By 600 yards that energy advantage will have dropped to just 180 ft-lb. }. "I like Treestand because I hunt in a lot of dark timber, high in the mountains, and on land that has been burned. some of the bulls we have taken scoring over 400 inches. As with anything, the devil is in the details. Enter the number of points. It has a near perfect balance of length, width, power, and recoil. Add these to the base of 200 for your total of 344. Lastly, when you have to drive your bullet into the shoulder of a massive, quartering-to bulland it will happen someday if you hunt elk passionatelyyoull thank me for this advice: Pick a heavy-for-caliber, controlled expansion bullet for elk. Despite the age and reputation of the 6.555 Swede cartridge across Europe, the 26-calibers have never been a go to for elk in North America. From 1997-2002, more than 1,500 elk were shared with Kentucky by western states. Its inherently accurate, making long-range shots easier. Elk are a big deal because theyre a big deer, and thus require big elk calibers. As we walked into the area where we were going to hunt, we spotted a couple of cow elk near a pond. word-break: normal; If a Berger (hunting) VLD from a 7mm Rem mag can effectively kill bull elk with enough downrange velocity and energy out to 900 yards (with the right optics of course), as I`ve seen on TV, then certainly a 280 Rem can do the job within all reported (long and short) AVERAGE hunting distances for elk, which are mostly all within 500 yards. Mag. .308-inch diameter bullet carrying 1,500 ft-lb energy and I doubt they'll notice any difference. Example: You estimate 8 inches between the ear tip and the widest point of the main beam. case. Any rifle strong enough to contain the 7mm Rem. font-size: 18px; Its extremely versatile with a broad selection of bullet weights, and with the right bullet is a great long-range performer. Next, I estimate the length of the shortest point for each antler, double it and then add them up. If thats the camp you hunt from, have at it, but understand that with the .338 Remington Ultra Magnum, every time you pull the trigger you will get smacked with about 45 foot-pounds of recoil. So many variables with scoring elk. Messages. loads. Add these up and you get 76 inches. One, lung-shot by a client with a .270, reared as might a horse then fell backward, planting its long beams in the ground. .tg .th-lmno { My dad's 2009 bull went 273 gross. background-color: #efefef; Location. For a truly monster elk, we recommend a 400" class bull. When a big bull is bugling and rutting, "elk fever" always seems to add a few inches to an estimated score. The only way to really estimate the inside spread of a bull elk is for him to face you. A 140- to 150-grain .264 driven to the same speeds as a .270 Win. There are several ways to field judge elk. The Pope and Young Club awards North America's finest archery-killed wapiti by size in two categories: typical or symmetrical antlers and non-typical or unsymmetrical horns. Nevertheless, the 180-grain has long been the standard with elk hunters. With the right bullets, it can actually hit harder than the 375 H&H Magnum at longer ranges. } could be chambered in the standard Model 70 rifles of the day and eventually most other standard length bolt action rifles. word-break: normal; It was the only non-typical on Area 23! retains the title of best balanced elk caliber in it. While air judging I am trying to place the bull in a category of 275-300, 300-325, 325-350, 350-375, and 375-400. Do your best not to overestimate your shortest points. Join F&S+ to read exclusive stories by your favorite writers. Foundry Outdoors is your trusted home for buying archery, camping, fishing, hunting, shooting sports, and outdoor gear online. Lets dive right in. Mag., .338 RUM, .338 Lapua Mag., and massive .338-378 Wby. Just about any 180-grainer will do, since the .30-06 doesnt produce bullet-destroying velocities. The .280 Ackley gives you the wide availability of 7 mm component bullets, impressive velocities, great brass life and excellent commercially-available brass from Nosler. Most factory loads from a 24-inch barrel are rated 2,960 fps. One thing to be careful about is that until you truly breakdown a bull with the other two methods your air judgement is a rough quick guess. 320 class bulls. The .280 Remington was introduced in 1957. That is, the best of the best for terminating elk without beating up shooters. We trot down the ridge, searching for a spot to glass the bull's position. Ive made this mistake before and regretted it. border-color: #656565; I grew up hunting with one stoked with 150-grain Partition handloads, and I never had a problem cleanly killing a bull. Selecting your perfect elk caliber hinges on you as well as the elk and the landscapes and habitat in which youll hunt them. The final arbiters of the Best elk calibers are you and the elk, but here are my top five that I chose for their balance of power, reach, recoil, trajectory (drop and drift,) availability, affordability in reasonably compact, light, mountain ready rifles. Curved points with belly to them are longer. Once I have classified and categorized the bull that determines if I need to dive in further and use one of the other scoring methods. But the .338 Win. Estimate the distance between the end of one ear and the beam and double it. But if youre going to this narrow caliber, choose one with more velocity than the Creedmoor. This one had a great whale tail but smallish bottoms. Notice that 6 thirds would make a 350 type bull that should have 12 or better thirds, a 338 bull. Keep in mind with this Base 200 system that as you go below 340 size bulls your base 200 numbers will need to be slightly adjusted as noted below. Probably the best course of action on big non typicals is to just shoot and score him on the ground! New in 2018, the SCI Foundation Veterans Committee auctioned a sponsorship for a combat veteran to go on a 400-420-inch bull elk hunt. Though it's not an extremely popular elk cartridge, there's not a darn reason why you can't go elk hunting with the 280 AI. This one would be lucky to make 260especially because its a five point.. . A cartridge that starts a slippery bullet with plenty of speed provides flat trajectories and maximum wind-bucking ability. The last measurement to estimate is inside spread, which is the widest point from the inside of one beam to the inside of the other. Mag. First impressions of a bull while air judging is extremely important. 169.204.214.73 Eastern elk were driven to extinction due to commercial use, unregulated hunting, and habitat loss in the 1800s and early 1900s. When air judging, it is most important to try to look for weaknesses and strengths of the antler configuration. The outfitter only takes 3 or 4 hunters per week, September 7 to 12, 18 to 23 and October 5 to 10 giving the ranch a rest between hunts. Silvertine kills more 400" bulls than any other hunt ranch . Kel-Tec: KS7GRN; 12 Gauge; Barrel Length 18.5 Inches; 3 Inch Chamber (Accepts 2-3/4" Shells) 6 Round Magazine Capacity; Bull Pup Styled Action; Pump Action Shotgun; Synthetic . 702.847.8747 Bull elk antlers are typically referenced by the number of tines, with each side referenced separately. 3,637. This review can help with that. The first method is to air judge - also known as "the wing-it approach," which is based on experience and prior knowledge. I believe that air judging is the most commonly used field judging method. Home Accommodations Photos/Sizes Pricing Reviews . Learn More . The easier the terrain, the heavier the hunting rifle youll be able to tolerate. How do you do that? A common thread you may encounter in online forums is anecdote after anecdote of large animals being brought down by small caliber bullets, or small animals surviving large caliber bullets. The tighter the cover, the shorter the rifle. hatched five years later and gave big brother a real run for his money. Distance capabilityreachis all about the sister virtues of speed and aerodynamics. It may not display this or other websites correctly. The best three-shot group came courtesy of Hornady 's .280 AI Precision Hunter load pushing a 162-grain ELD-X bullet at around 2,800 fps and measured exactly 0.40 inch center-to-centerclearly outstanding for a factory rifle/ammunition combination. Related searches: bull elk bugling vector bull elk in banff bull elk bugle bull elk bugling bull elk snow He got a mature bull without issue. Today most ammo makers also offer 225-grain bullets in a variety of controlled expansion configurations that retain mass well enough to penetrate better than the original 250-grain cup/core styles while delivering equal, sometimes more muzzle energy thanks to higher muzzle velocity. Bulls scoring 350-380 . Is the bull really 40 inside or is he 36? text-align: left; Recoil is about 30-percent less than the .338 Win. A final consideration these days is availability of guns and ammo. will kick with 29.3 ft-lb, and the 300 will slap you with 37 ft-lb. Of course, there is a great shortcut for judging bulls that uses anatomical references, but instead of trying to estimate each measurement individually, I use a magic number for the main beam length, mass, and inside spread and then I compare the length of the points from one side to the other and estimate shortest points. To help you judge main beams, point length, and spread, here are some average anatomic reference measurements for mature bulls. Mag. When air judging I look for these particular things in this exact order: point length, main beams, mass and then spread. Mag., and no one howls about that being too fast. At magnum velocities, the soft bullets tended to fragment and fail to penetrate adequately. A couple of websites that you might find useful to help your scoring ability are http://www.boone-crockett.org/, and www.Pope-Young.org. I know small-framed hunters who happily pay the gravitational price for packing Granddads M1886 Winchester lever-action in .45/70. It is kind of like shooting a 14 inch antelope. Mag. If it is shorter or longer than the hump on the back, I add or subtract inches accordingly. In essence, good elk cartridges drive tough, heavy bullets of healthy diameter, and drive em fast. Can people post pics of what a 300 inch bull looks like vs. say, a 280 inch. As stated previously, Kentucky's current herd numbers about 10,000 elk. Colorado Springs, CO, USA. The immediate success of the 7mm Rem. You want to look for anything that is sticking out or extraordinary. The kicker about this bull is he is 52" wide at the widest points. Trying to determine mass is very hard and requires scoring quite a few racks, but if you use those numbers, you will often be close. Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made. 400 Bull: G1= 20, G2= 20, G3= 20, G4= 20, G5= 16. As little as .1 percent copper can cause hard spots.) But not so much that youre afraid to shoot it. Bozeman, Montana. Mag. } This was and is one key to the .300 Win. 2012, 2013 & now join us on. border-width: 1px; Your taste in rifle weight, mass, and recoil will color your choices. Once you have this base to start from you simply start adding a bullstine lengths to 200. I love to field judge bulls and then score them on the ground to see how close my field judging was to the real thing. Here is a 330 gross bull with a down turned brow ;^). Thats good enough for 3,500 ft-lb muzzle punch. If zeroed three inches high at 100 yards, that slug should drop just 1.7 inches at 300 yards and deflect just 5.7 inches in a 10 mph right angle wind. The resulting cartridge was based on the .30-06 case necked down to 7mm (.284"). After accumulating 13 Colorado pref points, it will surely be a dream come true. And I write calibers and cartridges because caliber means the diameter of the bore. numbers hitting .590 or so, keep velocities at 3,000 fps with carefully built handloads, and 300-yard drop is only 2.3 inches, wind deflection 4.7 inches, retained energy 2,700 ft-lb. Just as importantly, it delivers plenty of punch on far-distant impacts. When you push past this performance level with a 7 mm cartridge, you do so with diminishing returns as far as velocity goes. for me. a 300 bull needs to have the 5/6 points close to the same length as the 4th. Mag. 340 Bull: G1= 16, G2= 16, G3= 12, G4= 18, G5= 10. Mag. Shenandoah Valley. This phenonemon is known as drag or air resistance. 380 Bull: G1= 18, G2= 18, G3= 16, G4= 20, G5= 15. When picking an elk bullet, shy away from light, fast projectiles and pick a heavy version. Lots of folks like .30-caliber magnums for elk hunting, and they work exceptionally well. 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