couesbuck22

I'm going to start by saying that the man that I have looked up to my entire life passed away in January, my grandfather. I wouldn't be half the man I am today if it weren't for him. My father left when I was young and my grandpa took me under his wing, He's the one that taught me everything about the outdoors, whether it be how to hunt, fish, or the simple things like hooking up the brush-hog to the tractor or taking your hat off at the table. So when I got the money pulled from my account for an elk tag I had one thing in mind, do it for him. The guy that was supposed to be helping me ended up in the ER with chest pains a week before my hunt and ended up having triple bypass surgery, so now i'm on my own. I didnt get too caught up in scouting early, i let the rut go by and spent every second i could the three weeks before my hunt hiking to the top of the biggest mountain in the area to look for elk. I saw some bulls, but nothing I really wanted to wrap my tag around, then three days before the hunt i found him. A big 5x6 that just showed up in a spot i thought i had already exhausted. So i kept tabs on him and i found him every night after that leading up to the hunt, he came over the same saddle, walked to the ridge on his right and would slowly feed his way down. I couldnt get out to scout in the mornings due to work and college but i had a feeling i could find him. I got there way early friday morning and hiked to the top and sat there for an hour and a half before i could even think about glassing, when it finally hit gray light i swung my tripod around to the bottom of that ridge and there he was. He fed around the corner to the next cut where i couldnt see him so i grabbed my stuff and hiked way around the backside of the mountain to try and get eyes on him again, i got around to where i could see the drainage i thought he was in and Bam right where i thought they'd be is the smaller bull that i last saw him with, i watched him bed down under a pine and made my move, I had to cross two big drainages and a third smaller one but I had my grandpa in the back of my mind the whole time and kept going. I got one ridge across from where i saw the smaller bull, slipped off my pack and crawled out to the edge to peek over, i found the smaller bull in the same tree and i could tell he was looking away from the way the right horn was, but i didnt see any other elk. So i slowly crawled up a little farther and still no other elk, so i just laid there, i didnt take my binos because i was within 100 yards and the wind was good. So i got set up and was laying there for about an hour and a half and then i caught movement in the skyline, hunters. Four guys came walking over and headed straight down towards the elk, and next thing i knew there was elk running out of every tree on the opposite ridge it seemed like, going every direction but i never got eyes on the big one. So i hiked back up to my glassing spot on the very top and started glassing, its about noon now so i know that the elk are going to move to get out of the sun, it might only be ten steps but i knew they were going to move. So i found an elk on the farthest ridge i could see, about 3 miles from me and i wasnt sure if it was him but to me its always worth a shot. So i threw my pack back on and started the second stalk of the day. I figured the easiest way to get to this one was to just go straight down the mountain to the bottom and come up one drainage over from the elk i saw and then crawl over, it would be less than 100 yards again. I got there about an hour later and crawled over, found an elk laying in a tree and it was a decent six point (remember this bull), but not the one i wanted quite yet. So i slowly crawled back over to my pack and made the trip to the top of the mountain this elk was on, i knew the bull I wanted was usually on his feet a little after 4 PM. So i got to the top of this mountain and started glassing the other one, and right after 4:30 PM i found him, knew he was doing his usual thing so i grabbed my pack and started the run. I got one ridge across from where they usually were about 15 minutes before the sun went down and i could see him across the drainage feeding down, just like he did the previous 2 nights. So I laid there and he fed down and he was at the same elevation as me and a smaller bull he was with fed out into an opening and i thought here we go here's my chance, and all i could see was horns walking straight away from me and out of sight. I didnt want to push him so i went back to my pack and hiked up the mountain in the dark and down the backside to my truck. I went home and slept then got up at 3 the next morning but i just had a feeling that i needed to wait until shooting light to make the hike up the mountain. I still can't figure out where this feeling came from but i have a pretty good idea, I was hiking up a ridge to the top of the mountain and i looked down to my left and theres the bull im after standing 60 yards below me staring right at me. I had left him on the total opposite side of the mountain the night before. I slowly slid the gun off my shoulder and probably should have taken the standing shot but on a bull this big I wanted a solid rest. so i extended the legs on my bipod as slow as possible and got one out and swung down, then i started to slide the second leg out and when it hit the end it made that click and the bull decided he had enough so then i swung it down and sat down, he ran up the opposite ridge and started heading down the hill on top of that finger but he slowed down to a walk and when he got to the last opening i yelled "HEY" and he stopped and i was in my scope and squeezed it off, no whop, no elk. I immediately started glassing and i found him about 2 miles below me walking just fine with no blood anywhere on him. So then i'm thinking my scope got bumped when i was crawling or maybe it got bumped during all the walking i had been doing so i went back down to the truck and drove out to the cinder pit where everyone shoots and i laid down to shoot at a rock that was 200 yards away and i took a glance at the turret on top of my scope and it was past the six almost to seven. NOT. GOOD. So i spun it back to the two and took a shot at the rock. Dead nuts. So then i packed up and headed right back out and started hiking up the mountain again, and at 4:45 there he was again. But on a different part of the mountain and i knew id have to run to get a chance before dark, so i got on the back of the mountain so the bull couldnt see me and im running down the back of this saddle and i look over and there's a bull standing there across the canyon 300+ yards so i slam on the brakes and get the gun up and i can tell hes a good bull so i go to sit down and he starts running right to left so i stand back up and im watching him through the scope and he stops so i let my grandpa's 300 Win. Mag bark and i immediately heard the WHOP! so the bull comes to me and starts going right to left again so i stop him and give him another one, no whop, then he comes down the hill some more turns the opposite way and stops so i squeeze off a third shot and WHOP! then i watch him through the scope and he got wobbly going into some trees, as he's going in I realize it's the same bull I found bedded the day before and could have had a 87 yard shot at prone, but I got it done strongarming the gun at 342 yards (I ranged it after I shot) so i knelt down and laid the gun down next to me thinking of my grandfather and removed my cap and said a prayer, about ten seconds later i could hear him fall and take his last breathe. Thats when I lost it, I'll admit it I had tears in my eyes as I put on my pack and made the final hike across the canyon to where my bull was. When I got over to him I knelt down, and looked up to the sky and said this ones for you grandpa. Thats when I really lost it, I sat there for 15 minutes probably just taking it all in, I never got the excitement you see other people get with all the yelling and screaming, but I knew I had done it, even though I was alone physically I knew he was there with me the whole time laughing when I would slip and fall on my face, I ate it good a couple times but I was more worried about keeping his gun from hitting the rocks than using my arms to catch myself, This elk means more to me than any other animal i will ever harvest not just because hes my biggest bull so far but because of the reason i hunted so hard. R.I.P. Grandpa Jim i know you were up there looking down the whole time with a smile on your face pointing me in the right direction. I was using my grandpa's gun, and I had a broken tine that my grandpa found on my very first elk hunt 8 years ago.

He enstilled that never quit attitude in me and I try to apply that to everything I do, especially when it comes to stuff like hunting because if it weren't for him I would never have these experiences of triumph and fail. So grateful for everything he taught me

What is still available?

If you would ship them, I'll pay through PayPal plus a little extra for shipping in a flat rate

Willing to split up the 308 package? I'd take the dies off your hands I've been using a friends dies and already have a load developed just want my own dies don't need the bullets or brass

Anyone have a set of rifle dies they would be willing to trade straight across for these pistol dies, I don't shoot my pistol enough to reload for it. Live in Williams commute to chino valley 4 days a week for work. Will not ship must meet in person. If you live in the camp Verde cottonwood area and you're interested I can make that happen. Let me know what you got.

It wasn't a cwt member, if someone wants to buy em I'll ship em to you and I'll give em my phone number, doubt they'll need it there's 3 fully set up dies and extra set screws and a few screws that I honestly don't know what they do. I believe it's for the seating die.

I wanna make sure I don't get ripped off and get dies with missing pieces it's happened before

I've seen a pair come at the same time and have pulled off a couple doubles when I'm hunting with someone else but never killed more than one on the same stand by myself, let alone with a single shot! That's awesome

Since I'm done calling for a while all I have to do right now is think about it and reload for this season. So what has been your favorite day predator hunting? Mine is a no brainer, I took my ten year old nephew out one morning this past February, he's never killed a coyote and he won a .223 in a local contest so we got his sighted in and I told him I'd take him out, we parked the truck and walked into the flat and got set up plenty early, I walked the call to the end of a tank and I just knew we would see a coyote burning it across the big flat right to the call and my nephew would get his first coyote, I walked back to the tree we sat under and started waiting for the sun to come up, then the elk started talking all around us and when it was legal shooting light I started calling and on the third sequence he sees a dog, taps me on the leg and says dog dog right here so I slowly turn my head and it was leaving instead of coming! I said swing over slow and if he stops kill him. He swung over and it never stops so I called a few more sequences and we decided to go onto the next one so we stood up and we were walking down the burn of the tank and got almost to the call and he says dog right there!! I look up and there's a dog standing at the far side of the burm of the tank so I hand him the remote and it this point the dog is takin off through the flat, i ran to the end of the burm and layed down and started woopin and barkin but this thing wouldn't stop, I was just getting ready to take the running shot when my nephew plays a challenge howl, now remember that I set the call at the end of the burm and that is also where I'm laying down at, so when he hit play it about scared the $&!/ out of me, so I tried to get back in my scope and find the dog, I can't find him, then I hear my nephew kill him he stopped!!! So I finally found him and rested the cross hairs on his shoulder and squeezed her off, the bullet found its mark and I went nuts like I always do I ran up to him and gave him a full swing high five "that's how we do it kid! Great job!" So we got the call and checked our guns and I was thinking to myself as we were walking out to get him how smart he was to play a challenge howl at that dog without me ever saying a word to him about it, so we get the dog and get back to the truck and talk about it for a few minutes as we drove to the next one, I was putting in a pinch of chew and he goes dog stop! So I slam the truck in park and he's gone chasing after this thing to the drainage on our left to try and get a shot so I grab the call and my gun and start running too, I catch him and he says no I never saw him again so I ran the call out and start playing some distress and I see it coming back in, I told him where it was but he never could find it before it left again so we walked back to the truck and I could tell he was mad at not getting a shot so I said I'm not taking my gun on this next one it's all you I'm just gonna run the call. We get to our third stand and he was sitting on my right and we were just calling a little opening that I knew about that's about 400 yards off the closest road and we were on the last sequence and I threw it into pup in distress as soon as I did that I caught movement to my left and sure enough here comes the fourth dog of the morning at 25 yards to my left so I just slowly layed back and he knew what that meant and slowly swung the gun over and he put the bipod between my legs and I leaned forward towards the gun to make sure I was behind the muzzle and he touched it off at the coyote that had been standing there watching us while we were moving around all over the place, she spun and took off but I knew she was hit, he looked disappointed and I said I know she didn't go far, and he goes yea right yours dropped and mine didn't I missed, i load 40 grain v-Max for our .223's so I know to drop em you have to hold in their shoulder and if you put it behind the shoulder they'll run about 50 yards and pile up so I told him that and then he realized he might have killed it so we tracked her down and walked past her twice she piled up way underneath a group of cedars and had actually bedded down when she died it wasn't like she was running and piled up, all in all that has been by far my favorite day of calling watching him get his first coyote was a blast, he's hooked as bad as me now. Sorry for the long read hope you enjoyed it.

@bgshooter everything I know about it has been mostly self taught, like what sounds work the best where your calling, where to park so no matter where they come from they can't see the vehicle, what time of day to hit which stands..where I hunt I usually do one on a flat in the morning, maybe two depending on weather, but most of the time I just do 1 in the flat then I hit the trees for the rest of the day I feel like they come in harder and not as cautious in the thick stuff, there'll be some that come and go before you get a shot but that's hunting. I would always get frustrated in my spots because every stand they would be howling on both sides of me but wouldn't come, my grandfather told me that I was probably setting up right on the territory lines, on my next trip I would just move 3-400 yards in the direction they were usually howling at and it made a world of difference, just little changes can make a terrible day turn into a great one

Midway USA is currently out of the z-max I did some research and it's almost identical bullets..found some 45 grainers that we're gonna try

Picked these up a few days ago just trying to decide on what load to go with and figured I'd ask what other people do.. Gonna try it as a coyote load stepped it up give grains from the 40's

June 3rd, time stamp is correct..

I just went back to aluminums..seems like my groups tightened up quite a bit

Bolt action Howa 1500

My previous load for my .223 was 26.5 grains of H335 with a 40 grain V-max and it killed em but I had to do some tracking on almost every one, I started out with 52 grain noslers and that just blew a hole right through em which I don't want because I tan the hides, trying to get a load that kills em in their tracks but wont blow a hole out the back side.

I killed my bull last year with a hornady 180 grain spbt acculock I put three in him at 60 yards and they didn't come out put all of his vitals we're liquified, lungs in golf ball sized pieces heart blown in half as well as his liver, hardly any meat loss. Using that load again this year

Yea they're more of a flat nose im working on my bench right now then I can start reloading and figure out what load my rifle likes the best groupwise thanks for the input

223 sorry should have put that in the original post

I'm willing to say he's a better shot than me, we had some prairie dogs move in on the ranch and he was knocking em over left and right at 75-140 yards with the 223 he won on a super bowl bet, stuck to his guns, literally!

Went out with the nephew we called in 7 dogs killed 4 in 9 stands he killed his first dog ever at 20 yards and his second dog at 150ish trotting away. Not all killed in same day 3 stands a day the last couple days..I killed one at 50 running after I stood up and got the call off the burm of a tank looked up and there's a dog at the base of burm 10 yards in front of me layed down on the bipod and let the lead fly got lucky and rolled him weighed it at the house 36 pounder.. killed the other one on the run too had a pair come in behind us on a dead run they ran to the call slowed a little bit literally stepped over the call and kicked it into high gear I shot one and rolled it then we didn't know where the other one went so I changed pitches on the hand call and started scanning again and saw a dog at 200 yards leaving then it disappeared. Then its there again and I realize it's the one I had just rolled at 20 yards but with all the high fives and fist pumps it had got back up so I told my nephew get steady and squeeze and he dumped it for good.

I'll have to look and see what model it is next time I'm down at my moms place didnt want to take a safe full of rifles to college

I have a 30. Remington that was passed down to me from my grandfather and can't find any dies to reload I have the brass that he gave me with it and about 30 loaded shells anyone know where or how I could get the dies? Also I reloaded some 180gr. Spbt's for my elk hunt this previous year I was shooting a 300 win mag shot my bull in the vitals 3 times at 65 yards and found all 3 bullets inside while gutting him and not one even made it to the ribs on the opposite side I'd rather have them coming out he barely bled out the entry holes even though his lungs were almost gone..any ideas? Lastly I reloaded 250 40gr. V-max for my 223 they're flying at 3681 fps and about the only thing I like so far is that they dont come out and I don't have to sew em up once they're skinned and fleshed but that load has shot 9 coyotes between me and my nephew and only one has dropped I hit her in the neck facing me at 180 yards I have shot dogs at 40 yards behind the shoulder and they usually run 50-75 yards away before dying without bleeding out I have lost 3 that I know I hit and couldn't find them..shot one at 80 yards in the shoulder trying to get one to drop and it still ran over 100 yards across the flat before dying, any help would be appreciated

To be honest I don't, I wasn't raised in the outdoors until my dad left and my grandpa took me under his wing and taught me to hunt and fish learned a ton from him and unfortunately he isn't with us any more but I have some awesome rifles that put a smile on my face just thinking about it and the stories that came with them. Many more to come, haven't even thought about buying a new one every animal I have harvested has been with one of his rifles. Wouldn't want it any other way.