I am, or was a big time hunter a couple years ago. I moved a couple of times, lost the spot I hunted, got busy remodeling a 1945 farm house and resurrecting a run down ranch. Hunted elk with a rifle last year, first rifle elk tag I ever held. Passed on a 310 5x6 opening day 1000' vertical above the river on a very hot day. Thought I made a mistake and went back an hour later to make sure, got him in the scope again and decided that I had made the right decision. Part of the decision was the size of the bull, part was the temperature, part was the 'you are dead if you slip on the way down with a packload of meat'.
I went back there a couple days ago, no elk tag in the pocket, and wondered if I had just gotten lazy for not wanting to kill an animal with a brutal packout while being out of shape. I talked to myself for quite a while while hiking up about 1000' to go check on the elk that raid my hayfields every night. I decided that I needed to return to my prior self of hiking 3 miles at 10,000 to 12,000' with a heavy barrel 22-250 to make a couple of stands calling for coyotes. Going to where ever it takes to find a good bull, or buck and not worry about the pack out that might happen. I still don't want to shoot an animal that I know I can't retrieve the meat from, but I need to not be a pussy and get back to killing animals that aren't easy.
The country I am hunting is very steep, very rugged, and very remote. While I have never killed a bull elk at more than 40 yards, I see why some people want to shoot 600 to 800 yards or more. I am an archer at heart, but I love guns and hunting with a rifle too. I pondered what I would build to shoot a big bull at up to 800 yards. I personally believe in big bullets, I don't think a 6.5mm is big enough on a 900 pounds bull at extended ranges. After I shot an antelope at 1282 yards with a 50BMG in 2000, I don't even like the ethics of the long range hunting.
I almost bought a custom built controlled round feed model 70 Winchester in 30-375 Ruger a few years back. It sounds like that was basically a 300prc? I regret not buying it, but my shooting has suffered in the last couple years, I estimated today that I have only fired about 200 rounds of accurately place rifle rounds this year, it used to be 2 to 3 thousand a year.
Anyway, for the hypothetical 600 to 800 yard elk shot in the remote wilderness of Idaho, what is the 30 caliber round that I am looking for, while still being in a rifle I can carry up 3000 vertical while covering 8 to 12 miles on foot? I used to be pretty recoil tolerant, but haven't even shot my 50 in 4 or 5 years.
I went back there a couple days ago, no elk tag in the pocket, and wondered if I had just gotten lazy for not wanting to kill an animal with a brutal packout while being out of shape. I talked to myself for quite a while while hiking up about 1000' to go check on the elk that raid my hayfields every night. I decided that I needed to return to my prior self of hiking 3 miles at 10,000 to 12,000' with a heavy barrel 22-250 to make a couple of stands calling for coyotes. Going to where ever it takes to find a good bull, or buck and not worry about the pack out that might happen. I still don't want to shoot an animal that I know I can't retrieve the meat from, but I need to not be a pussy and get back to killing animals that aren't easy.
The country I am hunting is very steep, very rugged, and very remote. While I have never killed a bull elk at more than 40 yards, I see why some people want to shoot 600 to 800 yards or more. I am an archer at heart, but I love guns and hunting with a rifle too. I pondered what I would build to shoot a big bull at up to 800 yards. I personally believe in big bullets, I don't think a 6.5mm is big enough on a 900 pounds bull at extended ranges. After I shot an antelope at 1282 yards with a 50BMG in 2000, I don't even like the ethics of the long range hunting.
I almost bought a custom built controlled round feed model 70 Winchester in 30-375 Ruger a few years back. It sounds like that was basically a 300prc? I regret not buying it, but my shooting has suffered in the last couple years, I estimated today that I have only fired about 200 rounds of accurately place rifle rounds this year, it used to be 2 to 3 thousand a year.
Anyway, for the hypothetical 600 to 800 yard elk shot in the remote wilderness of Idaho, what is the 30 caliber round that I am looking for, while still being in a rifle I can carry up 3000 vertical while covering 8 to 12 miles on foot? I used to be pretty recoil tolerant, but haven't even shot my 50 in 4 or 5 years.
