contender
Ruger Guru
Well, due to travel, cutting up elk meat, a NRA state grant committee meeting today, I've been busy and haven't had the time to download my pics and add my measly story to all the great ones above.
But, as promised, I'm finally able to sit down & tell my version of my events.
First, the generous offer from sixshot & the lovely Mrs sixshot, was quite overwhelming. But the Lord does seem to work wonders. I've had a rough year dealing with my mom's death, the lawsuits & challenges to her estate from 2 of my nephews & their stepfather. Then, right before I left for Idaho, some low-life thieving ba***rd broke into my barn & stole my 4 wheeler. Stress was building, and the trip to Idaho, with great people & an easy (supposidly) elk hunt ahead, allowed me a wonderful release of a lot of my worries. It worked. To meet sixshot, callshot, middleshot, Zeus, Jeff, & Robb Barnes was just the medicine I needed. I was allowed to bring a friend with me, (Sam) to give me a road traveling companion. He's not on the forum (yet,) but he has been lurking the last couple of days.
Our arrival was uneventful as the weather was great, and we were all gathering for the upcoming adventures. Good mexican food at a local watering hole with friends of sixshots, started the weight gain. Friday was a great trip over to Freedom Arms,, and a tour of the workings there. Truly a great visit. Then, Sat found us all gathered & heading for Boise to visit Cabelas & the Elmer Keith museum. Well worth the extra driving time to see THE guns Elmer had.
Sunday found us all eager to test our guns, and after we satisified ourselves & made a few minor adjustments, were were pumped to hit the mountain & slay the elk. So, by sun afternoon, we were on the mountain all spread out & hunting. Sam got the first shot, but figured he missed. later that day, good old sixshot got the very first handgun elk ever taken on the ranch. (See his story here in the gallery.) That got us all salivating over our own future elk encounters with the handguns. Monday morning found us all on the mountain again, where it didn't take me long to find 3 cows. I was carrying 2 handguns. My Ruger 44 spl Flattop in hopes of a close encounter of the smoking gun kind, and my T/C Contender in the old faithful 7X30 Waters for the longer range shots. Well the elk made the decision to move out of the brush and head across an open area above me. I immediately realized it was over 100 yds, so my trusty Contender slipped off my shoulder, and after an excited first shot miss at the biggest cows neck, I realized the weren't gonna hang around so I settled down for a heart/lung shot. I made my 1 shot kill right in the boiler room lung area. She walked a small tight circle, and collapsed. I later ranged the shot at approximately 156 yds.
Well, about 30-45 minutes later, I heard a single shot nearby and was to discover Jeff had also made a beautiful 1 shot kill. Just over the hill from me. As I was using sixshot's 4-wheeler, I went to work on getting my elk down to the road, and after breaking the rope, I went for a stronger strap. I went up to Jeff & congratulated him, took a few pics, and left. I soon discovered that Sam's elk the day before had been discovered, dead. A lethal hit, just a little farther back than it should have been, where it caused the guts to be hit as well. Due to the milder weather, she was spoiled enough to not be safe to eat. Sam was disappointed, but hung in there like a trooper. (He did get to take home some meat, as Jeff was only taking 1/2 of his elk. Sam got the other half.)
That left us Zues, and his adventures in hunting, chasing & finally 2 days later, using that beautiful TLA to down his elk. He ran out of ammo after 8 shots, and good old callshot, hearing all the shooting, came a running with extra ammo. By the time callshot got there, the elk had succombed to her many leaking holes, and had decided to have pity on a poor old Mississippi swamper & die a dignified death.
So after all this, we later discussed the nicknames for a few folks. Sam became gutshot, Zeus became 8-shot, Jeff got longshot. We all got several chuckles out of all of it. Truly a great time was had by all.
I'll close this with a few more things.
Look for several more pics of the scenery, elk etc from all of us soon.
Lastly, the fun, fellowship, friendship, and especially the warmth (by Mrs sixshot) made this one of the best hunts I've ever been on.
I look forward to my next adventure west to visit those fine folks!
Heres a few pics of me & my elk.
But, as promised, I'm finally able to sit down & tell my version of my events.
First, the generous offer from sixshot & the lovely Mrs sixshot, was quite overwhelming. But the Lord does seem to work wonders. I've had a rough year dealing with my mom's death, the lawsuits & challenges to her estate from 2 of my nephews & their stepfather. Then, right before I left for Idaho, some low-life thieving ba***rd broke into my barn & stole my 4 wheeler. Stress was building, and the trip to Idaho, with great people & an easy (supposidly) elk hunt ahead, allowed me a wonderful release of a lot of my worries. It worked. To meet sixshot, callshot, middleshot, Zeus, Jeff, & Robb Barnes was just the medicine I needed. I was allowed to bring a friend with me, (Sam) to give me a road traveling companion. He's not on the forum (yet,) but he has been lurking the last couple of days.
Our arrival was uneventful as the weather was great, and we were all gathering for the upcoming adventures. Good mexican food at a local watering hole with friends of sixshots, started the weight gain. Friday was a great trip over to Freedom Arms,, and a tour of the workings there. Truly a great visit. Then, Sat found us all gathered & heading for Boise to visit Cabelas & the Elmer Keith museum. Well worth the extra driving time to see THE guns Elmer had.
Sunday found us all eager to test our guns, and after we satisified ourselves & made a few minor adjustments, were were pumped to hit the mountain & slay the elk. So, by sun afternoon, we were on the mountain all spread out & hunting. Sam got the first shot, but figured he missed. later that day, good old sixshot got the very first handgun elk ever taken on the ranch. (See his story here in the gallery.) That got us all salivating over our own future elk encounters with the handguns. Monday morning found us all on the mountain again, where it didn't take me long to find 3 cows. I was carrying 2 handguns. My Ruger 44 spl Flattop in hopes of a close encounter of the smoking gun kind, and my T/C Contender in the old faithful 7X30 Waters for the longer range shots. Well the elk made the decision to move out of the brush and head across an open area above me. I immediately realized it was over 100 yds, so my trusty Contender slipped off my shoulder, and after an excited first shot miss at the biggest cows neck, I realized the weren't gonna hang around so I settled down for a heart/lung shot. I made my 1 shot kill right in the boiler room lung area. She walked a small tight circle, and collapsed. I later ranged the shot at approximately 156 yds.
Well, about 30-45 minutes later, I heard a single shot nearby and was to discover Jeff had also made a beautiful 1 shot kill. Just over the hill from me. As I was using sixshot's 4-wheeler, I went to work on getting my elk down to the road, and after breaking the rope, I went for a stronger strap. I went up to Jeff & congratulated him, took a few pics, and left. I soon discovered that Sam's elk the day before had been discovered, dead. A lethal hit, just a little farther back than it should have been, where it caused the guts to be hit as well. Due to the milder weather, she was spoiled enough to not be safe to eat. Sam was disappointed, but hung in there like a trooper. (He did get to take home some meat, as Jeff was only taking 1/2 of his elk. Sam got the other half.)
That left us Zues, and his adventures in hunting, chasing & finally 2 days later, using that beautiful TLA to down his elk. He ran out of ammo after 8 shots, and good old callshot, hearing all the shooting, came a running with extra ammo. By the time callshot got there, the elk had succombed to her many leaking holes, and had decided to have pity on a poor old Mississippi swamper & die a dignified death.
So after all this, we later discussed the nicknames for a few folks. Sam became gutshot, Zeus became 8-shot, Jeff got longshot. We all got several chuckles out of all of it. Truly a great time was had by all.
I'll close this with a few more things.
Look for several more pics of the scenery, elk etc from all of us soon.
Lastly, the fun, fellowship, friendship, and especially the warmth (by Mrs sixshot) made this one of the best hunts I've ever been on.
I look forward to my next adventure west to visit those fine folks!
Heres a few pics of me & my elk.