Nosler Time - 3rd Season CO Bulls

[graybird]

I had the pleasure to be in on a few elk stalks this year. Our crew had a very successful 3rd season in a unit that is not known for large elk populations.

The most interesting part is all the bulls were taken with a Nosler offering: Accubond, Partition and Ballistic Tip.

30-06 180 grain Accubond 186 yards

30-06 180 grain Partition 250 yards

300 Win Mag 180 grain Ballistic Tip 200 yards

 

[BRICKBURN]

mmmmm......... tasty!

Congrats.

 

[Royal27]

Nice! !!

I had no such luck.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

Well done! I must say the BT out of the .300WM is a bold move. I've seen 140gr BT's out of my 7mm Mag stopped by 100lb Coues deer, but dead is dead.

 

[graybird]

Phil,

Believe it, or not, but both bullets made it to the opposite side. I found one bullet as a perfect mushroom. The other ended up in the opposite shoulder somewhere, but I never found it.

First shot was quartering away aiming for the opposite shoulder. The bullet caught just enough of the stomach to bust it open. the bull spun around 180 and stood still. Second shot was at a slight quarter, almost perfect broadside, but still aiming for the opposite shoulder, just barely missing the heart but close enough to throw bullet shards into it. The bull stumbled backwards and fell over about 5 yards from where the initial shot took place. I kinda criss crossed him internally.

All shots were taken to ensure missing the on-side shoulder and aiming for the opposite shoulder.

I need to clean up the bullet I found and get a final weight.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

Phil,

Believe it, or not, but both bullets made it to the opposite side. I found one bullet as a perfect mushroom. The other ended up in the opposite shoulder somewhere, but I never found it.

First shot was quartering away aiming for the opposite shoulder. The bullet caught just enough of the stomach to bust it open. the bull spun around 180 and stood still. Second shot was at a slight quarter, almost perfect broadside, but still aiming for the opposite shoulder, just barely missing the heart but close enough to throw bullet shards into it. The bull stumbled backwards and fell over about 5 yards from where the initial shot took place. I kinda criss crossed him internally.

All shots were taken to ensure missing the on-side shoulder and aiming for the opposite shoulder.

I need to clean up the bullet I found and get a final weight.

It will be light for certain. The last Coues deer I killed was a quartering away shot. Bullet entered in front of the stomach and stopped in the shoulder. Maybe 12" total travel, deer dropped like a rock. Bullet had lost most of it's weight and what was left of the lead core just fell out of what was left of the jacket. Love the BT's for accuracy, ease of load development and for lighter critters and they're cheap. But I'd trade the BT for an Acccubond on elk, same everything as the BT but a bullet built to withstand the bigger critters better. But sounds like you used good judgment on placement and in the end as I say, dead is dead.

 

[graybird]

Additional info, is I put these loads together in July 2000. So, maybe the older offerings held together a bit better?

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

Additional info, is I put these loads together in July 2000. So, maybe the older offerings held together a bit better?

Maybe, I didn't start reloading until 2002 or thereabouts so perhaps they were a little tougher back then. Elk are funny critters sometimes. I've seen them go down to .243's and 100gr bullets. Typical youth gun in Idaho was a .25-06, and they did the job just fine. Put a whole in their heart and/or lungs and they'll go down. Had a buddy shoot one up the rear end with a .338 that left a huge blood trail until it dried up, he never did find that bull. Last elk I saw shot with a rifle was with a 7mm Mag that my buddy shot. He hit the liver and the bull went down in short order, but required a few extra shots to finish.

Just never know.

 

[enysse]

Congrats, that is lot of great meat and I'm sure the memories are great too. 5 years since my last elk hunt.

 

[graybird]

More bullet reports .....

Accubond retained weight of 110 grains = 61.1%

Partition retained weight of 112.5 grains with a 30 grain lead core separation = 62.5% or 79.2% dependent upon how you look at it.

Ballistic tip retained weight of 106.9 grains = 59.4%

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

More bullet reports .....

Accubond retained weight of 110 grains = 61.1%

Partition retained weight of 112.5 grains with a 30 grain lead core separation = 62.5% or 79.2% dependent upon how you look at it.

Ballistic tip retained weight of 106.9 grains = 59.4%

Not surprised by the AB or Partition results, but I am by the BT. The couple of BT's I've recovered had nowhere close to that retained weight. Perhaps those older BT's were tougher?

Makes you wonder what the AB is bringing to the party.

 

[enysse]

Dead is dead, I wouldn't use any of the above bullets for high shoulder shot. They have a purpose, they are just not a super performance bullet.