AJ Peacock
Well-Known Member
I thought I'd make a quick post with an update on our adventure in Colorado this year. We spent a week chasing the elk and had a great time. We hunted in the Vail Colorado area and saw a number of elk. We camped at just over 9000' elevation and hunted from 9200' to 9600'+. I carried my Kirby built 18lb 338 Allen Magnum around 25 miles during the week and Marc carried his Kirby built 13lb 338Edge the same amount.
On the third day of the hunt, Marc saw some elk moving his way and signaled me to bring the 338AM. We saw a nice bull at 1148yds, but the terrain was not very open and would not facilitate a followup shot if the bull moved at all after a shot. We decided to wait a while and see if the bull would give us a closer shot. We waited for nearly 2 hours, we both had a chance to take a nap in the morning sun before the bull gave us a reasonable shot at 780yds and .94 cosine. Marc shot and I was unable to tell if it was a hit or not, as the bull did not appear to be bothered in the least. I shot, but had used the 2MOA mark below my crosshair, instead of the 2MOA mark above my crosshair (no wonder I missed 4MOA high!). After a few seconds, Marc and I both shot and the bull went down. He had a shot through the lungs as well as a broken spine. I am convinced that Marc hit him first and would earn his first elk with a couple of 5 hour hikes to the ATV with elk meat.
Once we got down to the bull, we saw that Marc had hit him with his first shot and had nicked the top of the liver. Someone had hit him in the horn, but we don't believe it could have been our shots, considering the angle etc. (someone else has a story they are telling ! ).
Regardless, we packed the meat out that evening and the next day. Our last trip with the meat was greeted by mother nature and 40mph winds and snow!
The remainder of the hunt was uneventful from a hunting perspective, but absolutely full of enjoyment from an outdoors perspective.
Here are some of our pictures from the trip.
Nice 5x5 bull! There isn't a rifle in this picture, because the rifles (all 31lbs of them) were stashed 2000' higher on the mountain!
Here is a look across the valley at the shot location.
Our camp after mother nature decided to make it tougher to get around in the trees/rockslides.
Here is the type of terrain we where hunting. Can you see the elk in this picture?
I'd like to thank SlyMule for helping us with a little scouting prior to our trip out there. Also, you couldn't ask for a better hunting partner/camp partner than I had on this years trip!!! Thanks Marc!
AJ
On the third day of the hunt, Marc saw some elk moving his way and signaled me to bring the 338AM. We saw a nice bull at 1148yds, but the terrain was not very open and would not facilitate a followup shot if the bull moved at all after a shot. We decided to wait a while and see if the bull would give us a closer shot. We waited for nearly 2 hours, we both had a chance to take a nap in the morning sun before the bull gave us a reasonable shot at 780yds and .94 cosine. Marc shot and I was unable to tell if it was a hit or not, as the bull did not appear to be bothered in the least. I shot, but had used the 2MOA mark below my crosshair, instead of the 2MOA mark above my crosshair (no wonder I missed 4MOA high!). After a few seconds, Marc and I both shot and the bull went down. He had a shot through the lungs as well as a broken spine. I am convinced that Marc hit him first and would earn his first elk with a couple of 5 hour hikes to the ATV with elk meat.
Once we got down to the bull, we saw that Marc had hit him with his first shot and had nicked the top of the liver. Someone had hit him in the horn, but we don't believe it could have been our shots, considering the angle etc. (someone else has a story they are telling ! ).
Regardless, we packed the meat out that evening and the next day. Our last trip with the meat was greeted by mother nature and 40mph winds and snow!
The remainder of the hunt was uneventful from a hunting perspective, but absolutely full of enjoyment from an outdoors perspective.
Here are some of our pictures from the trip.
Nice 5x5 bull! There isn't a rifle in this picture, because the rifles (all 31lbs of them) were stashed 2000' higher on the mountain!
Here is a look across the valley at the shot location.
Our camp after mother nature decided to make it tougher to get around in the trees/rockslides.
Here is the type of terrain we where hunting. Can you see the elk in this picture?
I'd like to thank SlyMule for helping us with a little scouting prior to our trip out there. Also, you couldn't ask for a better hunting partner/camp partner than I had on this years trip!!! Thanks Marc!
AJ
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