandson still talks about it. I had taken a week off work so we camped the rest of the week. I have since bleached the skull and turned the bull into some great jerky.
I haven't had the bull scored but I think he would go about 360.
Thanks again to all who assisted me with this hunt.
Thanks for reading.

 

[1895man]

Herb;
Thanks for posting the photos and Thanks for the fine work done om my .58 Hawken.
Sorry for the confusion.
Thanks to Claude for moving this to the correct forum.
Don

 

[BrownBear]

How cool is that! Congratulations to all of you.

Your account reminds me of an old fellow standing beside his truck up on Soldier Summit a few years back when I stopped to check if he was all right.

He was in his 70's and had used his dad's rifle on his own last mule deer hunt before retiring from it all. He'd taken a monster, but called his family rather than go right home. They arrived while I was admiring his trophy. Now that was some celebration!!!!! A whole bunch of hugs, smiles and tears.

 

[longcruise]

Thanks for telling the story of a great hunt.

 

[Vaino]

How did you really feel when you first saw this bull on the hoof and later on when first seeing him on the ground? I've been through this same scenario a couple of times and the elation is unbelievable just before the shot and finally when all is assured. Thanks for the photos and commentary of your successful hunt...this will no doubt be one of the "highlights" in your life.....Fred

 

[rabjr]

Cool! Grats to him! :thumbsup:

 

[1895man]

I was crouched down behind the lava boulder and could hear him coming, I carefully peeked over the boulder and he was coming my direction but hadn't seen me. I ducked down again, my heart was pounding and I honestly thought he would spook when I had to fire over the rock. He turned sideways and I knew I had about one second to fire, I eased the barrel over the rock and took aim and fired. I thought he was gone for good but my neighbor said he was hit and he wouldn't be far. It was very exciting, something I will always remember. Most people around here hunt with inlines . It was good to see and show them what a quality traditional muzzleloader can do.
Thanks!

 

[chance]

What a great hunt congrats!!!!

 

[nchawkeye]

Sweet!!!!

Congrats on a great hunt... :hatsoff:

 

[roundball]

Now that's getting it done !!

Good thing they come with 'drag handles'
:hatsoff:

 

[dbutch]

WOW!-Family-friends -sharing it all..That is Awesome!.What a bull! nice shot!...BP and a round ball--Now that was a red letter Day! Congratulations,Thanks for sharing...Dan

 

[Snow on the Roof]

I envy you and my hat's off to Herb!! Great story! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

John

 

[BS]

1895man,

Nice bull, Thank You for sharing the pictures and the story! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

 

[Finnwolf]

Hi Herb & Don,
Great looking trophy bull and one heck of an 11 pound rifle! She's a beaut for sure.
I noticed in your photos the loads you were using and I see that some 1978 Goex from Moosic, PA (I live near the former plant) offered a real nice group. They seemed to open up a bit after that until you got to 120 grains or so.
What made you go past such a great group at 90 grains? I probably would have stopped right there.
Anyone shoot a heavy charge in their .58?

Finnwolf

 

[BrownBear]

Anyone shoot a heavy charge in their .58?

Finnwolf

One of mine, a GRRW Hawken with 1 1/8" x 1" tapered 36" barrel prefers 120 grains of Goex 2f or 90 grains of Goex 3f. Haven't chronoed either load and don't claim they're equivalent, but they both sure shoot tight. I shoot the 3f load mostly, but would certainly switch to the 120 grains of 2f for elk or moose.

And yeah, it's an 11-pounder too. Actually closer to 12 pounds if you look close at the extra ounces past the 11.

 

[rabjr]

As my .58 is barely over 7 lbs, I'll stick to 90 grains thank you. :haha:

 

[Herb]

I have only about two pounds of the old Moosic, PA Goex 2F powder left. The last 25 pounds of (Minden, LA bulk) Goex 2F I bought takes about 10 grains more for the same velocity. I tested heavier loads to see what the velocity and accuracy would be. That 130 grain 2F group was good, but Donald wrote that he used 130 grains of Goex 3F. In my 9 1/2 pound .58 flint fullstock Hawken I hunted elk with, I used 140 grains of Moosic 2F to get about 1800 fps, but it takes 150 grains of Louisiana (2009) Goex 2F for the same velocity. Donald's rifle weighed 12.5 pounds. Recoil wasn't a problem, but 1800 fps was enough for me. The high velocity is not for energy, but for flatness of trajectory (with appropriate sighting). I was prepared for and capable of shooting an elk to 200 yards if I had to.

 

[Goshawk]

Herb,
Excellent hunt and Trophy & Meat!

Good Hunting
.690RB

 

[pchwcf50110]

Anyone shoot a heavy charge in their .58?

Finnwolf[/quote]
way to go with that elk. i also shoot 130grs. of 3Fg in my .58 with .575" RB and pillow ticking. good trajectory and great accuracy. that is the approx. equivalent to 5 dram. Sir Samuel Baker liked the 5 dram load in his No.24 bore(.58 cal.) Fletcher double he used.