I finally killed my first elk on Saturday. I killed a very large cow at a lasered 378 yards using my 7mm Rem Mag and H1000 powder, 160 Nosler AccuBond and CCI250 primer. I was very impressed.
I had a bad experience a few years ago where I lost an animal that I couldn't get a quick enough second shot after making a poor shot. Knowing this had happened, I have adopted the line of thinking that suggests "keep shooting til they are not moving." I had to explain this before I went on.
Anyway, I shot my first elk on the weekend. I had hiked long and hard in 10" of snow with drifts going over 2 feet. I located the herd and planned my stalk. After closing the distance to 350-400 yards depending on which elk was being ranged, on picked a large cow that was standing broadside in an opening in the trees.
I lined the 400 yard hash mark of the Burris Signature Select scope on the front shoulder and took my steady shot. She immediately went down and began to slide down the steep snowy slope. She came to rest against a cedar tree and her head was still up. I lined up on her neck and hit her again. She bagan to slide further down the slope and came to rest broadside but was still moving. Rather than take a chance like had happened in the past, I hit her again, this one hitting high and taking out the backbone. Now she was done. I had used the 400 yard hash mark for the last shot but she had slid down the hill far enough I should have used the 300 yard mark for the final shot, but oh well, now she was dead.
Upon further inspection, every bullet had exited doing a great deal of damage. My first shot had busted the shoulder, jellied the lungs and exited through the top of the opposite front leg. I can't ask for better performance from a bullet. I am certain I didn't need to keep shooting, but elk are big and can absorb a lot of lead before going down. Hopefully I made the right choice. Because I harvested her clean and have her in the freezer, I think I did.
So chalk this up to a great job by Nosler and Burris. And me too of course :wink: I just thought I would share my successful experience with the AccuBond.
Firehawk
I had a bad experience a few years ago where I lost an animal that I couldn't get a quick enough second shot after making a poor shot. Knowing this had happened, I have adopted the line of thinking that suggests "keep shooting til they are not moving." I had to explain this before I went on.
Anyway, I shot my first elk on the weekend. I had hiked long and hard in 10" of snow with drifts going over 2 feet. I located the herd and planned my stalk. After closing the distance to 350-400 yards depending on which elk was being ranged, on picked a large cow that was standing broadside in an opening in the trees.
I lined the 400 yard hash mark of the Burris Signature Select scope on the front shoulder and took my steady shot. She immediately went down and began to slide down the steep snowy slope. She came to rest against a cedar tree and her head was still up. I lined up on her neck and hit her again. She bagan to slide further down the slope and came to rest broadside but was still moving. Rather than take a chance like had happened in the past, I hit her again, this one hitting high and taking out the backbone. Now she was done. I had used the 400 yard hash mark for the last shot but she had slid down the hill far enough I should have used the 300 yard mark for the final shot, but oh well, now she was dead.
Upon further inspection, every bullet had exited doing a great deal of damage. My first shot had busted the shoulder, jellied the lungs and exited through the top of the opposite front leg. I can't ask for better performance from a bullet. I am certain I didn't need to keep shooting, but elk are big and can absorb a lot of lead before going down. Hopefully I made the right choice. Because I harvested her clean and have her in the freezer, I think I did.
So chalk this up to a great job by Nosler and Burris. And me too of course :wink: I just thought I would share my successful experience with the AccuBond.
Firehawk