idaho elk hunt

[evil dogooder]

My nephew just finished up his first hunt ever with a dnr sponsored elk hunt and Managed to harvest a large cow.

Im very proud of him. He used a borrowed 7mm mag rifle.

 

So Now my brother has decided that it needs to be a yearly meat gathering adventure. Now the only center fire rifle my brother owns is his late father in laws 30/30. So i get a call. With this proposition.

 

Since i have a few more rifles than he Does how would i like to come hunt with them. They provide the land and scout out the elk and i provide two rifles to use. Ok I'll go for that.

Anyway i guess I'm looking for local knowledge on the range shot out in southern idaho. Even though my brothers 30/30 has taken over 20 elk he prefers not to use it. Mostly because its a pre 64 and my nephew doesnt think you can hunt without a 24x powered scope. Kids these days..

 

The plan is to liquidate a few of my surplus sass guns and set up some hunting rifles. I'm not going to get into the debate on using the biggest baddest magnum. I know what calibers I'm bringing already. None of them are big magnums but tried and true calibers

 

While my brother is an above average shot he has never hunted big game before.

 

We are going to be together and my first thought was to build a light short range rifle. Say 400 yrds for my nephew to carry. Give my brother a mid range (600ish yrds) and then bring a big thumper with just in case. I don't go for shooting animals at long range. 1000+ yrds To me that isn't hunting. Just my thoughts not trying to insult anyone.

 

educated advise is greatly appreciated

[Michigan Slim]

Winchester, Ruger, Savage, etc. all make great shooting rifles for not a lot of cash. Anything .270 and up would make you very happy. And despite what the experts say, you can get a nice scope for $100.00 that will suffice nicely.

[Yul Lose]

I've harvested many elk with a .270, 7mm-08, 30-06, .300WSM and a .338 Win Mag. My favorite by far and the one I've used for elk and bison for the last 18 years is my Winchester Model 70 Compact in 7mm-08. Very lightweight and puts them down, however, all of my shots have been less that 250 yards so you might want to opt for a .300, or 7mm magnum for longer shots. YMMV.

[evil dogooder]

I've harvested many elk with a .270, 7mm-08, 30-06, .300WSM and a .338 Win Mag. My favorite by far and the one I've used for elk and bison for the last 18 years is my Winchester Model 70 Compact in 7mm-08. Very lightweight and puts them down, however, all of my shots have been less that 250 yards so you might want to opt for a .300, or 7mm magnum for longer shots. YMMV.

So should a more practical range be like 500 or less?

[Yul Lose]

So should a more practical range be like 500 or less?

Personally I feel my abilities to make a humane shot are about the 250 yard range. I grew up hunting with my dad who kind of drove it home not to take a long shot and wind up with a wounded animal that can't be recovered. If you are confident in your abilities then I would go with a larger caliber magnum rifle. Elk can be a very tough animal to bring down even with a good shot. When I shoot bison I go for the double lung shot which brings them down pretty quick, but elk have a smaller lung area to hit than bison do and about 12 years ago I had a single lung hit on a young bull in Colorado and he went a long ways.

[J-BAR #18287]

Your brother has never hunted big game, but you expect him to make a 500 yard shot.

 

OK, make him prove it.

 

Take whatever rifle you choose for him (!) and set up an elk sized piece of cardboard at 500 yards and let him shoot at it.

 

Maybe he can do it, maybe not.

 

Determine the maximum distance he can put 10 out of 10 in a paper plate. That's his range limit.

 

Make your judgement based on experience, not opinion.

[Michigan Slim]

Your brother has never hunted big game, but you expect him to make a 500 yard shot.

 

OK, make him prove it.

 

Take whatever rifle you choose for him (!) and set up an elk sized piece of cardboard at 500 yards and let him shoot at it.

 

Maybe he can do it, maybe not.

 

Determine the maximum distance he can put 10 out of 10 in a paper plate. That's his range limit.

 

Make your judgement based on experience, not opinion.

This! I have hunted with folks that had the best equipment and had no business shooting past 100 yards. It takes practice and being familiar with your equipment and then more practice.

[Assassin]

Wyoming isn't much different than Idaho. Most elk are taken 100-250 yards. One better be well practiced in order to make consistent 500 yard shoots. The best long range hunter I've known shot out to 600 yards and practiced every morning. I'd venture to say going past 300 yards increases one's odds of wounding an animal and making for a long day/night of unnecessary tracking. Personally, I will not attempt to take a shot past 300 yards. I do practice and consider myself a very competent shooter.

Having shot animals out to 400 yards and not making a clean kill on every animal, I don't feel the need to shoot beyond 300 yards (my comfort zone). I consider harvesting an animal a gift and don't like making an animal suffer any more than necessary. Enjoy your hunt and be safe, don't forget to get in shape before the hunt. Hunting at higher elevation will kick your butt if you are not up to the task. Hamley and I just about killed a guy a few weeks ago, the guy was out of shape and attempted to keep up with us. The guy was over weight, out of shape, and just not ready mentally to hike around at 8000-9000 feet. He only hunted in the morning and was not able to hunt in the afternoon.

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

Drop all of their jaws, and use a model 1874 Sharps.

A .45-70 will kill anything on this planet.

OLG

[evil dogooder]

Your brother has never hunted big game, but you expect him to make a 500 yard shot.

 

OK, make him prove it.

 

Take whatever rifle you choose for him (!) and set up an elk sized piece of cardboard at 500 yards and let him shoot at it.

 

Maybe he can do it, maybe not.

 

Determine the maximum distance he can put 10 out of 10 in a paper plate. That's his range limit.

 

Make your judgement based on experience, not opinion.

 

My brother has never hunted big game because he didnt have the desire to harvest game. We grew up shooting. I have lost bets to him shooting at over 700yrds. At 24" steel targets. His abilities are not my concern. The practical ranges one can expect to face are.

[evil dogooder]

Drop all of their jaws, and use a model 1874 Sharps.

A .45-70 will kill anything on this planet.

OLG

I sold my sharps last fall or id be taking it with.

[Assassin]

My brother has never hunted big game because he didnt have the desire to harvest game. We grew up shooting. I have lost bets to him shooting at over 700yrds. At 24" steel targets. His abilities are not my concern. The practical ranges one can expect to face are.

I have a 6 inch diameter target and we shoot it at 220 yards. House rule, if one can't hit the target consistently one can't hunt with us. A 24 inch target is not a good kill zone for large game. If you and brother can bang a 12 inch circle at 700 yards that's great shooting. The variables increase immensely once the target is beyond 250 yards. I say that because most high powered rifles shoot flat out to that range. Wife, kid, and myself all shoot 308 and it works for us.

[Tom Bullweed]

We have two ways to hunt deer in my state: in woods and on small fields where shots are 200 yards max and across big field in the east where ranges can be 800 yards. Most people cannot estimate distance past 200 yards, and game often provide the opportunity to use a rangefinder. You cannot be accurate if one estimates distance incorrectly.

 

Nonmagnum rifles set up for 300 yards sound like a good choice, based on other hunters' experiences. The .270, .280 and .30-06 all are about +3" @ 100, +6" @ 200 and -15" @ 400 when zeroed at 300 yards.

[evil dogooder]

I have a 6 inch diameter target and we shoot it at 220 yards. House rule, if one can't hit the target consistently one can't hunt with us. A 24 inch target is not a good kill zone for large game. If you and brother can bang a 12 inch circle at 700 yards that's great shooting. The variables increase immensely once the target is beyond 250 yards. I say that because most high powered rifles shoot flat out to that range. Wife, kid, and myself all shoot 308 and it works for us.

The only center fire rifle in the house when we grew up was a 30-06. We shot 24" targets because that's what we had. The group's were considerably smaller than 24". Personally id have to be starving to try to shoot an animal at that range. It isn't hunting its target shooting at a live target.

Im not planning on shooting that far. Im going to hunt,hopefully bring home meat. not try to prove anything. For us the only reason to shoot a large bull is because it has more meat. Any antlers will be used for grips or knife handles. Hide will be made into a robe.

[evil dogooder]

Again thanks for the info but I'm not interested in the caliber debate. Just the expected ranges. Thank you for the advise though

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

I sold my sharps last fall or id be taking it with.

Buy it back-

Problem solved

OLG

[El Hombre Sin Nombre]

I've taken all of my deer and elk at 30 yards or less with a 65 pound long bow. Shot placement is far more important than caliber and close range is very doable.

[backshootin beauford mcgee]

I limit my shots to 300 yards on game, but have taken almost all the animals inside 150 yards. If you have a 45/70, 38/55 or even the 30-30 and can get within 150 yards, that elks a goner if you hit it right.

[Hamley]

Having been involved with harvesting probably 150+ elk over the years (wish I would have kept track). I am not going to say I have seen it all, but I have seen a lot. Anything from a 243 on up and hunter ages from 12 to almost 90. My kids each got their first elk when they were 12 and the last time I went with my grandad, he was almost 90 and we were horseback.

 

I bet I can count on one hand the number of elk I have seen taken at more than 300 yards. Shooting a long range target with a good rest is different from climbing a hill, being out of breath with a small window of time pick out the one you want and make a good shot with a crisp crosswind. There is nothing wrong with practicing longer shots and ultimately you are the one that will have to be comfortable taking the shot. My recommendation would be to make sure you are in shape so that you can get into position for a shot under 300 yards.

 

Having a gun that you are comfortable with and have confidence in, regardless of the caliber is critical to success. I have seen too many people with a huge gun that should get the job done, but they are afraid of the recoil and are unable shoot it effectively.

 

Good luck on your hunt and let us know how it turns out.

 

Hamley