Colorado antelope

[JaDub]

Had a great time with Hunterbug and Crack a Lope on the plains of NE Colorado.   Karl and I had tags and Hunterbug was our designated Sherpa/ guide. We both tagged out by 10:30 opening day and settled back for much needed r&r.  Great place to hunt with many opportunities for spot and stalk. Great finish to the day was Pat's killer liver and onions. AWESOME!!  Had a fun time but it was all over too soon. We're now sitting back enjoying a good shot of spirits looking forward to a great nite's sleep.

[JaDub]

More ......

[JaDub]

........

[gitano]

YeeHAA!

Congratulations!

Fresh liver! YUM!

Gotta be FRESH! Never frozen. Not more than 12 hours old.

Paul

[Hunterbug]

Here's a picture of Karl with his antelope. She was down at 0705. The same time as sunrise.

[gitano]

That is definitely antelope country!

Paul

[Hunterbug]

It's wide open out there for sure. Sometimes you see them way off and other times you get lucky.

[sakorick]

Yum''''Good job!

[JaDub]

My mouth salivates every time I see that picture of the frying pan.   Absolutely slow cooked goodness.

  Paul, you`re right....  fresh, unfrozen.  Can`t be beat.


  It`s your turn next week !

[gitano]

Here's hopin'!

Paul

[gitano]

I've decided to bring The Sissy Gun, my first wildcat. A 7mm bullet in 300 Weatherby case, on a model 700 Remington action set in a myrtle 'presentation' thumbhole stock. It shoots the Speer 115-grain HP like a laser. (And fast too!) I have taken a whole bunch of critters with that rifle including a nice muley buck and two pronghorns. So it should be 'right at home'.





Can't find picture of muley buck at the moment.

Paul

[JaDub]

Looking forward to your arrival, Paul.  Interesting rifle to say the least.  With that kind of power and caliber I`d say nothing within 5 miles is safe.   :grin:

[sakorick]

Looking forward to your arrival, Paul.  Interesting rifle to say the least.  With that kind of power and caliber I`d say nothing within 5 miles is safe.   :grin:

Not sure about 5 miles but 500 yards, YES!

[gitano]

You'd both be mistaken. With that bullet, (115-grain Speer HP), 350 is about max. It has a BC of only .250 and therefore, it carries 1000 ft-lbs of energy out to only 380 yds. The longest shot I have ever made with that rifle was 319 on a caribou. Wouldn't want to have to take that shot again. The bull went down with the second shot, which probably wasn't absolutely necessary as he was doing the "spin-around" thing, but I do not like "second shots". I'm hoping that 300 is the longest shot I'll be faced with. I did shoot a little bull caribou at about 260 once. He folded like a wet rag. But regardless, I'm not a "shoot 'em from the next county" kind of guy. If it's a REALLY big buck AND there is NO WAY to get closer, I will take a long shot. Circumstances will determine just how long "long" is.

I could put a bullet with a better BC in it, say the 140-grain Accubond with a BC of .485. Almost twice the aerodynamic efficiency of the 115-grain HP. That 140 carries 1700+ ft-lbs of energy out to 400 yd, and impact velocity is still 2350 f/s when started at 3088 f/s. I have a week before I leave. If I can find some 140 Accubonds I'll load some up and see how they shoot. Recall what I said about "knowing" the timing for every scenario once you have it for one bullet. I SHOULD be able to get very close, very quickly with another bullet (like the 140 Accubond) because I know what the timing is for the 115.

News at 11.

Paul

PS - It's not "11" yet, but there's good news anyway. The local Sportsman's Warehouse has two boxes of 140-grain Nosler Accubonds in 7mm caliber. :D I'm on my way to get at least one of the boxes. If I can get the 140 to shoot straight, I'll bring both 115s and 140s.

Paul

[sakorick]

I have 140 gr Accubonds and BT's on hand.....but wait, you can't drive over!!!!:Banghead:

[JaDub]

My last deer came at 150 yards.  I saw  a DANDY buck but my legs weren't ready to go that far away and certainly not the least important was getting him out.  I`d figure on up to 200 yards in Kremmling next week.

[gitano]

100, 140-grain, 7mm, Nosler Accubond bullets and one pound of Hodgdon Retumbo powder = $104. Not likin' the Nosler bullets very much. And that total included a 5% Vet discount. I'll explain the Retumbo later.

200 and thereabouts is a 'piece o' cake' with the 115.

Paul

[gitano]

I'll share this image here and then start another thread in "Reloading".



Like I said, this was my first wildcat. Plus, after my .270 Win was stolen, my next big game rifle was a 7mm Rem Mag. Plus... I built a 7x57 Mauser for my wife. So... I have most, but not all, of the 7mm bullets that were available back in the 70s and 80s. You can even see a box of Barnes' in there, but I got rid of the Barnes 195s. The twist of the factory 7mm Rem Mag could not stabilize that pencil. When I got my .338 Win Mag, I essentially quit reloading for my 7mms except for the occasional 7x57, or some experiment I was conducting.

Paul

[Hunterbug]

JaDub loved the liver.

[codger]