lancetkenyon

Out of those 2, SPAIN. My personal choice for all around, target, hunting, varmints, 69 SMK.

Great buck! Great report too.

Brass, easy. Bullets, not too hard, since they are usually listed on the box. Primers, depends a lot of brand. Powder, charge weight is easy. Powder type is something else. I doubt Weatherby will tell you a recipe. Some others might know however. I think Weatherby uses Norma powder. Maybe MRP-2?

We were on a nice bull 2 weekends ago. Shot his last piece of tail for the year, so he light be grumpy this fall.

Cabela's has had ithe the last 5 or 6 times I have gone in too. Good job spreading the word though.

In the vitals. Black bears are not that tough that a well placed shot from any rifle capable of killing a deer will not take a bear too.

So glad this is not the SCR reticle. Because my wife would be pissed. Good scope. Good price, especially with TPS rings.

Just to clarify, a "small base die" is a FL die that sizes cases to minimum specs, usually found to be better for the auto loader rifles and cases like AR15 .223 or AR10 .308. Not usually recommend for bolt acation. $34 @ Midway. Cheaper than new brass. http://www.midwayusa.com/product/472124/rcbs-small-base-2-die-set-300-winchester-magnum

Short and sweet trip report. Taylor drew a 7W cow tag this year. 14 years old, and has back-to-back-to-back elk tags. 2 Bull tags in 2014, 2015, and a cow tag in 2016. She was excited for the hunt, since she hoped it would be a bit easier than her bull hunts. Yes and no. We left on Thursday after school. Got up to the cabin by 4:30, dropped the trailer and headed to scout the unit for an hour and a half.......0 elk seen, about 100 camps and 200 trucks driving around. Friday morning, 4:00AM Wake up, get ready, hit the truck by 5:00AM. Legal shooting light by 6:03AM. Saw 3 cows at 5:58AM on our way to the first glassing spot....that walked off before we could get out of the truck to get set up. Glassed for a couple hours, change spots, glass some more. Hike a few miles. Glass some more. Try new spots, glass, hike, glass, hike, glass. We tried high, we tried low. Didn't see another elk all day. We hadn't heard a peep from any bulls either. Frustrating. Tons, and I mean TONS of road hunters. Only glassed up a few guys out hiking the hills. We heard a total of 1 shot all day. Taylor even drove for about an hour. We did see a huge jackrabbit, that I thought was a coyote when it took off at first. Drove into Williams to fuel up, and talked to a fellow hunter at the gas station. Talked a bit about the hunting, and told him Taylor had the tag. He was hunting with his 2 grandkids. He gave me some pointers on how his hunt was going, and no specifics, but where to look for elk. He had seen 65 elk, and his grandkids had gotten 4 shots, but missed all 4. I told him I just needed to get a look at a cow, and Taylor will do her job. He left me with his cell # and said if we didn't have anything on the ground by Sunday, to call him and he would tell me exactly where to try. Great guy, Terry. And a huge key to our success. Saturday morning, 4:00AM. Wake up, hit the truck by 4:45AM. Get to our new spot (where Taylor killed her 2014 bull) by 5:30AM. Get out of the truck, and wait for about 10 minutes, listening. Nothing, no bugles. Cow call a few times, and hear a very distant bugle, way up the mountain. Jump in the truck and drive about a mile around the mountain. Get out at 5:45AM, and wait, listening. Nothing. Hit the cow call a few times, and hear a bugle up the mountain about half mile away or so....hard to tell exactly. Grab the stuff and take off after the bull. I kept cow calling as we were pursuing, and soon had 3 different bulls bugling back at us. We picked the biggest sounding bull in hopes he still had cows with him. 6:35AM, sunrise, we catch a glimpse of a couple satellite bulls through the trees about 75 yards up from us. Wind in our face. Bull still bugling above the satellite bulls. We skirt the satellite bulls, and keep moving up. 7:05AM, we finally see the herd bull and his "harem". A single cow, about 150 yards ahead and uphill from us. No shot, too thick, but we are on the elk! Set up in hopes of a shot Bull and a cow in this photo... 7:15AM They kept feeding uphill and away from us to the left. We had to move and gain a little ground on them if we wanted a shot. So we advanced, slowly, keeping the elk in sight. The cow wandered off to the left, and we lost sight of her. But knew the bull would stay close, kept after him. We had to move when he had his head down or behind trees, and got within 100 yards of him. That is when we got busted by the cow..... 7:25AM As we are slowly moving, I see the cow behind a bush, looking over it right at us as we come to a stop. Slowly, I unshoulder the rifle, and drop the bipod legs. Taylor goes to her knees, and I get the gun set down. The curious cow, walks quickly towards us! Gets to within 75 yards, directly behind a big pine tree, and facing us, and is playing peek-a-bow around both sides of the tree with us. Taylor is uncomfortable, so goes to sit instead of kneel. A single trig snaps as she does so, and the cow gets nervous real quick. I told Taylor, get ready, she is going to bolt. If she stops for a good shot, put one in her. 7:27AM The cow bolts to our right.....about 10 yards in the open, perfectly broadside. Taylor is behind the rifle, watching her through the scope....with the safety on! I reach over, flick off the safety, and tell her to squeeze slowly. BOOM!!! Cow takes off like shot from a cannon, I watch her disappear into a canyon, noting trees and landmarks are she passes them. The bull walks towards us wondering where his last piece of tail for the year just ran off to. Right after the shot 7:30AM Bull wanders off, Taylor is antsy, wanting to go find her cow. 7:35AM I tell Taylor to stay put, mark the shooting spot on my GPS, and go to where the cow was standing. Ground tore up from the hooves, but no hair or blood. Easy to see where she ran though. So I follow the tracks, and get to the "V" tree that she passed. First drop of blood, about 1/8". Blood means something to follow. Good sign. I call Taylor over, and we start the tracking job. Next blood I find is on both sides of the trail. Very good sign. Entrance and exit holes are both bleeding. Blood trail gets very good after about 30 yards from where the cow was hit. 7:50AM About 75 yards from the shot, the cow is in the bottom of the canyon. Big cow. Exit hole from a 7mm 180 Berger Hybrid Got her all quartered up, gutless method, neck roasts, back straps, tenderloins, and ready to pack out by 9:00 Getting ready to start the pack out 1.44 miles from the truck, and about 280# of meat and bones. 2 trips each. Got her all out by 1:00PM. We were whooped. Taylor helped a ton, and packed out both front quarters and the tenderloins. Sunday, my other daughter and son-in-law came up and we did a bit of squirrel hunting. This was my shot of the year. With the new .22, 75 yards, off hand, in a tree, one shot, neck shot. The dogs were very curious of the smell on my pants when I got home. Dogs waiting on the leg bones to cool Got her all cut up and packaged yesterday. This weekend will be grinding the burger and making sausage. Mmmmm....back straps.

Have you bumped the shoulder back .002"?

.300WM headspaces to the belt, not shoulder. But I still only bump .002". Where are you getting a sticky case contact? Even a small base din will oy get you close to the belt. An FL die should still work fine.

If an 8mm will work, will a 7STW work? I have a wet of .300WM Redding FL dies, but not SB.

Center cut back straps. Wrapped in bacon, marinated in soy sauce, garlic, ginger, sprinkled with fresh garlic, Montreal seasoning, Teriyaki sauce. 30 minutes at 275°, then out to rest for 10, the sear on a hot cast iron skillet.

Finished all the burger grinding and sausage today. Total weight count: 256# of finished meat. 201# total elk. Steaks, roasts, stew meat, back straps and tenderloins. 17 packs of 1.25# 70% elk, 30% beef ribeye roast burger Sausage is 60% elk, 40% pork, all in 1# packages. 7# of spicy maple breakfast sausage 13# of sweet/hot Italian sausage 14# of hot chorizo Bacon wrapped back straps tonight! A nearly full freezer is a glorious thing.

I can't believe I forgot to mention in my first post, but Taylor used my father-in-law's rifle that he gave to me this January when he passed away. It is the first elk the rifle has ever taken, even in all of the years we hunted together, but hopefully the first of many to come in the future. I know he was looking down on us during the hunt, and is still smiling ear to ear that his granddaughter took her second elk with his rifle.

Thanks. I love my Kuiu stuff, and getting money off is a nice savings. Just ordered a couple new items, since Taylor found out she really likes my Kuiu jackets. I have: Guide DCS jacket in Major Brown Guide DCS jacket in Verde Guide DCS jacket in Vias (just ordered) Guide DCS vest in Vias (just ordered) Teton soft shell jacket in Verde Teton insulated jacket in Verde Yukon Rain Pants in Major Brown

I can vouch for the optical clarity of the Meopt a 15x56. I have had mine for a couple years, and have a ton of hours behind mine. Never had eye fatigue or a headache with them, even after 10 hours a day for a 10 day hunt.

That is a 4" & 6" drift. Does this happen every time? A lot of time, vertical is load, horizontal is shooter. But NOT always. Could be seating depth. Could be a light charge. Could be shooter: Parallax Cheek weld Trigger torque Sympathetic torque Stock hand torque Barrel steel stress changing with heating Barrel contact with stock channel Action screw torque

Just because you found no blood does not mean he is not wounded. Just saying. Unless you can see torn up ground from running hoofs and know exactly the path he took for at least 50 yards, you might easily miss blood. The 350 yard shot, no sweat. I would think he would stick around. The pushing him and then 40 yard shot as he was running, scared the crap out of him. I have seen them stay within a mile, but I have seen deer run off into the sunset as well.

Cabela's used to carry them. It has been about a year since I handled one there. I just now got the stink and stain off my hands.....

No, the Hybrid is technically a "target" bullet, and "not intended for hunting purposes" per Berger. It has an ogive that is a "hybrid" or combination of a tangent ogive shape (traditional ogive shape) and a secant ogive shape (as found in the VLDs). The thicker jacket does not allow the bullet to shed 40-90% of it's weight after 2-3" of penetration like the hunting line of VLDs and Classic Hunter or Extreme Outer Limits Hunter do. But personally, they open great once inside, and retain more weight to give a bit better penetration, and usually give an exit would that bleeds. I have never recovered one, so I cannot say how much weight they retain, or what they look like. But a 2.5-3" exit wound leads me to believe it is working just fine. And having game go anywhere from 0 to 75 yards at most from the animals I have shot with them in various calibers, means I will continue to use them personally. Shot placement is still key. The hunting lines state that the shedding of 40-90% add shrapnel and massive hydrostatic shock, leading to quick kills, even in shots that are not perfect. The VLD (Very Low Drag) comes in 2 types. The "Hunting" VLD (HVLD), and the "Target" VLD. Same principal as discussed prior. The hunting VLD has a slightly thinner jacket than the target version. The target version is "not intended for hunting purposes", per Berger. The VLD lines have been known to be just a bit finicky on seating depth due to their ogive shape. You will be getting decent groups, but then when you do seating depth testing, you will definitely find a sweet spot somewhere in a .0400" range where the bullet performs the best by far. Some rifles like them jammed into the lands (my .25-06 AI pushing the 115 HVLD likes them jammed), some like a jump of about .0500"-.0600" (usually the norm, and where my 6.5 SLR & .260 Rem using a 140 HVLD, and my 7RM w. 168 HVLD likes them), and some like a big jump, like .120" (my .300RUM w. 210 HVLD). The Hybrid has shown to be more forgiving with seating depth tastes, making it easier to tune. I have a few different loads using hybrids for hunting purposes. 6.5 SLR w. 140 Hybrid, 7RM w. 180 Hybrid (as seen in this thread), and my .300RUM w. 215 Hybrid. All shoot lights out. All of these loads have taken game as well, with phenomenal results. You can read up on Berger bullets, both different types, and different shapes, here. http://www.bergerbullets.com/information/line-and-designs/

Berger Hybrids are supposed to have a thicker jacket. Entry hit no rib, exit took out a rib. The HVLD is designed to penetrate 2-3", then violently expand, shedding 40-90% of it weight in the next 12" creating massive hydrostatic shock and tissue damage. Higher velocities shed more weight. I have shot quite a few animals with both the HVLD and Hybrids (& SMKs), large and small. The only time I have not seen an exit is on quartering shots on bull elk, where more than 18" of penetration would have been needed to exit. I have (knock on wood) never lost an animal with a Berger HVLD, Hybrid, or SMK. In .224", .257", .264", .284", .308".

Lost Offroad Fabrication could whip up a bad butt rack with clamps that bolts directly to your cage and is removable if you want.

Have a weldor fabricate a rear rack to bolt to the cage and add some hard cases.

Shot was uphill. POI was just below center of body, tucked right at the elbow. Exit was above center, just behind shoulder. Double lung. The 180 Berger Hybrid worked very well. Entrance was pencil size, exit was about 2.5-3". There were pieces of lung along the generous blood trail. What more could you ask. I would think the distance she covered took less than 5 seconds from where she was hit to where she fell.