{"id":170000,"date":"2022-11-01T19:02:02","date_gmt":"2022-11-01T23:02:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/digest\/?p=170000"},"modified":"2025-12-09T08:25:59","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T14:25:59","slug":"hunt365-take-the-shot-timber-bull-not-finished","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/hunt365-take-the-shot-timber-bull-not-finished\/","title":{"rendered":"Take the Shot? An Experienced Hunter Gets a Close Opportunity at a Good Bull Elk, but the Vitals are Covered and His Shooting Position is Unsupported. Will He Take the Shot? – Presented by Badlands"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Take<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Take
Classic wood-and-blued bolt-action rifles have been putting meat on tables for decades and will continue to do so. Significant to this story; they are much easier to shoot offhand (standing, unsupported) than heavy modern, long-range rifle designs. Photo Credit: Trina von Benedikt<\/strong><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

An experienced hunter gets a close opportunity at a good bull elk, but the vitals are covered and his shooting position is unsupported. Will he take the shot?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\"Badlands<\/a>\n\n\n

Recently several friends and I, along with my 14-year-old son Josiah, packed 14 miles deep into the wilds of Montana in search of elk. We were shooting a hodge-podge of cartridges and killed several great bulls (which you will see here at TTS over the next months). This is the story of Monroe\u2019s hunt. Monroe is an Amish man, very experienced in the woods, good with packhorses, and savvy \u2013 which is what you want when hunting deep, rugged wilderness territory. The only thing is; the Amish eschew photographs so I don\u2019t have a grip-&amp;-grin photo to share with you. But I do have some in-the-moment shots that I can share, as well as a simple photo of Monroe\u2019s elk. It\u2019s a great story, with an equally great prequel that I\u2019ll write about soon.<\/p>\n

We packed deep into the same area we\u2019d hunted the year before, hoping to find elk in similar numbers. It\u2019s always a gamble in that kind of huge country; elk may or may not be in the same region from one year to the next, and we all knew we might come up empty-handed. But that\u2019s the risk you take, and as you\u2019ll see this time it paid off. We set up camp in the mouth of a ridge-side canyon, fed our horses, and got settled in. We had one day to scout before the hunt started and spent most of that day covering ground. Right out of camp we watched a nice black bear making his way across a steep scree slope, but that was the only wildlife we saw the entire day. I was slightly concerned about our upcoming hunt as I readied my hunting pack and settled into my sleeping bag that night.<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Take
It\u2019s important to keep your rifle clean and lightly oiled during hardcore hunts, especially if it\u2019s not made of stainless steel.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

RIFLE, OPTIC, AND AMMO<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Monroe was shooting a classic wood-and-blued steel Ruger M77<\/a> chambered in .30-06. Rifles just like his have harvested elk all across the Rocky Mountain west for decades. He had a nice Leupold 3.5-10X40 VX3HD scope mounted atop the Ruger, well-zeroed at 200 yards. However, he had encountered trouble procuring ammunition for his fall hunts. He handloads, but his standard Hornady GMX (now CX) bullets were not to be found in stores or online. Covid has thrown a wrench in more than one hunter\u2019s plans, and Monroe fell victim to the shortage of components and ammunition<\/a> just like thousands of other hunters. The only .308 diameter bullets he was able to find were 180 grain Nosler Ballistic Tips. It\u2019s a super accurate bullet but built for light-skinned game, with a very thin jacket and little potential for deep penetration on any shot where bone might be encountered. However, it\u2019s what he had so he loaded the bullets up, knowing that at least the heavy weight of 180 grains gave him a bit of an edge. The loads shot well, and as noted earlier he zeroed them to impact dead on at 200 yards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE HUNT<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two hours into opening day found our group of four crossing a canyon toward an elk Josiah had just shot. As we climbed the steep mountainside, pausing to catch our breath, whispering excitedly about our opening day’s success, we had no idea of what was about to transpire. All the elk we\u2019d seen had vacated the canyon after Josiah shot, and we just hoped that a grizzly bear didn\u2019t find his elk before we did. Then, as we side-hilled single-file upward through a steep little timber-wrapped meadow, a bull suddenly bugled right in front of us. We all froze, and then jabbered a few quick strategy ideas without much success. Finally, perhaps ten seconds into this new excitement I said, \u201cLet\u2019s just call him in\u201d. I blew my cow call, and the bull instantly answered. He was perhaps eighty to one hundred yards away through the timber. We could hear him coming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We waited breathlessly and he bugled again, this time right on top of us. He was inquiring as to the whereabouts of the sexy cow he\u2019d heard, so I answered. Another bugle, and we could see antler tips emerge from the timber, 40 yards away and just over a swell in the mountainside meadow below us. Monroe and I had a fierce but brief argument, each trying to get the other to take the shot. I won, and Monroe leveled his trusty rifle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bull stopped now quartered toward us, still about 40 yards distant and below us. Problem was, all we could see of him was his neck and a bit of the top of his shoulder. The lung and heart area was completely covered. Further complicating the shot was the fact that Monroe was standing with no support whatsoever, no tree to lean against, no shooting sticks, nothing. If he sat down he\u2019d lose sight of the bull, besides which the movement would almost certainly alert him. A tiny breeze blew toward the bull, and in moments he would smell us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Monroe stood just at my left, his rifle leveled on the bull and steady as a rock. I watched out of the corner of my eye, noticing how calm he was, and how methodically he pressed the trigger. The thought flashed through my head \u201cThere\u2019s no way he\u2019s gonna miss \u2013 he\u2019s stone-cold calm.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Take
There are years worth of adventure written in dents and bruises on Monroe\u2019s wood stock, including a tooth mark left by a snooping black bear.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

TAKE THE SHOT?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Put yourself in Monroe\u2019s shoes; you\u2019ve traveled a long distance to hunt elk<\/a>, have worked hard, and invested considerable expense getting deep into wilderness elk territory. A surprise encounter has blessed you with a close-up shot at a great bull, as well as plenty of fuel for an adrenaline-induced high-speed come-apart. You have no support to help you place an accurate shot, and the only possible shot is an attempt to break the bull\u2019s neck. Your bullet is not built to penetrate heavy bone. But this may be the only opportunity you get the entire trip. It\u2019s now or never.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Will you take the shot?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Take
Monroe\u2019s bull, a great 5X6 that will provide lots of winter meat for his family. This bull was likely four years old.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

HERE\u2019S WHAT HAPPENED:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Monroe\u2019s rifle went bang and the bull flipped over backward, instantly down. We edged forward till we could see the bull lying there at the edge of the timber, and Monroe put an insurance shot into the base of his skull. Then we all stood around with huge silly grins and wondered to each other; what just happened? What a way to start off our hunt. We spent the rest of the day butchering and packing meat, getting it off the mountain and away from the carcasses before a grizzly showed up to claim the spoils.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Take
Packed up and headed out, with miles and miles to go. One of my favorite sounds is the tinkling of packhorse bells on a long trail.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

CONCLUSION<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Monroe\u2019s first shot entered just where the bull\u2019s neck met his shoulder. The soft bullet smashed the spine and dropped the bull instantly. While not an ideal bullet for hunting elk, the 180 grains were enough to do a proper job on this shot. It was a challenging shot presentation since the only available vital area was the spine, a narrow column reaching from shoulder to head. If you are prone to buck fever or get the shakes during the moment of truth, I would not recommend taking this shot. However, if you\u2019re comfortable shooting offhand (standing, unsupported) then I\u2019d take this shot every time. Monroe had ice in his veins, and there was no doubt in my mind that he would kill the bull.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Would you Take The Shot? Let me know in the comment section below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

***Buy and Sell on GunsAmerica! All Local Sales are FREE!<\/a>***<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An experienced hunter gets a close opportunity at a good bull elk, but the vitals are covered and his shooting position is unsupported. 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