Success at FHL

[LongCaribine]

First let say I don't have pictures. I got caught up in the moment and didn't take any. Ok, we got to FHL Friday afternoon for the cow elk hunt. We went to the orientation briefing. The breif was actually pretty good. There were a lot hunters there that had never hunted FHL before. The staff at FHL really had their "stuff" in one sock. We knew what areas we would or could hunt for the entire week. Saturday and Sunday had areas 13E, 22 and 24 open for muzzleloaders/archery hunters only. We started in 22.

First thing in the morning 6:50 we run up on about 40 pigs feeding under an old oak tree. I thought about taking one but there was a voice in the back of my head saying "you came for elk and it's early" so we let em walk. We saw a lot of bulls throughout the day and when I say a lot I'm talking 20-30. So if you have a bull tag and area 22 is open I would be there. We saw a herd of cows on the range and they weren't moving. They laid down all day! We drove through area 24 and saw a herd of 30 or so cows with 2 bulls but they were in area 20, go figure. As we were calling it a day and heading out of area 22 we came across a dozen pigs down by the river. So now I'm ready to take one. I range them at 150yards, I close the distance to about 40 yards and shoot high! I was like WTF, how did that happen. I'll tell you how, operator error. I went Tommy Boy on it. Well as I'm reloading they are still there in a panic and as I'm fumbling, fat fingering the cap they take off to the river. Gone, no pig, no elk for Saturday.

Sunday we head back to Area 22. We started on the range side walking and glassing. Nothing but more bulls. So we head to the back side of 22 and work the river bottom. Run into more bulls but no cows. I'm getting a little discouraged now. We decide to go the other end of the zone work the river bottom there. On the way there, BAM there they are! A nice herd of 70 or so cows, with a couple of bulls with them, in the field feeding and moving NW I guess. We drive about a half a mile up the road. I jump out, grab my gear and start moving through the brush trying to ge to a point that would put me in a good shooting position if they made it to me.

I set up and here they come! About 200 yards away, I'm glassing them and they have no idea I'm there. The wind was perfect. Everything is coming together. They get to about 150 yards and BOOM! Somebody is at the back side of this field and I can't see them but they shot at a cow and now they are running, towards me but they are on the go! My buddy is in the truck on the road, they see him and turn back to the field. I finally get a good angle, quartering away, shot. The only thing I didn't like was she was running. I put the crosshairs on the front of her chest and squeeze one off. I can't see anythign because of the smoke. Now they are running their a$$es off and I lose track of which one I shot at. I reload and walk to where she was when I shot. I see blood. We start tracking and it starts raining, Great! We get about 40 yards from her and she jumps up and starts running to the river. I can't get another shot off. We watch where she went in and continue tracking. Any other time I give her more time but with the rain I was afraid we wouldn't get her. Bottom line is we tracked her and found her down in the river bottom. I had to shoot her one more time. My first shot was back and a BAD shot. She is quartered and hanging in the cooler.

I do have some really good video of the whole weekend except for the actual elk I harvest. The blacktail are in the rut. I saw more wild life this weekend than all weekends combined at FHL. I'll post the video after I get it back from my buddy. His kids are going to edit it and make a nice video. All in all it was a great weekend.

 

[ltdann]

Wow, they opened 22 right away huh? Thats were I got my cow last year but they waited for the last 2 days of the hunt before letting firearms in there.

Congrats, what did she weigh? I'll be up for the second cow hunt next month and I hope they're still hanging in 22.

 

[LongCaribine]

She was 282lbs at the skinning station. I think they will have 22 opened again. The range control offier SGT Nead was a big help and source of information too. He was good about going out to the range in the early morning and trying to get the cows off the range and back over the river. How about area 20? Do they ever open that up? Like I said before there was a big herd of cows hanging in 20 near the back side of 24. Too far to drag :wavin hello:. There were 4 cows taken on Saturday in area 15. One was a small 220lbs accidental shooting. She was standing behind a cow that a guy shot through the spine and it hit her in the neck. DFG took ownership of her. Good luck in when you go.

 

[ltdann]

Naah, 20 will never open, that's the impact range for the tank firing range...Lots of unexploded stuff in there. I'd feel pretty nervous walking around in there. I took a wrong turn once and accidental drove into the area, I could see tank rounds laying on the side of the road and I figured I was in the wrong place!

I'm looking forward to that hunt, especially if they open 22 for shotgun/ML. You got your cow on the east or west side of 22? Sometimes they hang out closer to area 25 near the old adobe buildings...


Congrats again!

 

[WCG]

FHL 1st Period Cow Elk 2010

I'm the guy who got the two cow elk with one shot. This was my second time to draw an elk tag at FHL, the first was in 1999 and it took 11 years to be drawn again - I had 8 points. I was shooting a .300 WSM with factory Federal Premium 165gr Barnes Triple Shock and I've seen how that bullet goes in and out of animals with ease. My partner spotted the herd and radioed about 6:45 A.M. to get down off the knoll I was on. By the time I got to where he was the last of the herd was going around a series of knolls about 500 yds away. We got into my truck to head off the herd and drove about a mile down San Migelito Loop. I jumped out of my vehicle and ran up a series of knolls and spotted the lead cow about 300 yards out and she was leading the herd at an angle towards my position. I waited and watched as the herd of about 80 head were moving from my right to my left near the edge the valley floor below, about 250 yards away. I got into a sitting position as I left my shooting sticks, backpack, etc. back in my truck and waited until the last few animals in the herd were left. One stopped broadside and I took a shot at about 225 yds. I never saw the younger cow (1-2 year old) behind the cow I was shooting at because the cow I was aiming at was up on a little rise blocking my view of what was immediately behind her. By the time I recovered from the recoil I saw a cow elk head rise and fall and was elated that I had her down. When I went down to tag the animal I discovered there were two cows down. The first and larger cow was the animal I was aiming at and the bullet hit about 6" below the top of her back (higher than I aimed), severing her spine and exited about half way down her body on the opposite side. I never saw her drop. My partner and I called the DFG warden and explained the situation. He told me to field dress them both and bring them to the check station. When I arrived at the check station he was waiting to take his report. The cows weighted in at 288 lbs and 227 lbs respectively. The warden kept the smaller animal which will be processed and the meat auctioned off. He said the proceeds will go to a local school or charity. On the way out on Sunday, they had 5 wardens checking vehicles and they all had heard about my episode. The warden who took the report was one of them and when he saw me he gave me a souvenir. They found my bullet on the far side of the second cow, fully mushroomed and 100% weight retention!

 

[markt800]

I'm the guy who got the two cow elk with one shot. This was my second time to draw an elk tag at FHL, the first was in 1999 and it took 11 years to be drawn again - I had 8 points. I was shooting a .300 WSM with factory Federal Premium 165gr Barnes Triple Shock and I've seen how that bullet goes in and out of animals with ease. My partner spotted the herd and radioed about 6:45 A.M. to get down off the knoll I was on. By the time I got to where he was the last of the herd was going around a series of knolls about 500 yds away. We got into my truck to head off the herd and drove about a mile down San Migelito Loop. I jumped out of my vehicle and ran up a series of knolls and spotted the lead cow about 300 yards out and she was leading the herd at an angle towards my position. I waited and watched as the herd of about 80 head were moving from my right to my left near the edge the valley floor below, about 250 yards away. I got into a sitting position as I left my shooting sticks, backpack, etc. back in my truck and waited until the last few animals in the herd were left. One stopped broadside and I took a shot at about 225 yds. I never saw the younger cow (1-2 year old) behind the cow I was shooting at because the cow I was aiming at was up on a little rise blocking my view of what was immediately behind her. By the time I recovered from the recoil I saw a cow elk head rise and fall and was elated that I had her down. When I went down to tag the animal I discovered there were two cows down. The first and larger cow was the animal I was aiming at and the bullet hit about 6" below the top of her back (higher than I aimed), severing her spine and exited about half way down her body on the opposite side. I never saw her drop. My partner and I called the DFG warden and explained the situation. He told me to field dress them both and bring them to the check station. When I arrived at the check station he was waiting to take his report. The cows weighted in at 288 lbs and 227 lbs respectively. The warden kept the smaller animal which will be processed and the meat auctioned off. He said the proceeds will go to a local school or charity. On the way out on Sunday, they had 5 wardens checking vehicles and they all had heard about my episode. The warden who took the report was one of them and when he saw me he gave me a souvenir. They found my bullet on the far side of the second cow, fully mushroomed and 100% weight retention!

can you belive that so many people gripe about Barnes bullets?!!! this story is pure truth on how good they perform, the people that bitch about them must be broke or very bad shots.

 

[ltdann]

can you belive that so many people gripe about Barnes bullets?!!! this story is pure truth on how good they perform, the people that bitch about them must be broke or very bad shots.

I won't use 'em in my rifle but do use them in my 12ga (shotgun doesn't like anything else...still not great groups).

They're not for everyone or every weapon. My older rifle, flat won't shoot 'em with anything approaching reasonable accuracy.

Its not ethical nor humane to take a poor shooting rifle/round combo into the field, its not fair to the hunter or the animal.

Even in my 12 ga, I've only gotten 50% mushrooming with TTSX.

I prefer the Nosler E-tip over the Barnes. In my mind, its more accurate and the wound channel is more reminsicent of the Nosler Partion, a devastating round.

I believe my heartburn with TSX is over-penetration. Nice neat little hole, without much damage.

 

[myfriendis410]

I think you are being too hard on the Barnes, Dan; I've got to tell you that I LOVE the Barnes. I shoot them out of state 'cause they work so well. Most shots are bang/flop and the ones that aren't don't stand on their feet for very long.

As to performance, ask Dirk about his deer last year with the 7 mag; he was disappointed at the loss of so much meat with a through and through rib shot. He had to discard the off shoulder.

It all boils down to what you're comfortable with, I suppose.

The bottom line is hitting 'em where you're supposed to, and you do have a habit of doing that rather well.

 

[ltdann]

The bottom line is hitting 'em where you're supposed to, and you do have a habit of doing that rather well.

I can do that with the E-tip, not the TSX. The stuff just won't shoot for me. I spent $100's trying and my conclusion was that it just didn't live up to the hype....especially for what it costs.

I wish my 12 ga would like something else, it hates the XP3. I haven't tried the Remington copper solids yet. The 12ga TTSX has decent accuracy @100 but I've found about 50% failure rate in expansion.

I put FIVE 12ga TTSX into my cow last year before she went down. I recoverd ONE TTSX. The rest made nice neat little holes as they passed through. You'd think a elk hide with 9 holes in it wouldn't be worth tanning, not so...looks great. THAT's how little damage it did.

Over penetration.

 

[myfriendis410]

I'll show you a Barnes out of a blacktail shot with a Benelli 12 gauge that looks like a petunia. It couldn't have performed better. When you see it you'll go: "eeewww"....

 

[LongCaribine]

@WCG. When I was getting my elk skinned, by the Indian skinners, everybody at the skinning station was talking about your two elk. I saw them hanging in the cooler and one was had a "DFG" tag hanging on it. I wondered what they were going to do the meat.

 

[subfan]

Congrats! Well done!

 

[REM3006]

I shot my cow elk from New Castle, Co. last year w/ my Browning A-bolt/Boss 7mm Rem Mag. TSX 140 gns. The bullet hit elk's right shoulder went through the heart (split it in half) and lodged to left shoulder bone and pulverized the bone. Pictures will tell the facts. Hunted w/ Live2Hunt and other guy. Fyi...

 

[markt800]

I shot my cow elk from New Castle, Co. last year w/ my Browning A-bolt/Boss 7mm Rem Mag. TSX 140 gns. The bullet hit elk's right shoulder went through the heart (split it in half) and lodged to left shoulder bone and pulverized the bone. Pictures will tell the facts. Hunted w/ Live2Hunt and other guy. Fyi...

gotta love Barnes tsx

 

[JTA6498]

The range control offier SGT Nead was a big help and source of information too.

SGT Nead is the man. He helped two or three different groups of hunters get their bulls out this past week. We left on the third morning of the late season hunt and we were the 8th to tag out. 3 of the 8 bulls were taken out of 22. 2 from 16A, 1 from 12B, 1 from 25 and another from 20. The guy who shot his in 20 ended up getting caught and they took his bull and wrote him a citation. He was Permanently removed from FHL by the base commander. TA 22 holds a strong population of the elk in that creek bed. Biggest bull taken before we left was the one out of 12B. He was taken by a junior and he was a massive 8x8

 

[ltdann]

Someone shot one in 20? What happened? Probably just on the side of the boundry, I'd bet.

 

[JTA6498]

Someone shot one in 20? What happened? Probably just on the side of the boundry, I'd bet.

They were hunting 24 and they saw a big old bull about 200 yards into 20. They dropped it and drug it back into 24. Then they decided to call the game shack to ask for help. When the wardens came out, they saw the blood trail and the rest was history.