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Dallen with his very large cow elk and X-Bolt Stainless Stalker 270 WSM.
We knew he had a large cow and did he ever. Once off the mountian the scales showed that there was 177 lbs. of boned out meat. This is the largest cow we have ever taken.
Weston and his cow elk.
Here is a recovered 270 WSM handloaded 140 gr Accubond that was resting against the hide on the opposite side of Dallen's cow elk. The muzzle velocity with this handload is just over 3300 fps. The 140 gr Accubond bullet now weighs 109 grains after being shot through a cow elk at 506 yards.
After my successful trip up the mountain to get my cow elk it was time for my son Dallen and brother Weston to get their elk.
Dallen is now a freshman in high school and an avid basketball player. Finding a day when there wasn't a game or practice was difficult. Luckily on Presidents Day Dallen was out of school and the coach gave them the day off. So early Monday morning Weston, Dallen and I took off up the canyon looking for elk.
We knew the elk had moved to the north side of the main canyon this year. The elk had been wintering on the south side ever since the deep snow of the 2007-08 winter. This was the first year that we had been seeing them back in their more traditional wintering areas of years past.
We didn't have to hike long before we found eight cow elk. We set up on them at 600 yards and debated the shot. We then decided to hurry up to the top of a small ridge to close the distance without being seen. Once to the ridge we had no other way to close the distance any further without spooking the elk over the ridge they were on. Dallen and Weston set up on shooting sticks and I ranged them at 506 yards. A quick look at the hold over bullet drop chart I have taped to my Nikon Monarch 4-16x BDC scope called for holding on the top of the third hold over ring in the BDC reticle.
Dallen took the first shot which was answered with a solid whopping sound. The cow remained standing but was looking very sick. Dallen loaded another shell and watched the cow to make sure she didn't go anywhere. While he was keeping an eye on his cow elk Weston shot a cow as they filtered around the ridge and into the canyon out of our view. From the looks of it Weston's cow was hit a little further back but solidly hit. This cow made it around into the canyon out of view and we soon learned that she didn't go very far. Dallen's cow tried to follow the rest of the cows and Dallen put another bullet into her to put her down. After Dallen's elk was down we hiked around into the canyon and quickly found the other cow and Weston put her down for good.
The 140 gr Accubond handloads continue to perform well out of our 270 WSM rifles however I am really excited to try the new 150 gr Accubond LR bullets that Nosler just introduced. They should be very accurate at long range and have great performance on big game. I can't wait to give them a try.
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3/8 inch group with 95 Gr. Berger VLD Hunting bullets shot from my Winchester Model 1885, 243 WSSM.
Different three shot group with 95 Gr. Berger VLD Hunting bullets shot from my Winchester Model 1885, 243 WSSM. The three groups in the circle are all the exact same load on three different times to the range.
The Chrony showing 3223 FPS with 95 Gr. Berger VLD Hunting bullets and 51 Grains of MagPro powder.
Really cool frost crystals on my Winchester Model 1885.
First entry hole with 95 Gr. Berger VLD 243 WSSM.
Second Entry hole on cow elk.
Berger's VLD hunting bullets have really been intriguing me over the years and this year I decided to give them a try. I knew the ogive on the VLDs often requires a really long cartridge overall length to get optimal accuracy. Since I own a couple of single-shot Winchester Model 1885 rifles that I wouldn't have to worry about the cartridge fitting into a magazine I figured they would be perfect for me to load the Bergers VLDs for.
For my first VLD bullet to try I went with the 95 Gr. VLD Hunting bullet. I really wanted to use the 105 Gr. VLD but with the 1 in 10 twist my rifle has I figured I might have a tough time getting the bullet to shoot accurately from my rifle. Even the 95 Gr. VLD recommends a 1 in 9 twist but I figured I would be fine in getting it to shoot with the 1 in 10.
I chose to try three of my favorite powders MagPro, Winchester 760 and Superformance. After tweaking the COAL and amount of powder I came across a load that shot quite well every time to the range. It happens to be the slowest shooting load but holds about a half-inch group in outdoor fairly windy conditions with only a shooting bag rest and a heavier than I like trigger. For whatever reason, the trigger is just a little heavier on this rifle than all my other factory rifles. If I ever get around to having the trigger worked on and I had a more solid rest I'm sure this would be under a half-inch consistently.
One thing I did notice with using this VLD bullet is that it appears to produce less pressure than other more traditional bullets that are the same weight. The shape of the bullet with the elongated nose/ogive and boat tail provide a shorter length of the bullet that actually engages the riflings. Well, that is at least my theory. I also ended up going with a load that is almost a tenth of an inch longer than the max overall length that would fit in a magazine. I also had the Winchester 760 powder and Hodgdon Superformance powder produce great groups with higher velocities I just ran out of time to tweak loads around those powders before I went hunting and shooting at the outdoor range in December and January isn't the most comfortable. I can tweak the load more when it is warmer if I decide to do so later.
I was itching to try the VLD load on my cow elk hunt this year. My only problem was my injured knee. I had crushed the tibial plateau and damaged the meniscus back in October and had been nursing it trying to get it better. Unfortunately, my leg has not been heeling (I'm afraid there is more damage than we first assessed) and I was running out of time left on my permit so I had to go, hurt leg and all.
Fortunately, I have a cool brother, well actually I have two cool brothers but for this hunt, my cool brother Weston came along to help me with my bum leg and see if he could also fill his tag.
As we headed out at first light we had a couple of other hunters with uninjured legs drag a noisy sled with them that took off out in front of us. So, much for trying to take it easy and find an elk near the bottom of the canyon. We decided to cut back up a ridge to see if we could find some elk. Sure enough, we found a couple cows feeding up high near a ridgeline.
We worked our way up the mountain hoping to get to a saddle that would make for about a 350-yard shot. Before we could get to the saddle some mule deer had decided to be on the side of the mountain we were on and they went up and over the saddle. We cut back to the right and were able to see the elk. They were on alert thanks to the mule deer and were ready to take off. We dropped to the shooting sticks with a quick check on the range finder, 451 yards and a quick check on the mildot hold over tablet I had for the load. Then I sent a 95 Gr. Berger VLD up the mountain. Whop! The cow turned and trotted around the face of the mountain and I held about two feet in front of her and sent another VLD her way. Whop and down she went.
I was really hoping to drop her on the first shot. The first shot had to of done a number on her lungs and I'm sure the elk would not have gone far but I wasn't taking any chances so I sent the second bullet. I think I hit the elk a few inches too high to get it to drop immediately. I like hitting them about a third of the way up... well, right where my second shot hit.
The first bullet hit her midway up her torso and a couple of inches behind the shoulder. The second shot hit her on the opposite side about a third of the way up from the bottom of its torso through the back edge of the shoulder. Both bullets fragmented inside leaving each opposite side rib cage entirely bloodshot and I mean the entire side of the rib cage was bloodshot. I did find one mangled bullet fragment from the second shot that had made it through the opposite rib cage and into the muscle on the back of her opposite shoulder/leg. This fragment weighs 24 grains.
Now we just need to get Weston and my oldest son Dallen back on the mountain to fill their cow elk tags.
Why such a light bullet for elk?
After reading this article some might feel that this guy is out of his mind for using such a light bullet to hunt such a large big game animal. You should know that this is not my go to bullet for elk. I like to use different bullets and see how they perform. A Berger VLD has been on my list to try for a few years now. I really like this bullet and it did very well on this cow elk.
My oldest son and I have taken five elk with 80 and 85 Gr. Triple Shock bullets with only one elk requiring a second follow-up finishing shot to put it down. That's correct, six ultra-light bullets for five elk with all elk being recovered. Between the two of us only one elk has ever gotten away. A cow that I shot with a 270 WSM using a 130 Gr. Triple Shock right at 300 yards. This cow was hit directly through both shoulders with a lights out shot that just canned her. She slid down the hill out of view and by the time I crossed the canyon she had disappeared with only a little blood where she had slid down the hill.
I am a strong believer that a 243 WSSM is very capable at taking elk given the right bullet and the right shot placement, within the right range. With a 243 WSSM for elk I recommend the 80 Gr. Tipped Triple Shock for any shot out to 350 yards. I strongly feel that this is an awesome setup to help youth hunters feel comfortable with shooting a rifle and confident in making the shot.
My personal favorite for elk or mule deer is a 270 WSM shooting a 140 Gr. Accubond bullet. My opinion will probably change in the near future as I will be testing 270 WSM loads with a 150 Gr. Accubond Long Range bullet during the summer of 2013. The 0.625 BC on this 150 Gr. bullet is amazing and it's a hunting bullet. It could be my favorite soon.
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Dallen posing for photo at sunset.
Dallen's a little sad just after we missed our second opportunity of the day to bag a nice really buck.
Here are the snow covered cliffs where the big buck made his escape a couple days earlier minus a few feet of snow.
My Tibial Plateau fractured leg. :(
With Dallen having a great experience on his elk hunt two weeks earlier we were both excited to find a nice buck for him to take. For this hunt, Dallen again was going to use my X-Bolt Stainless Stalker 270 WSM with my favorite 140 gr Accubond handloads.
The day before the hunt we packed in the near three miles we wanted to go hunting the area I shot my small four-point in 2011 with a muzzleloader and specifically, we wanted to be watching the canyon I took my busted up buck back in 2010.
We made it in that evening and took some cool photos along the way as the sun was setting. One thing we forgot was a flashlight. Oops! As it got dark we had to use a flashlight app on my Galaxy S III phone to get our sleeping bags out and set up under a scraggly pinyon pine.
The next morning we were up before light working our way around a ridge to view down and across one of my favorite canyons. As was glassed at first light we watched four small bucks below us sparring off and on. We also saw a few does further down the canyon. Then we spotted a nice looking four-point with a 24 inch sized rack below us. We decide to make a play on the buck and started working our way down the canyon rim trying to get within range of him. Unfortunately, this buck was headed off the mountain and we could not catch up with him.
Then to our horror, we looked back up to where we had just been and watch 3 bucks coming around the other side of the canyon... and one of the bucks was a dandy. Dang it! These bucks entered into some pines to bed down for the day. We decided to try and sneak in on them and get the big buck. I knew this buck had been around the block and was going to difficult to determine how he would react. Often large bucks will bed and hold until you jump them like a pheasant. I was hoping this was the case. We slipped along the far edge of the pines slowing working our way through constantly scanning for any glimpse of a rack bedded down under the pines. As we worked our way to a ridgeline there they were escaping up and over a boulder field and down a rough ridgeline. Not what I was expecting but I knew to expect the unexpected and this was definitely unexpected. Dallen setup and was ready for a shot just as soon as the buck stopped... and he did at just over 300 yards but... this entire body and head was behind a mahogany tree. All we could see was his beautiful 27-28ish wide typical rack sticking up above the tree. He paused there for maybe a minute then took a couple bounds and over the ridge for good. Sorry Dallen. :(
By now there were many groups of hunters in the area and with all the deer in the area spooked, deep in the private ground we headed back off the mountain.
We planned to come back and hunt later in the week after things settled down to make another attempt at the large buck that got away.
Needless to say we were never able to make it back out on the mountain. On Tuesday after months of being heckled for not playing basketball with the guys that Dallen plays pickup games with I decided to get a little exercise. After just a few minutes of playing I got hit in the knee. The blow caused my knee to immediately swell up with blood and I lost all mobility. Turned out after the blood was drained by Dr. Harrison that the MRI showed that the Tibial Plateau was crushed and I had some meniscus torn. My DonJoy Defiance knee brace had saved me from having my whole knee taken right out but I was done hunting for some time...
After about five weeks of crutches I am now slowly getting my leg back into shape. Sorry, I ruined your hunt Dallen. I knew better. Just 10 minutes of basketball in the past 21 years and I get my knee crushed. I'm taking it as a quick reminder that I shouldn't be playing basketball risking my legs and hindering my "quality of hunting" in the future.
Then if it wasn't bad enough knowing I couldn't get back out to help Dallen hunt we had the best snow storm in my memory during the deer hunt. Thanks to the heavy amounts of snow many nice bucks were taken during this year's Utah deer season.
2012 has not been my luckiest year, between all the time I spent trying to get a bull on my Limited Entry archery elk hunt and getting skunked, my son needing surgery causing me to turn around from going up the mountain on my muzzleloader deer hunt and now my broken messed up knee. Dallen did put the hurt on a nice bull this year for his second bull. And any time on the mountain experiencing the trills, ups and downs, excitement of the trying to find and outsmart elk or mule deer on public ground is priceless. There's also nothing like sneaking out to your favorite glassing point in time to watch the beautiful sunrise breaking the darkness of night. I love it!
- 2012 Rifle Elk Hunt — Dallen Takes a 4x5 Elk with a X-Bolt 270 WSM
- 2012 Archery Hunting for Elk in the Utah Wasatch Limited Entry Unit
Now I really have to get my leg working quickly so I can get a cow elk and help Dallen and Weston get one also this winter.
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