Spike Elk hunting in the Book Cliffs area of Utah

The reason it is called hunting, is because it is "HUNTING," not just harvesting.  I understand this and accept the possibility of not taking any game on a particular hunt.  I am OK with not always getting meat for the freezer.  It kind of ticks me off but it is also what makes the chase so rewarding.


YES -- you guessed it -- We didn't get an elk on the spike hunt.  It is OK, I kind of like mac and cheese anyway.  No backstrap steaks or tacos made with elk burger for me 'til next year.  I admit it -- I was not so lucky in the downing game this year.  We hunted for about 5 days and ended up with only taking one very long shot at a spike.  I wasn't the shooter and the results were no animals were injured in this hunt.  On the plus side --

I had a great time hunting with my sons and all of my grandsons.  My youngest grandson is only 6 years old (soon to be 7) and I think he had more fun than most of us.  He ate chocolate twinkies and filled cupcakes (halloween treats) for several days and was permanently grinning with chocolate around his mouth.  What a cute boy -- no front upper teeth, chocolate in the corners of his mouth, and a black hole smile dressed in blaze orange.  We were 6 guys walking in the junipers and pinion forests trying to be quiet and listen for and look for elk.  We knew if we could just see a herd of them there would be a spike in there for us to harvest.  {Really, how quiet do you think we were?  No so quiet I am sure.}

On opening morning around 10:30 a.m. we were more or less lost in the forest.  Out of the still morning came a big time bull bugle.  It rattled the trees around us.  The area ruler was calling for his harem to come gather around.  The call to group up came from just 80 yards or so ahead of us in the thick forest however we could not see the bulging bull nor his girls but we could hear the bugle as if it were in our back pockets. WOW!  we quickly made our way to a ridge where we could see more country.  We looked and saw the Duke of Pinion, ruler of the area bugling again and again.  He was an extra big old guy.  A 6 points on one side and 7 on the other a back scratching antler toting Master of the Forest.  I was so glad the younger boys could see him in action.  I was so glad they could hear his calls.  To see big bulls on video is one thing but to be actually in the forest and within reasonable distance it is totally something else.  You would have had to be there to appreciate the moment.

We shifted over the top of the ridge just a few yards and my son laid down with his rifle resting on its bipod.  We were looking through our binos at a spike elk in the herd of cows obeying their Master's command to herd up.  My son was steady and asked me to range the spike for him.  I pressed the Leupold button and said it was 455 yards.  He took careful aim and sent the shot off.  Just as he pressed the trigger the spike elk moved to the south.  With the flight time of the bullet and the quick movement of the spike elk the bullet impacted just behind the elk.  Elevation was perfect but the bullet hit the dirt behind the elk.  A clean miss, much better than a gut shot.  At the shot the entire group of elk took off into the more dense parts of the forest.  We would see partial light brown elk patches of hide moving through the trees but never a whole elk and no way to identify which is a cow and which is the spike.  The elk quickly left the area and moved over the ridge to their south.  They were gone.

As I have said before -- CRAP-O-RAMA !  We had a chance and we were not lucky enough.  We continued to hunt for a few more days and saw 4 or 5 other herds of elk.  We even saw one really big bull kind of down in a deep drainage.  I guess this big bull might have scored around 380" or so.  He was a big one.  Now I am hoping for my son or I to get another any bull tag for this trophy area  and find him again.  I like the big old boys.  Just seeing him was thrilling.

All in all, we had about 2,000 pounds of fun.  We were together and it was great family time.  I love my sons and I love my grandsons and we were all together in nature.  It just doesn't get any better.  Glad I went.  Glad my boys could take some time off work and go.  Glad my grandsons could "accidentally" miss a little bit of school and come along.  Maybe next year the females in the clan can come too?  God has been good to me.  I thank Him.

ANTELOPE IN WYOMING. . . . OH -- O.K. ! ! !

We, my son Dax and I, have been putting in for antelope (pronghorn) tags in Wyoming for some time now -- like 4 years.  Finally, one of us drew a tag.  Ya--hoo ! ! !  I don't care if I have the tag just as long as I can go on the hunt.  I totally love being with family and friends exploring nature and looking for some game.  I have pretty good binoculars and really enjoy the effort of looking for animals out on the prairie.

My son drew a tag in an area of Sublet County near La Barge, Wyoming.  It is a grand place to look for pronghorns.  There are lots of animals and few tags issued.  Overall we hunted for sometime and never saw another hunter in all our time and miles traveling around the area.  The oil field guys had made numerous roads through the area for their work and access for us is rather easy.  I drive a white Chevy pickup just like a multitude of oil field workers so the antelope were unaware we were hunting them by our vehicle.

The first day we arrived around 3 p.m.  We set up camp and proceeded to drive around the area to remember the roads from last time we were there and look for possible targets.  Crap-O-Rama we saw so many buck antelope I started making a tally sheet.  I marked for 23 buck antelope on the first afternoon driving around.  We had binoculars and a spotting scope to look for that special one. We saw about 3 of the 23 bucks that I thought were potential shooters.  Dax said "it is only the first afternoon, I am going to be picky and find just the right one."  I agreed.  There were no other hunters chasing the bucks around.  I assumed the boys would stay somewhere near where we saw them for the next while.

We saw a large harem of does in a ravine to the south of our look-out point.  The entire sisterhood was controlled by a single big old pronghorn buck.  He had an interesting horn on the right side.  He was reasonably long, maybe 14" over all but the diggers were exceptional.  I think he would have scored high because of the mass on the prongs.  The right horn digger protruded out to the right at about a 75º angle and not straight forward. {Maybe he was a Republican?}  Where he had the right turned digger and was herding around a mass of 20 plus does we named him Donald.  We watched and the animals and they were not really heading anywhere in haste.  Finally, Dax decided to look at Donald through the 3-9X 50mm scope on his rifle.  He laid down, set up the bi-pod legs and took a steady hold.  He watched for a long time.  I watched through my spotting scope placed in a window mount.  Donald was trying to keep his harem in line and didn't worry about the white truck 400 yards away at all.

I offered Dax my back up rifle with a 6.5-20X 50mm scope.  He said he wanted to see how Donald looked through the larger magnification scope.  I handed him the rifle.  The scope is a Burris ballistic plex reticle and I told him to hold on the 3rd stadia line on the vertical crosshair if he were to shoot at the distance we had lazered.  Dax watched for several minutes through the big scope.  He even did a dry fire to practice the trigger control on a borrowed rifle.  Donald was a dead antelope walking.  Finally, Dax  said  "Not today on this one" and we loaded up our gear and drove off.  Donald doesn't know how lucky he is.

We continued to see buck antelope on the way back to camp.  It was growing dark and we were tired from the drive up from Utah.  We had a fine dinner, courtesy of Dax, of pasta and sausages.  I hit the sack early as I am not so tough as I once was.

Up the next morning early.  Breakfast was hot chocolate and a sweet roll (a hunters breakfast) and we were out looking for more buck antelope.  Our plan was -- we would hunt until noon and then eat good and have a nap before the evening hunt.  We started seeing bucks again right away.  Maybe 400 yards from camp was the first buck sent to greet us.  I started a new tally sheet and marked all the buck antelope we saw with the accuracy of a tax accountant.  I had marked 54 bucks by noon when we saw a buck that caught Dax's attention.  He told me to stop and he looked closer with his binoculars then bailed out of the truck with his rifle and its 3-9X scope and walked to a fence line 30 yards from the road.  He took his rifle and kneeled down to steady the .338 Win. Mag. on a fence post.  He aimed at a buck antelope who was quickly walking about 90 yards from us north to south.  Dax fired and the antelope ran.  I think he shot high.  The antelope ran to a ridge about 350 yards away slowed and looked back to scoff at us and Dax took another shot.  This one hit low and the antelope ran over the hill out of sight.

Dax told me to stay there and he would follow the buck on foot.  When he shot again he said I could drive up to meet him in the truck.  I waited.  I watched Dax leg march the distance to the top of the hill where we had last seen the buck.  NO BUCK to be seen.  Dax used his binoculars to look around and I decided to drive up there.  When I arrived I saw a buck all alone on the next hill over.  I put my spotting scope on him and thought it was the one we were after.  Dax laid down in the road and asked me how far?  I lazered the buck at 465 yards.  Dax took careful aim and fired a single round.  The impact took a moment to echo back to us.  The antelope fell with out taking a step.  I can certify the .338 Win Mag firing 225 gr. bullets is plenty powerful to kill and buck antelope even at distance.  Dax always says "you can't kill 'em too dead".

I looked at my watch and it was 1:20 p.m.  We had a buck down and the hunt was a total success with less than 24 hours afield.  I accused Dax of missing the closer shots to "SHOW OFF" about his long distance shooting skills.  I was indeed impressed.

Lat. North 42º29.581'

Long. West  110º23.446'

elevation  8,042

There were other adventures on this trip.  We had a bit of a snag with the pickup loosing all its oil, getting towed in to Kemmerer and a great meal at a chinese cafe in Kemmerer.  Maybe another day?

The TRUTH, the whole TRUTH, and nothing but the TRUTH -- oh sure

Just in case you all wanted to know: 

1,  My Lat. and Longs in Africa, i.e. Namibia, are TRUE.

2.  Other Lat. and Longs. are open to interpretation.  {Basically, there is no way I am going to give out on the world wide web my best hunting spots.}

Hauling Gravel in my Camero or Real Rifles vs. Mathematical Rifles

I need to buy and place 11 cubic yards of gravel in the south side yard of my house.  The grass died there because the sprinklers went afoul in summer of 2015 when I was surviving radiation and chemo-therapy cancer treatments daily and was not physically able to repair the irrigation system.  Gradually the area has become sort of a parking zone for extra cars.  Gravel would be nice.  I won't have to mow it, I won't have to water it.  Parking will be easy.

The BIG QUESTION is ?
A.)  Should I haul and place the gravel out of my Camero two door coupe that is nimble and easy to maneuver into the side yard.  I would have to make several dozen, if not a hundred trips, to the gravel sales yard to haul the gravel necessary in the Camero.  {What about the wear and tear on the Camero interior?}
 OR
B.)  Should I use my Chevy 4X4 pickup truck to haul and place the gravel? I could haul the gravel in about 7 trips and not beat up my truck.

Easy answer -- USE THE PICKUP TRUCK.

So what does this have to do with hunting and shooting?  The burr under my saddle is the current news and popular sentiment riding on the wind with all the shooting sports writers touting the 6.5 Creedmoor as the "perfect" rifle cartridge for all centerfire aspects of hunting and target shooting.

In a phrase -- I don't think so.

I grant the populace, who are wind-surfing, the 6.5 Creedmoor is a a light recoiling, accurate, and ballistically advantaged cartridge.  It is chambered and sold in a variety of platforms and performs well at the long distance target shooting matches.  I grant all the target shooters and small varmint hunters humble agreement about their rifle the 6.5 Creedmoor.  However, I can't give up my "REAL" rifles for shooting distance and shooting at big game at distance.  The Creedmoor fans always want to look at the numbers -- so let's look:

6.5 Creedmoor 129 gr. Barnes Triple shock bullet b.c. .468 at 5,000 elevation 69º and 15% humidity started at 2,700 fps at the muzzle results in the following ballistics performance:
           100 yards     200 yards     300 yards     400 yards     500 yards     800 yards     1,000 yards
f.p.s    2643            2486             2335             2335            2189             1589             1377
ft. lbs  1969            1743             1537             1351            1183             723               543
M*        48                45                 42                 40                37                29                25

300 Rem Ultra Mag.  180 gr. Barnes Triple shock bullet b.c. .453 at 5,000 elevation 69º and 15% humidity started at 3,330 fps at the muzzle results in the following ballistics performance:   
           100 yards     200 yards     300 yards     400 yards     500 yards     877 yards     1,000 yards
f.p.s    3147            2966             2793             2625            2464             2015            1745
ft. lbs. 3958            3516             3117             2775            2428             1630            1217
M*        81                76                 72                 67                62                 49.5            44.8

*M = a relative term for "momentum" calculated by Kevin Robertson, Doctari, in his life as a P.H. and veterinarian in Africa.  His book "The Perfect Shot" is enlightening to say the least.  He covers what makes an animal die and how the bullet accomplishes this task.  He has personally witnessed 1,000's of animals taken by various firearms and calibers.  He knows his business.  Dr./P.H. Robertson calculated the momentum of a caliber to be a relative penetration and killing coefficient.  He firmly believes a M factor of 125 is required for dangerous game especially elephant and buffalo.  M = (velocity x bullet weight in grains)/7000  {Note:  the .300 RUM has the same M value at 877 yards as the 6.5 Creedmoor does at muzzle.}

I have two dear friends that guide for black and brown bears in Alaska on the coast and on the islands near Juno -- they require clients to use a .375 H and H magnum or bigger caliber for their bear hunts.  They, and their clients, have survived all theses years by sticking to their experience and the minimum caliber requirements.  The old sage Elmer Keith said use enough gun.  A wise man told me years ago "You can't kill 'em too dead."

I just want the world to know I respect a good shooting rifle as much as the next guy.  As was recently stated by Wayne Van Zwoll in a national publication, "There are a lot more .25" accuracy capable rifles out there than there are .25" accuracy capable marksmen."  I like to punch holes in targets.  I like to take varmints out at obscene distances.  {When telling the tale I usually add 10% to the yardage just to be on the safe side.}  I also believe when it is time to be a real sportsman and shoot the elk or moose or other large critter at distance a sincere real rifle should be used.  An 800 lbs. elk with a 129 gr. 6.5mm bullet putting along at 2048 f.p.s. shot through his lungs at 500 yards will eventually die.  The shooter may or may not find his game and complete the harvest in an ethical manner.  The same elk with a 180 gr. .308 " bullet traveling at 2428 f.p.s shot the same place will expire within 200-300 yards.  The hunter will find and ethically take his trophy home.  Quartering shots are a whole lot worse for the little 6.5 Creedmoor.  The .300 RUM will traverse the elk body and take him down.

If your heart is set on a 6.5 Creedmoor -- get one.  If you can punch tight groups on paper at 500 - 1,000 yards with it that is sooooo cool.  Please don't try and take a big nice respect worthy game animal at the target distances you shoot with your low impact rifle round.  Move in closer and take the big beast at 100 to 150 yards when you can make sure of power and shot placement.  The game deserves the respect of an ethical kill not a blood letting wounding and slow death with lost game and wasted meat.

My favorite calibers?  Sure:  {let me know yours -- I am interested}
A.  small game and targets  .22LR  .36gr HP
B.  medium varmints and long range varmints  .22-250 w/ 55 gr. Nosler ballistic tips
C.  smaller big game (coyotes)  .308 Win. 130 gr. Hornady spire point bullets
D.  deer/ pronghorn/ springbok, warthog 300 yards and less  .30-06 165 gr. mono-metal bullets
E.  elk, zebra, hartebeest, kudu, oryx, bison etc. 300 yards and less .338 Win Mag. 225 gr.mono-metal bullets
F.  elk and above list E. at distance 400 yards and more .300 RUM with 180 gr. mono-metal bullets
G. bears and mean things 150 yards or less .458 Win Mag (over 150 yards get closer or run away)












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MID-JULY AND STILL HUNTING VERMIN

WOW!  Can you believe it? It is mid-July and I am still able to hunt the little profit stealing vermin in Iron County, Utah .  This is unheard of for me and many of the locals.  It is a dry year and the weather is warm already, like 95º F in the late morning.

Bounty Hunter 6 and I went to the Beryl area of Iron County, Utah this morning.  We drove up there arriving at the decided upon shooting spot around 9:10 a.m.  We set up the squirrel-o-matics in the back of the White Wagon of Death pickup truck owned by Bounty Hunter 6 and readied for hopefully a good shoot.  By 9:30 a.m. the little profit thieves were through with their "chizzler coffee" and out looking for friendship and easy food in the farmer's alfalfa fields.

We did our duty with zeal.  Bounty Hunter 6 was using his Savage heavy barrel .17 Mach II rifle and I my trusty Savage heavy barrel .22 lr.  We shot for over two hours and only slowed down to load magazines.  BH 6 went through 3 boxes of ammo and I used 4.  We harvested about 150 chizzlers.  I was not shooting so well as the rascals were hanging out at about 100 to 125 yards most of the time.  I did get eight or nine close shots (35 yards) and I missed on half of the tries.  BH 6 was getting a real laugh out of my performance.  I could hit the old chizzlers at 100 - 125 yards yet up close I was missing.  He shot extra well today.  He nailed them close and far  That little .17 Mach II cartridge is a real fine shooter and is so dang accurate when handled by Bounty Hunter 6.

About 11:45 a.m. some critter blew the 'nap time' whistle and the chizzlers just went down and stayed down.  We walked out into the combat zone and took a few pictures while lazering back towards the White Wagon of Death to see just how far we were shooting.  It seems that once you get the range and hold over dialed in on your scope you kind of forget the distance and just go to work on helping the farmers.

I was a super fun day and really an extra treat to hunt chizzlers so late in the year.  

                                             {My pals in San Diego -- eat your hearts out.}

Anesthetic Hallucinations

Hello/Buenos Dias Friends/Amigos,

I was recently in the hospital for a heart procedure {8 days ago}.  It went well and the Dr. told me to take it easy for 10 weeks.  What is easier than shooting chizzlers?  Bounty Hunter 6 took me to "rehab" today in Iron County, Utah.  He set up the squirrel-o-matics in the back of his truck.  He handled my rifle and backpack for ammo and peanuts.  All I had to do was load magazines and take aim, gently press the trigger while holding a steady X on the vermin stealing the farmer's profits and wait for the reaping to begin.  It was a great day at "rehab"!  We took maybe 250 - 300 profit bandits out of the field permanently.  We started reaping at 9:30 a.m. and shot until noon.  We had a great time and the wind didn't really play a factor in our shooting.  Bounty Hunter 6 was using his good ol' .17 HMR explod-o-matic Savage HB and I used my HB Savage .22 lr.  Great fun with a great guy and I actually feel better this evening.  I hope we can go to rehab again tomorrow.

In regard to the Title of this Post --   I don't drink or do drugs so the anesthetic hits me pretty hard and quick.  The anesthesiologist Dr. said he was going to give me a shot in my I.V. to calm me down and it may feel a little cold.  That is the last thing I remember for five hours until the hallucination came floating over me.  Kind of a different reaction to the medicine but kind of entertaining.  I kind of was dreaming of hunting zebras when I was coming down from my anesthetic.  Let me show you the picture.

SECRET CHIZZLER AREA. . . (51)

I tip-toed into Tonapah and found a secret entrance to area 51 for truly exotic chizzler hunting. I could only see a few creatures far off in the hazy distance.

I put on the 'stock' of all stocks and got to within 300 yards of this old herd bull chizzler exotic.  I settled in on my bi-pod and ever so gently pressed the trigger. My scope picture was maxed out. The exotic was at the very bottom of my verticle crosshair. I could just see his eyelashes at the very bottom of the sight picture.  When the rifle went off I didn't know if my shot was true. I continued my stock closer and closer assuming the animals had not bolted away.

When I got close enough for bare eyeball view I could see this old rascal laying down for the glow-in-the-dark dirt nap. What a stock, what a shot, what a beast!  My only trophy is this photo.  Just how could I explain to the armed guards about carrying out my mountable chizzler herd bull while hunting in restricted area 51?

I will never forget. The photo is my proof.