lancetkenyon

7W was tough. Just got back.

One of tje major rules of discharging a firearm. "Know your target, and beyond". Know your target...meaning identify your target before you shoot at it. Steel plate, paper plate, or species of game. I have seen it several times. And found a discarded game animal of the wrong species or gender in the field several times, left to waste. Good on .300RUM to make contact and get G&F to the site to take the game to a food shelter. But that does not excuse the misidentification of species by the Hunter. G&F have a hard job sometimes. The attitude of the offender should come into play for the issuance of citations. I think G&F probably made the right call in this case since a prompt call was made to report the incident. I have another story from this year that is 180° from this one. In 7W this week, myself and my cousin and son-in-law who had bull tags, we moving locations for some glassing. On a narrow 2-track in a remote area of the unit, we thought we were alone. When a truck appeared heading in the opposite direction, I pulled off to the side to let him pass. Windows down, we did the usually "Hello" as we passed. When he did, I happened to glance in the bed with a camper shell as he went by.... "WTF? He has a big muley in the back!" (I saw a nice, heavy, decently deep forked 4 point mule deer antler) A good deer for that area) I snapped 2 photos of the back of his truck in my mirror, and told my son-in-law to call Operation Game Thief. I saw the guy watching us in his rear-view, and we started to flip a U. He took off like a bat out of heck. By the time I got turned around, he had put 300+ yards on us. I checked his plate through the dust and bumps with my binos, and got a partial plate #. The chase was On! We gave chase and closed the distance on some nasty rocky roads close enough to stop and get the remainder of the plate #, 30+mph. (The wife's new 4Runner rides pretty darn nice) While on the phone with G&F, we followed him at a distance of 300 or so yards as he beat cheeks to get to the highway. About 2 miles later, he made a turn, and we followed. Cane to a Y, and we looked at the dust and made a decision to go right....unbeknownst to us into a dead end road. We caught up and things got real western real quick. He pulled off the road and behind a juniper and stopped. Jumped.out of his truck and I hit reverse real quick. We could not see his truck, but saw his shadow get out and start moving around. I decided it was not worth dying over to help G&F catch the guy, so we flipped a hasty U and headed back out. Expecting to put some distance between us and him, and thinking he was probably going to dump the buck, we hit the Y and went right towards the closest main road. Then shoot got real. Looked back, here he came, chasing us! Told my son-in-law to call 911 in case anything happened, I wanted it on tape. Middle of nowhere, no other hunters around. I was only going 10-15mph, not really trying to evade, because we already new he was behind us, and we were hoping he would just back off and high tail it. Well, he followed us at about 1 car length for 2-3 miles, thank God we did not come to a road with a gate. Finally, at a Y, we went right, and he burned a hasty left and booked it. Of course, the next 1/4 mile we hit a gate....and we were done for the rest of the evening. Adrenaline had me shaky enough I couldn't even glass. We called friends who had the same hunt and told them to be on the lookout for the truck, and 30 minutes later on a main dirt road, he flew past them at a very high rate of speed. G&F manager called us back, and we have them the full plate # again, GPS coords of where he stopped on the dead end, texted the truck photos, and a full description. We got back to the cabin, and G&F called us. We sent photos of the map location, and were about ready to head out to help G&F locate the spot. Colby (unit 7 game manager who works very hard) and I talked, and got him into the spot. No dumped deer.... More to the story which I probably shouldn't tell at this point. Except I hope they nail the bastard.

I am running the 175 Berger Elite Hunters for my final hunting load. It darn near matches my 7RM. They are a max load, so you will need to start probably 4 grains lower and work up. Rifle info: (built by AxisWorks) R700 LA BDL trued, fluted bolt w. CF knob & alloy bolt shroud 26" 1:9" Proof Research "Light Sendero" w. Hawkins 3 port brake Manners EH-1 bedded Seekins 20MOA Picatinny Rail Seekins 30mm low rings Premier Heritage Light Tactical 3-15×50 w. Gen 2XR Weight of scoped rifle: 8lbs 15oz Recoil is mild, less than my 10.5# unbraked.260 pushing a 140 @ 2850. I thought the scope might be a little under-powered for really long shots, but the 15x is plenty for medium sized game out to 1300+. Also allows enough for refined holds out to 1000 easily. Nosler .280AI brass Fed GM210M 58.0 RL23 175 Berger Elite Hunter 2.690" CBTO (.0100" jump) 2976fps MV (verified w. Drops @ 545/763/926/1191/1268/1365) Shoots .213" @ 100, 2.9" @ 926. 250 yard zero gives me 2.4" high (max rise) at 165 yards, 2.4" low @ 300 yards. In was really hoping to have some on-game reviews after this late elk season, but that didn't pan out. I will have to try and smoke a coyote or two this winter with them. I also had a couple good loads with 168 Berger HVLD. They were much more finicky than the 175s. Two loads showed excellent accuracy once I tuned them up. Nosler .280AI brass Fed GM210M 60.5 H1000 168 Berger HVLD 2.700" CBTO (touching lands) 2850fps MV Shot .3 @ 100, 2.2" @ 565 Nosler .280AI brass Fed GM210M 63.5C H1000 (max load-start lower) 168 Berger HVLD 2.690" CBTO (.0100" jump) 2987fps MV Shot in the high .1s @ 100, 2" @ 602 H4831 gave some pretty good speeds and accuracy during development too. I have some 160 Sierra TMKs I am going to play around with for more of a varmint/paper/steel round @ slightly lower pressures/speeds to extend brass and barrel life. I am expecting good things from them. I will also be working up a load with the 145 Barnes LRX in anticipation of drawing a Kaibab tag in the next few years. No use waiting until I draw that tag to start load development. Do not discount a 175-180 HVLD/Elite Hunter/Classic Hunter/Hybrid, 160-183 SMK/SGK/TMK, 168-175 ELD-X, 160 NAB, etc. H4831, H1000, RL23, RL26 would be my powder choices for the heavier bullets from 160 and up. Some are more temp stable, some are more accurate, some give better speeds. All a choice you will have to make.

I run the Meopta HD 15x56. Have had them for a few years, with hundreds of hours a year behind them. I also got mine for under $1100. With Swaro SLC HD being around the $2300 MSRP range, that is less than half. I have compared mine side by side with both the HD and non-HD. Compared to the non-HD, my Meoptas are noticeably better. Clarity, brightness & color. Against the HD, the Swaros are clearer to the very edge. But I still think the color in the Meopta is better for my eyes. I found no discernable difference in brightness. Both were able to pick out deer well past legal shooting light, almost to full dark. If you can afford either, go SLC HD. I had the money and full intention of buying the Swaro SLC HD when I bought my Meoptas. Glad I did.

Bull crap. 7W is the driest I have seen in 25 years. And the elk hunting is the worst. The 7W unit manager is awesome. Long, scary story.

Monday should be much better. 7W has 700 tags. We have run into very few idiots willing to go where we are hunting. Saw 4 big bulls this morning, but 4 hours of grueling hiking put us just shy of getting a shot opportunity.

Spare tire & rim. 245-75-R16 Dunlop Grandtrek on stock rim 6 on 5.5 (fits Toyota, Chevy) $20

SPF to GAPS.

Fox can climb very well....

Nobody?

Find water, you will find elk nearby. Even though I took a bull opening day, my 7Ee hunt was very frustrating up until that time. 26 full days of scouting. I bet 50% of those days Undid not see a single elk. And only a very few bulls worth looking at.

I run my 7 Rem Mag pushing a 180 Hybrid @ 2996fps. Never any presssure, but on the 8th firing, I finally had a brass failure. I didn't even know this happened yesterday until I went to resize it today. Good thing I have another 349 pieces already loaded. I have been using this first 50 pieces since I started. Always bumped shoulder .002". Check your brass carefully. Even new. I have seen brand new brass with cracked necks, a hole in the shoulder, a split down the side, and a crack at the top of the rim.

I wonder if that was my one flier I had yesterday? All others in the 6 shots I took were within .5" @ 200. I had one flier that was about 3/4" out from the group. We will blame the flier on this....sounds good to me.

Yep. I have done the feeler. I have a straightened out paper clip with a bent end I use. I will be checking the other empty brass carefully.

Definitely get at least double what you think you might EVER need. A 40 gun safe will comfortably and carefully hold 15-18. I have a Browning Pro Series safe (made in the USA). I like it a lot.

If they work for you, shoot them. It is not the on-game performance that led me away from them. Nor was it the inflated BC. It was strictly lack of accuracy. The NABs have always flown well for what I loaded them for.

I would like to offer up some camo. Would like it to go to some kids if possible. Camo jeans, 32x32 (fits more like 30x30) 2 in Cabelas Open Country, 2 in Cabelas Zone Western 2 pair BDU Milspec pants in Advantage size Medium/Regular Pants 30x34 & long sleeve button up shirt in Large Youth Large hoodie Cabelas Open Country Adult large jacket in Mossy Oak Treestand Fleece daypack Fleece fanny pack

Per 1st timestamp PM or post @ 3:35pm, camo is spoken for.

I picked up a very lightly used R700 SA Stainless BDL in .300WSM. I have to figure out what to do with it as far as "inexpensive" optics, but I plan to start load development on it very soon. Going to work up 2 loads for it...hopefully. 1st: 168 SMK for medium game. 2nd: 190-215 bullet, not set in stone yet. I have a bunch to start with. 190 HVLD, 210 HVLD, 210 SMK, 212 ELD-X, 215 Hybrid.

Temps are supposed to drop right before the opener by 20-25°, slight chance of some moisture opening weekend depending on unit.

This. He builds some stupid accurate rifles. I have two of them.

Retumbo is more stable than IMR7828SSC. H1000 is a good one to try with the 180-215 bullet weight range.

Just got back from some long range verification with the elk rifles....anything within 1200 yards is dying. 6.5SS pushing a 150 SMK @ 3157fps into a 2.7" 3 shot at 926 yards. (Backup or coyote rifle) .280AI pushing a 175 Berger Elite Hunter (velocity verification shows faster than I believe, but the drops don't lie) into a 3" 3 shot group @ 926. Verified drops at 545, 763, 926, 1201. (Going to try and get someone to dump a bull with this rifle) 7RM pushing a 180 Berger @ 2996, 2.5" 5 shot group @ 806, plus a bull taken @ 662 end of Sept. .300RUM pushing a 230 Hybrid at 3068, drops confirmed at 545, 763, 926, 1201, 1435, 1565. 3 shot group @ 1435 was ~5".

1:14" twist is going to limit you to the lighter bullets, 40-55gr. I used to sling the 52 SMK @ 3750 over Varget when I had mine after I found the load. Mine was very, very picky,and it took me years of tinkering to find the load it liked. It ways shot around MOA with 50gr. VMax, Nosler BT Varmint, Sierra Blitz King, Berger Varmint, 40gr misc, and 53 SMK. I tried IMR30301, H414, IMR4895, IMR4064, IMR4320. I would say mine was one of the rare ones that it liked 1 load.