Jeff Olsen
Handloader
- Nov 10, 2006
- 294
- 4
I had one heck of a season this year.
After 6 or 7 seasons of futility, in which I became an expert at seeing every kind of elk that I DIDN'T have a tag for, I finally put some elk in the freezer.
I was invited to hunt on a friend of a friend's ranch in SW Colorado. This tag was good for anything other than a spike elk, basically. On day 4, I killed this huge cow at 275 yards with a single AccuBond from my .325 WSM Kimber Montana. That's the relieved smile of a guy who, by golly, isn't going to his grave elk-less!
This was a BIG cow! The bullet first hit the heavy bone of the onside elbow, then entered the armpit of the elk, took off the top of the heart plumbing, and did everything but exit up forward of the opposite shoulder, in the lower neck area. I don't know what happened to the bullet. I think it must have fallen back through the neck muscle into the chest cavity when the elk tumbled, which by the way she did. She went down HARD and fast! Big elk:
After this hunt wrapped up, I headed up to NE Oregon for my usual hunting camp. I got there just in time to help set up the tent- I KNEW I should have waited a little longer <g>! Anyway, on the first day I was within 15 yards or so of 3 cows, but no bulls. Day two, I was walking in very slowly at dawn and jumped a bull that was browsing down by the creek. This is where the hard lessons of the previous Seasons of Futility (coming soon to a theatre near you!) kicked in... lessons hewn from failure... ripped from despair... and well, basically pounded into my thick skull... this is where they helped! I ran AFTER the bull, figuring my only chance would be if he broke up the south-facing ridge opposite, where I might get a shot. I ran about 40 yards on the trail, and another 10 off the trail, found a spot with visibility and got my feet set just in time for him to, sure enough, go trotting up that ridge at about 150 yards. I had time to get on him and when the crosshairs crossed his shoulder, fire. Then nothing. I was just starting to doubt myself when I heard a ka-WHUMP!! from up on the hillside and the sound of large branches breaking. I watched a little while (I could see his flank) and then headed up! Success!
My grizzled butt next to him. That's a 2-elk growth of beard right there!
The exit wound. The bullet jellied the back half of the onside lung, and then bruised and barely creased the other lung. I honestly believe that the design intent of the AccuBond- to fragment early- helped keep this one from becoming a rodeo.
I couldn't be happier with how the 200-gn 8mm Accubonds worked for me. I also killed a blacktail buck that I, well, shot in the butt with them. He was quartering sharply away at a mere 40 yards and I thought I could sneak a bullet in behind the last rib. He turned, I slipped, and the result was that I shot him right through the hip socket. That rear quarter felt practically liquid under the hide, and it was ALL puffed up... a mess...When I unzipped him and the stomach wasn't popped, I thought for sure I'd seen a bullet failure, that it had blown up in the hip.
However... I got him home, and that bullet had smashed the hip joint, traversed over 39" of deer, and ended up under his chin! Perfect mushroom and retained 140 grains (70%) of it's weight. Perfection. Here's the bullet:
Oh, here's the buck. LOOK at that puffed-up leg! Note to self... don't do THAT again... I processed him myself and salvaged most of that quarter; what I'd thought was jellied meat was blood under the hide....
[
All in all, a great season. I couldn't be happier with how the Accubonds worked. Even when tested at 40 yards, it just kept on digging. Two FAST kills with two shots on two elk! Doesn't get any better than that.
-jeff
After 6 or 7 seasons of futility, in which I became an expert at seeing every kind of elk that I DIDN'T have a tag for, I finally put some elk in the freezer.
I was invited to hunt on a friend of a friend's ranch in SW Colorado. This tag was good for anything other than a spike elk, basically. On day 4, I killed this huge cow at 275 yards with a single AccuBond from my .325 WSM Kimber Montana. That's the relieved smile of a guy who, by golly, isn't going to his grave elk-less!
This was a BIG cow! The bullet first hit the heavy bone of the onside elbow, then entered the armpit of the elk, took off the top of the heart plumbing, and did everything but exit up forward of the opposite shoulder, in the lower neck area. I don't know what happened to the bullet. I think it must have fallen back through the neck muscle into the chest cavity when the elk tumbled, which by the way she did. She went down HARD and fast! Big elk:
After this hunt wrapped up, I headed up to NE Oregon for my usual hunting camp. I got there just in time to help set up the tent- I KNEW I should have waited a little longer <g>! Anyway, on the first day I was within 15 yards or so of 3 cows, but no bulls. Day two, I was walking in very slowly at dawn and jumped a bull that was browsing down by the creek. This is where the hard lessons of the previous Seasons of Futility (coming soon to a theatre near you!) kicked in... lessons hewn from failure... ripped from despair... and well, basically pounded into my thick skull... this is where they helped! I ran AFTER the bull, figuring my only chance would be if he broke up the south-facing ridge opposite, where I might get a shot. I ran about 40 yards on the trail, and another 10 off the trail, found a spot with visibility and got my feet set just in time for him to, sure enough, go trotting up that ridge at about 150 yards. I had time to get on him and when the crosshairs crossed his shoulder, fire. Then nothing. I was just starting to doubt myself when I heard a ka-WHUMP!! from up on the hillside and the sound of large branches breaking. I watched a little while (I could see his flank) and then headed up! Success!
My grizzled butt next to him. That's a 2-elk growth of beard right there!
The exit wound. The bullet jellied the back half of the onside lung, and then bruised and barely creased the other lung. I honestly believe that the design intent of the AccuBond- to fragment early- helped keep this one from becoming a rodeo.
I couldn't be happier with how the 200-gn 8mm Accubonds worked for me. I also killed a blacktail buck that I, well, shot in the butt with them. He was quartering sharply away at a mere 40 yards and I thought I could sneak a bullet in behind the last rib. He turned, I slipped, and the result was that I shot him right through the hip socket. That rear quarter felt practically liquid under the hide, and it was ALL puffed up... a mess...When I unzipped him and the stomach wasn't popped, I thought for sure I'd seen a bullet failure, that it had blown up in the hip.
However... I got him home, and that bullet had smashed the hip joint, traversed over 39" of deer, and ended up under his chin! Perfect mushroom and retained 140 grains (70%) of it's weight. Perfection. Here's the bullet:
Oh, here's the buck. LOOK at that puffed-up leg! Note to self... don't do THAT again... I processed him myself and salvaged most of that quarter; what I'd thought was jellied meat was blood under the hide....
[
All in all, a great season. I couldn't be happier with how the Accubonds worked. Even when tested at 40 yards, it just kept on digging. Two FAST kills with two shots on two elk! Doesn't get any better than that.
-jeff
