Gearing up for Utah cow hunt with BearPaw

[yorketransport]

I booked a Utah cow hunt with BearPaw for my dad and I (my son is coming as well as a non-hunter) for the end of January. So, I'm spending this summer getting everything ready for the hunt. The basic gear is the easy part. Where I have fun is in choosing the weapon. I thought it might be fun to throw out what I have to choose from and see what others would use. Dale's recommendation was to use something capable of 300 yard shots. All but 3 of the options fill that requirement. 2 of those are capable of 300 yard shots on elk but are better left inside of 225 in my opinion and the other is an iron sighted handgun I keep inside of 100 yards. With that in mind, here's the list of what I would consider "elk" caliber guns (and preferred load) rolling around in the safe:

Ruger Redhawk 480 Ruger- 425gr bullet @ 1275 fps
TC Contender 375 JDJ- 260gr Accubond @ 1960 fps
Savage Model 10 358 Winchester- 200gr TTSX @ 2520 fps
Savage Striker 338/375 Ruger- 225 TTSX @ 2815 fps
Ruger 77 (tang safety) 300 Win Mag- 200gr Accubond @ 2820 fps
Ruger 77 Hawkeye Alaskan 375 Ruger- 260gr Accubond @ 2690 fps
Arnold Arms 458 Arnold- 450gr TSX @ 2230 fps
Savage custom 375 BME- 300gr Accubond @3060 fps (this gun weighs a too much to be a realistic option but it would still be awesome!)

This isn't including one or two of the unfinished projects that will be up and running by hunt time or the "boring" and "sensible" calibers like the 30-06 or 300 Savage. With the exception of the revolver, I can easily hit a 10" gong at 300 yards with any of these guns when shot from field positions. That's what makes it so hard to choose! I have a fondness for medium bores which just happens to give me a large selection of elk class rifles.

I consider myself more of a handgun hunter than a rifle hunter so my first thought is to go with either the 375 JDJ or the 338/375 Striker. I'd love to use the iron sighted 480 but I may save that for filling a deer tag locally. On the other hand I've yet to take anything bigger than a porcupine with most of the rifles (except for the 358 Win) and this would be the perfect opportunity to do so.

Let me know which gun you would use and why. I'll keep working through the rest of the summer to come up with the ideal combo.

Andrew

[coachcw]

I'd pack the 480 and the 300 incase range is needed.

[bobcat]

I like that 375 Ruger! Great elk round, you need to test it out and see how it does!

[Dan-o]

I'd take one of the Ruger 77's because you can reach out there.......   and it's all about elk meat.

[yorketransport]

I'd pack the 480 and the 300 incase range is needed.

My first thought was to run this pair. I may have my dad bring the 300 as his gun for that reason.

It's kind of funny, but I can make hits farther with the 338 pistol than I can with any of the rifles. I can hit the 10" gong pretty easy out to 960 yards with the 338/375 pistol. I start to embarrass my self when I try to do that with either of the Rugers.

I love my 375 Ruger and I actually bought it after a less than impressive experience with a 338/06 and a 225 Partition on a medium sized cow at about 250 yards. I haven't shot an elk since I got it and it's been just eating at me since then!

I really want to run the 458 Arnold just to see how it does. Those 450gr TSX loads just look like they'd put a serious hurt on something! 300 yards is really stretching that combo though. I actually feel a little better inside of 250 yards with the 458 just because of the trajectory.

[Dan-o]

Well heck, if you shoot the 338 pistol like that, everything else should be relegated to target practice.

[yorketransport]

Well heck, if you shoot the 338 pistol like that, everything else should be relegated to target practice.

I've run the 338 out as far as 1389 yards but I definitely can't hold a 10" group at that range. It does pretty well for a reasonably light weight (8.2#) gun in a pretty significant caliber. I shoot my 284 Win pistol better, but it comes up short on what I would consider good elk performance.

[coachcw]

That .375 with some gmu would be a killer combo.  180 sst in the Winnie are brutal

[Dan-o]

Well heck, if you shoot the 338 pistol like that, everything else should be relegated to target practice.

I've run the 338 out as far as 1389 yards but I definitely can't hold a 10" group at that range. It does pretty well for a reasonably light weight (8.2#) gun in a pretty significant caliber. I shoot my 284 Win pistol better, but it comes up short on what I would consider good elk performance.

So, I have a couple safes full of firearms, but I have a Savage 111 in 7MM Rem Mag that I am extremely comfortable with out to 500 yards.

Nothing else leaves the safe when I'm after big game.   They are just for play time and targets, because I am so comfortable with the Savage.

If I shot that pistol like you do, I couldn't hunt with something I was less profiicient with.

[Bob33]

"It's kind of funny, but I can make hits farther with the 338 pistol than I can with any of the rifles. I can hit the 10" gong pretty easy out to 960 yards with the 338/375 pistol."

That is why that would be my choice.

[yorketransport]

So, I have a couple safes full of firearms, but I have a Savage 111 in 7MM Rem Mag that I am extremely comfortable with out to 500 yards.

Nothing else leaves the safe when I'm after big game.   They are just for play time and targets, because I am so comfortable with the Savage.

If I shot that pistol like you do, I couldn't hunt with something I was less profiicient with.

The 338 pistol is my favorite gun that I rarely hunt with. I'm pretty committed to getting something with it this year though. I just have so many other projects that I want to test and so few days every year that I get to hunt. I went an entire deer/elk season where I carried a different gun each time I went out.

I have a personal rule that I won't hunt with any given gun at a range that I can't make 100% hits on my 10" gong from a rested field position. The range is a little different with each gun. I have a Savage 99 300 Savage that I love, but it's about a 225 yard gun and my 480 Ruger is a 100 yard max. I have a personal limit of 500 yards on big game animals regardless of caliber or weapon just because I know how much can change in 500 yards.

Since I'm a handgun hunter at heart I typically hunt areas with shots inside of 200 yards. The longest shot I've ever made on a big game animal was 253 yards on a cow elk with my 338/06. My deer were shot at 45, 80, 102, and 147 yards. The 45 yard shot was with a Marlin 45-70 and the longer shots were with Contenders in 30 Herret, 35 Remington, and 375 JDJ.

[BULLBLASTER]

Take the Arnold! Or the 375.

[BOWHUNTER45]

I would say any of the above will do the trick ! 

[elkchaser54]

.300 Win Mag with a 180 gr bullet will be the best out of those choices.  The 180 gr will be a flatter shooting round than the 200 you listed but that caliber is an awesome round and you would easily hit an elk out to 300 yds with a basic scope.  Further the better your scope is or higher power.

Thats my recommendation.