We were on the shooting line at one of the FTW Ranch’s SAAM ranges.
“I want to be ready, just in case!” I replied to a questioner next to me as to whether or not I’m going on an elk hunt this fall. Actually, I am planning to hunt elk and too, will be hosting an elk hunt on the Mescalero Apache Reservation, a hunt we recently sold at the DSC Foundation Mid-Year Gala/Fundraiser. The top bidder is hunting for the biggest elk he and his guide can find during the hunt. Occasionally, the Reservation grants a limited number of “management elk hunts”, these include bulls with misshaped antlers, ancient 5x5 or less antlers, and those bulls with antlers that do not meet the standards set by their wildlife biologists. With a dose of luck, I will be able to procure one of those permits.
Hunts for big mature bulls on the Mescalero are essentially impossible to come by because the limited number of such bulls they take each year. Harvest quotas are based on their on-going wildlife management program. Those hunters which possess coveted big bull permits do not readily give them away to someone else.
Just in case a management bull permit comes up, I want to be ready.
It has been awhile since I seriously hunted elk. But there was a time. Several years ago I hunted two or more states each year. One extremely lucky year I was able to take three 7x7 bulls, all shot with handguns chambered in 30–06 to be exact, a T/C Encore shooting appropriate Hornady ammo.
My last bull elk was taken a few years ago. That one was also my biggest ever 6x6. I shot him in Colorado. That one fell to a Ruger Super Blackhawk revolver, chambered in 44 Mag and shooting Hornady 240gr XTP Custom loads. The extremely massive 6x6 gross-scored in the 380s. Prior to that bull I had taken several really nice elk, mostly with handguns, some of which scored in the 340 to 370s Boone and Crockett score range.
My first elk had come quite a few years ago, just west of the Rhoutt National Forest on private property that is now part of the Three-Forks Ranch. He was an ancient 5x4, taken with a 270 Win Remington Model 700, shooting Hornady 130gr SP loads. Interestingly, many years later I shot a nice 5x5 on almost the exact spot as my first elk. I shot the latter with a 30–06 T/C Encore handgun using 180gr Hornady ammo. Not far from that same location, a few years ago, I shot a really nice 5x5 with a Ruger M77 in 375 Ruger, shooting Hornady 270gr loads.
Thinking about it, most of the elk, particularly my larger antlered bulls were taken with a handgun, rather than a rifle.
As I prepare for the trip this fall, I have to admit I am seriously considering taking my Taurus Raging Hunter in 454 Casull, topped with a Trijicon SRO red-dot sight and shooting Hornady 240gr XTP loads. It is a combination I intend to use frequently this fall and beyond.
However, having in the past taken numerous elk with a handgun, I will likely opt for a rifle. And, since the hunt will be filmed for “Trijicon’s World of Sports Afield” which is sponsored by Remington, I plan on using one of my vintage Remington Model 700s, either in 270 Win or 300 Remington Ultra Mag, or possibly my 280 Remington Model 700 Mountain rifle, which I used a fair amount the last hunting season.
In years past I have taken elk with each of those three rounds. Many years ago when I was on staff with “Shooting Times”, I attended the 1998 Remington Writers Seminar, where at the Remington factory I put together a 300 Remington Ultra Mag. It was graciously given to me later by Remington. It was that same rifle I used in British Columbia’s Prophet-Muskwa to shoot a really nice 6x6 bull, high atop a mountain. Then a few days later shot a Rocky Mountain goat at over 500 yards. Just holding the rifle brings back a myriad of great hunting memories.
If I decide to use the 300 RUM (and I am leaning that way), I will replace the current scope with a Trijicon 2.5–12x42 AccuPoint, although I too, am fond of Trijicon’s Huron scopes. While the Huron lacks a Tritium-lit reticle, it does have Trijicon’s BDC Hunter Hold reticle. The latter too, is a bit lighter in weight. As this is being written I am awaiting the arrival of three boxes of Hornady 220gr ELD-X Precision Hunter. I can hardly wait to start shooting that rifle once again!
I shot my first elk with a 270 Win, Remington Model 700, a rifle customized for me long ago by a friend I seldom get to see these days, Bill Montoya. Bill was long with the New Mexico Department of Game & Fish, during the latter years of his tenure serving as the Department’s Director and later still as a Commissioner. In years past we shared several hunting camps together. I used that Santa Fe Arms customized rifle to shoot a couple of other elk, as well as numerous deer, both mule deer and whitetails, and other game as well. I know with it, using Hornady loads I am more than capable of bringing down the biggest bodied elk in all of New Mexico.
Decisions, decisions, decisions! But, truly glad I have options!
What would be your choice of the three rounds mentioned to use on elk?
Photo credit: Larry Weishuhn Outdoors