First time for Elk hunting

[Big 17]

Hey Guys,

I have never been elk hunting before, and I have never even thought about until last week. One of the engineers that I work for has offered a hunt in Unit 36 of New Mexico. His parents own 4650 acres along Highway 70. Their property borders the northern edge of the Mescalero Indian Reservation. According to the engineer, he will be able to get the tags from his parents for free. He invited me to go with him and my boss.

I don't know all the particulars yet, but I know it will be a hunt next winter.

So, of course, I am excited about this. Here are my questions.

Has anyone ever hunted that unit before?

The only rifle I have is a Pre-64 Win. M70 Westener in 264 Win. Mag. Is this rifle enough? I have heard people bash this caliber, and I have heard people say it is great. I reload for it, so here is another question. It shoots the 140g Hornady Interlock under a half an inch at 100 yards. Is this a bullet capable of taking an elk? If not, why?

Can you guy help me out with anything wlse I might be missing?

 

[COHunter]

Sounds like you need a mentor.

You better get me one of those tags too so I can go along and coach ya.

 

[DAWG]

The .264 sucks as an elk cartrige. Just to do you a favor, I will buy your pre 64 westerner. Just kidding, it will do just fine. But, I will still buy it. The only you can go wrong, with free tags, is not to take me. My guide price will be a free tag, but the .264 will work too.

 

[340mag]

Big 17
while a 264 mag may not be the most popular elk rifle it WILL CERTAINLY kill any elk if you place your shot correctly.

heres some other info you can use, it may not apply to only your state, but it will give lots of useful info

now this is just some basic things Ive learned,over the years hunting out of state.

start running now, you need the excersize no matter what shape your in.

think about carring and budgeting extra money then add several hundred MORE to the estimate

only correctly placed shots count, don,t fire untill your sure you can place your shot correctly and spend as much time at the range before the trip as you can, that does not mean one trip just before you leave, it means 6-10 visits to the range durring the year MINIMUM! if you expect to be successful (useing the rifle and ammo youll use on the hunting trip!!!)p

dress in layers and use quality warm cloths

carry spare fan belts,hoses,oil,wipers,tools,shovels,etc.

always carry a daypack with survival gear and a cell phone, and always hunt where at least one other person knows where your at.

use a 4 wheel drive with chains if possiable

get topo maps and study them

call the local game biologist

call the local game warden and ask advice

use a rifle that you can shoot fast an accurately, don,t buy a big magnum unless you can spend months practiceing with it and your sure the recoil will not be a problem, a 30-30 or a 308 win you can shoot is far better than a 300mag-416 mag your afraid of.

think out your menu, the tools,camping gear and what youll do with a dead elk BEFORE you have those problems

think about how youll move a 350lb-700lb dead elk in wilderness conditions

carry all licences.permits ID.

don,t let small irritations spoil your hunt, overlook jerk hunters if possiable

write down and agree to who is resposiable for all expenses before starting the hunt and agree that no one leaves early in writting , or your likely to have problems after the first guys fill tags and don,t want to help the other guys drag out ELK.

carry at least one spare rifle for the group and spare ammo.

think things thru BEFORE doing them if theres the slightest potential someone could get hurt

things to read


http://www.jesseshuntingpage.com/calelk.html

http://www.elkcamp.com/index.html

I put togther a gear checklist that people can download and print. This is a general list and no, I don't lug all this around. I check off what I need and put a dash mark by items I don't. The list also covers several types of hunting so that is why so many items.

You'll need Acrobat Reader to read and print this .pdf file gear checklist. You can get Acrobat at

http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html

The gear list is at
http://www.jacksonholewyoming.net/elk/

http://home.att.net/~sajackson/elk.html

http://www.westernhunter.com/Pages/Vol02Is...5/elktips1.html

http://www.freemanriver.com/Hunting/hunting_tips_elk_1.htm

http://members.tripod.com/~elkhunter2/


http://www.rockymountainhunting.com/


http://www.jesseshuntingpage.com/hunting-gear-list.pdf

This is a landowner permission slip you and a landowner can fill out to keep while hunting.

http://www.jesseshuntingpage.com/permission-slip-1.pdf
http://search.atomz.com/search/?sp-q=unit+...0&sp-m=1&sp-s=0

Click the link below for an Emergency Alert sheet you can print out and leave on your vehicle, with your family or friends.

http://www.jesseshuntingpage.com/emergency...lert-notice.pdf

 

[Big 17]

Thanks for the responces.

Dawg, just to let you know. My Westerner has no collectors value. When I got it, it had a little bit of surface rust on the action. The barrel's blueing was worn off from riding around in a pickup gun rack. The stock had maybe 20% of its original finish on it. It doesn't even have the original steel butt plate. The bottom metal had some minor rust pits.

So, being that I was at Lassen College in Susanville, I took the Cuastic blueing class. I taped off the barrel and bead blasted the action, refinished the bottom metal. And then reblued the whole thing. That is when I discovered that the barrel was stainless steel.

So, I then stipped off the remaining finish from the barrel, and bead blasted the whole thing. Reblue number two. It came out great.

I then refinished the stock w/, if I remember correctly, 14 coats of true oil. So, sure I will sell it to you, $4000 firm.

340mag, thanks for all the great info. That is going to take some time to digest.

Thanks,

 

[wmidbrook]

Sounds like a nice rifle...well, since it has no collector's value and you're a handloader, have you considered rechambering it to a 264 Thor?

That would make a great Elk rifle IMO.

http://www.kailuacustom.com/Articles/264Thor.htm

http://home.snafu.de/l.moeller/6,5mm/264Thor.html

 

[Big 17]

Wmidbrook,

The THOR sounds like fun. I was thinking, if and when I start to have problems with throat errotion I would rechamber to 6.5-300 win mag. Which I know will fit in my M70. I am not so sure the THOR will fit. Interesting article nonetheless.

Didn't the guy who made the 7mm STW, make a 6.5mm STW also? What would be the difference?

 

[wmidbrook]

Max. charge for a 6.5 STW or .264 Thor would be very similar.

You'd have to fire form a 7mm STW necked-down-to 6.5 to yield a 6.5 Thor--you'd get a hair more capacity and a its signature 35 degree shoulder. The STW has a 25 degree shoulder.

There is probably a lot more reloading data available for Layne Simpson's STW which is a big plus for 6.5mm STW.

Mark Pinkston seemed to think that the 35 degree sloped shoulder of the Thor was better than Ackley's 40 degree improved cartridge when I talked to him. Now how that compares to the 6.5 STW specs, I just don't know....either way, sounds like fun with comparable results.

Would be nice to zip a 140 gr Nosler Partition along @ 3400 fps.