[catdaddylong]

For yall that are planning for an out of state elk hunt what rifle, caliber, and load do you use and where do you have your rifle hitting at a 100 yards?

I shoot a Weatherby Vangard 300 WM using Nosler partition 180 gr spitzer hand loads sighted in between 2 1/2 to 2 3/4 inches high at 100 yards.

 

[10pointman]

Your setup sounds good.That should put your rifle good out to 200yds.

 

[dirtdart]

I lived in Colorado for a few years so I never had to adjust my rifle once it was sighted in. Had a few friends that came out for a hunt one year and all of their rifles had a high point of impact at 100 yards.

Rampart shooting range had a two hundred yard target area also so they all decided to make their own ballistic table based off of their 100 and 200 meter data.

Thin air equals less resistance which equals higher bullet strikes on paper if the rifle was sighted in at near sea level.

Just remember to verify zero when you get to altitude. Oh! I also shoot a Weatherby 300. My favorite is a Speer 180gr Hot Core "Mag Tip" with enough IMR-7828 to push it out at about 2960fps. Just awesome.

Hope you have a good hunt.

 

[Hudge]

I lived in MT for 3 1/2 years and I carried either my .280 Rem. with 160 gr. Partitions or my .30-06 with 180 gr. ones, for elk and deer. I always sighted in at 2" high at 100 yards. I still do the same thing here for deer with all my rifles except my .30-30 and ML.

 

[Hobbshunter]

I'm shooting a 30/06 with 180 grain Win XP3s. I believe the ballistic chart from Winchester says to sight them 1.75" high at 100, and that puts you something like 7-8" low at 300 yds. I've got it zeroed at 100, but I'm planning to do some range work on it soon so I can be confident of the trajectory.
Definitely have to check the sights at higher elevation. 2 years ago in WY mule deer hunting, all 3 of us had to adjust our zeroes when we got there. Remember to bring extra bullets in case that throws you for a loop!

 

[dirtdart]

Excellent advice Hobbshunter. Those gentlemen I was speaking of sighted their rifles 2" high at 100 in Arkansas. When they checked zero at the Rampart firing range near Colorado Springs it was close to being 5". Not too critical considering the size of the vital area on an elk but factor in a possible mis-judgment on range and you could have a recipe for a bad trip. A hundred yards in the Rockies looks more like a hundred feet.

 

[Hobbshunter]

Excellent advice Hobbshunter. Those gentlemen I was speaking of sighted their rifles 2" high at 100 in Arkansas. When they checked zero at the Rampart firing range near Colorado Springs it was close to being 5". Not too critical considering the size of the vital area on an elk but factor in a possible mis-judgment on range and you could have a recipe for a bad trip. A hundred yards in the Rockies looks more like a hundred feet.

I'm telling ya... We all knew we were gonna check the zeroes when we got out there, but one of the guys had a harder time getting his corrected. He was darn near out of ammo by the time he got it back where he wanted it, and we were an hour away from the closest gas station. I dont know where he'd had to go to get more bullets.

 

[catdaddylong]

Me and my two buds are really getting fired up. We applied for the 4'th Limited rifle season and we got it. Where we hunt around Pagosa Springs really depends on the weather. We are praying for snow and since opening day will be Nov 12 there should be a good chance of it.

 

[dirtdart]

Did you hunt with those same two gentlemen during the 1999 season? Met some hunters in the KFC in Pagosa during 99's second season from Little Rock.

 

[catdaddylong]

One of them was with me in 99 and the other has quit hunting the high country due to physical problems. That could have been us. We have been known to eat some KFC before :biggrin:

Through the years I have taken a couple of fellas with me but the majority of the time it's just been me and my brother in law. This year my duck hunting partner is going with us and this will be his first time out west. He is going to love it.