Finally got a nice bull elk! 210ABLR did its job

Which gun did you use?

My 300 win. I wanted to use my 308 but it's 3# heavier and my guide was really stingy about weight on his pack animals. He pretty much forbid me to even being a spotting scope let alone a heavier rifle. Besides, my 308 runs the 210 at 2601'sec and my 300s sweet spot is 2664'sec so there's not much difference between the two though at 5500' elevation they were running 2695. I'm sure at 10500' they could have been faster. I find that loads that have a lot of air space in the case run higher velocities at higher altitudes. Even at the same temperature. I could be off base but I also talked with Shane at the best of the west office in Cody and he said they develop their loads near Cody which is 5000+ feet and they're loads are slower at lower elevations.

The reason my impact velocity is estimated to be so seemingly high is due to the 10,500' elevation even at 16 degrees.
 
Holy smokes! 2600 with a 210 in your 308?!? That's awesome. I was hoping to see that it was your 308 that you used, but if the loads are close to each other, then of course, why not go with the lighter gun. Congratulations on your beautiful bull!
 
I find that loads that have a lot of air space in the case run higher velocities at higher altitudes. Even at the same temperature. I could be off base but I also talked with Shane at the best of the west office in Cody and he said they develop their loads near Cody which is 5000+ feet and they're loads are slower at lower elevations.

The reason my impact velocity is estimated to be so seemingly high is due to the 10,500' elevation even at 16 degrees.

I've found this to be true as well. The higher the elevation then home, bullet rises up, lower then home, bullet strikes down. You were able to check the velocity prior to hunting in Cody with your outfitter?

Beautiful Bull BTW, Ya.... who would pass that beast up?
 
I've found this to be true as well. The higher the elevation then home, bullet rises up, lower then home, bullet strikes down. You were able to check the velocity prior to hunting in Cody with your outfitter?

Beautiful Bull BTW, Ya.... who would pass that beast up?

I always take my chronograph. Even out of state. I wasn't able to take it to base camp but did use it at the range in Cody which was about 5000'. I develop at less than 100' above sea level. My loads were almost 50'sec faster than normal at near equal temps.

I noticed the same thing with my 6.5x284. Only the difference between 100' and 5000' was a full 100'sec.
 
First of all - Nice bull.

But I'm sorry to say I cannot congratulate since I have more than a little sour taste in my mouth. And I most say I am more than a little surprised no one else is commenting this?

A 598y shot is not awfully long at such a large critter, but I must say if you miss a large bull elk completely and top of everything continuing shooting this is seriously POOR SHOOTER JUDGEMENT! Given a behind shoulder POA you missed your wind call by AT LEAST 2 FEET! Missing a wind Call by 2 ft means you had absolutely no clue what the wind drift was, which in case could just as well been the same 2 feet the other way and means you had no idea if you would hit the elk in the hind quarter or the nose or anywhere between the two Extremes.

To continue firing after being lucky enough to get away without a wounded elk from a very poor initial judgement is just that, poor judgement. You bagged a bull elk from dumb Luck and dumb luck only. Statistically in almost all other scenario the only thing you would have accomplished was to wound and most likely loose a very nice bull.

Maybe us here in Norway have very different views on what is ok and not and I'm not have any personal agenda here towards OP. But to have people condoning what on our side would have been a criminal offense and congratulating it seems to put it mildly, VERY strange from my point of view.

Regardless of the lucky outcome you completly missed an entire elk with more than one shot, had no idea where you missed and continued shooting without having any idea where your shots landed. In my book that's very very poor judgement and nothing to be gratulated for.
 
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Thank you for your honesty and point of view.

At least the I had the stones to admit I screwed up a couple shots. I think almost anybody who has actually hunted and hunted for several years has made bad shots or shots that were rushed, missed or even had a wounded loss. Most will never admit it. I applaud anybody that does. I did some of the most **** poor shooting this year at my elk. In the end, I hit him a little off my point of aim but still dropped him where he stood. The wind was worse that I had judged in not only speed but how it was being funneled in different areas by the lay of the land. I didn't have the time to set up calmly and really analyze the wind. The bulls caught our scent and came boiling out of the timber headed for the horizon. With the bull of my dreams with in my comfortable range, I laid down, ranged him, dialed, gave my best guess on the wind on the fly, held off using the mil marks and let her rip. I missed clean. My guide would call the range and his best guess on the wind. This went on for a couple shots until my guide saw where I hit. He stopped at 598, I readjusted for the wind based on my guides response and dropped him with the next shot. Had I been by myself without a spotter, I would have stopped.

Was it a questionable shooting opportunity? At my first assessment of the situation, I didn't think so. In hind sight, I believe so. Why did I continue to shoot? I guess because a shot was taken and I hate giving up on anything. The bull I wanted was in front of me, I was already set up and it's human frickin nature to keep shooting until you hit your target.

Right or wrong, it was the heat of the moment and it all happened so fast. I wasn't in the 'let's reason this out' mode where common sense would have said it was time to let it go and was full throttle shoot mode focused on the task at hand.

Like a friend of mine said once: "Don't let anybody tell you how to eat your pie, it's yours, dig in". I won't judge you for eating your pie your way and expressing ethics on this site is forbidden.

Hopefully when you have less than your finest shooting, you'll also have the stones to humbly admit it and better yet, learn from it like I have. I will apologize to no one for making a mistake nor will I apologize for posting my mistakes. I think 'luck' had little to do with it. Seconds after my guide spotted my shot, the next one founds it's mark. That's from practice, not luck. I wish you the same 'luck'.

Regards,

ME
 
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