Post by: high_hunter on November 06, 2022, 10:37:27 AM
Wife got it done opening evening. Her first ever animal let alone elk! Going to be hard to top. Busy late night and still lots of work left to finish today. More photos and story to follow.
Post by: boneaddict on November 06, 2022, 10:47:11 AM
Looking forward to hearing more
Post by: high_hunter on November 06, 2022, 10:50:12 AM
Post by: HntnFsh on November 06, 2022, 10:58:07 AM
Post by: boneaddict on November 06, 2022, 11:06:43 AM
Post by: elkrack on November 06, 2022, 11:09:27 AM
Post by: cem3434 on November 06, 2022, 11:10:38 AM
Post by: Dan-o on November 06, 2022, 11:19:03 AM
That will be hard to top.
Post by: highside74 on November 06, 2022, 11:29:40 AM
Post by: Birdguy on November 06, 2022, 01:37:34 PM
Congrats to her and the guide, enjoy that full freezer!! :IBCOOL:
Post by: carpsniperg2 on November 06, 2022, 01:58:05 PM
Post by: brew on November 06, 2022, 03:00:02 PM
Post by: Boss .300 winmag on November 06, 2022, 03:40:24 PM
Post by: 7mmfan on November 06, 2022, 04:40:27 PM
Post by: Ironhead on November 06, 2022, 05:20:25 PM
Post by: glocksWetrust on November 06, 2022, 06:30:03 PM
Post by: redi on November 06, 2022, 06:46:01 PM
Post by: huntnfmly on November 07, 2022, 06:06:01 AM
Post by: C-Money on November 07, 2022, 06:43:13 AM
Post by: hunthard on November 07, 2022, 08:53:54 AM
Post by: nwwanderer on November 07, 2022, 10:00:22 AM
Post by: high_hunter on November 07, 2022, 10:14:50 PM
Then have some insights to performance of barnes ttsx out of an '06, can weigh in on antler point length (since it's such a hot topic in the spike thread) and may be looking for taxidermy recommendations if my cousin Garth is no longer taking new animals at Fidalgo as rumor has it.
Post by: bearpaw on November 08, 2022, 06:04:54 AM
Post by: high_hunter on November 14, 2022, 11:15:05 AM
Surprising difference a couple of weeks makes on growth and velvet. Unfortunately, the other bull was hit on the highway last summer and I haven’t seen any other mature ones around.
Post by: high_hunter on November 14, 2022, 11:34:56 AM
Post by: pianoman9701 on November 14, 2022, 11:37:44 AM
Post by: high_hunter on November 14, 2022, 12:00:16 PM
Wife had completed the hunter deferral earlier in the year so she was excited to try and get after him. On opening evening some elk came out of the adjacent wood lot and started feeding through a field. We stalked to about 80 yards with favorable winds and found a good spot where she was able to get set up for a shot. Sure enough, the bull was with the herd and soon he came out as well. There was a nice broadside opportunity but a few pesky cows & calves were right around him so had to wait for them to feed past.
Post by: high_hunter on November 14, 2022, 12:14:43 PM
As quickly as it began was over. We celebrated and congratulated each other on a job well done. With additional hands as the light waned, we worked quickly to have him skinned, quartered, and hung by midnight. It’s a first bull that will be hard to top!
Meat is now up with Bobbie Jo at Trial N Error meats in Blane. I was very happy with her work on my boned-out deer last year so decided to take the quarters up to her for processing. Very nice, clean, fair priced and quick to complete the job. Plus her brats/smokies and pepperoni sticks are about the best I’ve had.
We decided to take the head to Gary at A-1 Taxidermy in Blane. There are some other posts on here about him. Between that info and a recommendation from a buddy I was sold. Solid guy with a nice shop and a great attitude. Reasonably priced but what convinced me was the lead time at 6-8 months vs over a year from most places. That’s really the only reason I didn’t use Garth & Tammy at Fidalgo as they ARE still taking new work but wife didn’t want to wait that long to have her mount back.
Post by: erk444 on November 14, 2022, 01:34:03 PM
Post by: KDfishbiologist on November 15, 2022, 09:30:45 AM
Thanks! Adding some pics to not be a tease
Woohoo! Congrats to your wife :)
Post by: Pathfinder101 on November 15, 2022, 01:09:08 PM
Post by: high_hunter on February 16, 2023, 11:52:08 PM
Received a call from Gary at A1 Taxidermy in B'ham last weekend that the elk mount is ready to go. Great turn around time I'd say from early Nov to mid Feb at 3 months. Picking it up Friday so will post some photos once I get it installed. Wife is thrilled and I cannot wait to see it! Perfect timing as my Bday is coming up in Feb and hers is early March.
As far as bullet performance, it killed the elk for sure, but like I'd mentioned earlier piss-poor expansion granted it wasn't a super hot load. Specs are 30-06 56.00 grn RL-19 in Remington once fired brass and Winchester standard large rifle primers going ~2600 fps out of a 22" barrel. They shot accurate, recoil wasn't terrible for the wife, and I was able to use up a bunch of components on hand (plus it worked). Regardless I'll likely go back to the 62 grn RL-22 compressed load and Nosler Partitions my ol' man used to run.
Scale is in grams but grain conversions are added. It's 98% retention weight on the main projectile. If I include the small separated tip/jacket portion it actually jumps up to 103% due to tissue I couldn't get out:
Grams Grain Retention %
Nominal 11.69 180.404
Slug 11.41 176.083 97.60%
Slug & Shell 12.00 185.188 102.65%
Post by: high_hunter on February 16, 2023, 11:53:40 PM
Post by: high_hunter on February 16, 2023, 11:57:03 PM
Post by: Alchase on February 17, 2023, 06:59:50 PM
Congratulations to your Wife!