… but not a Kansas buck. I hunted today and have no good story to tell. But dihardhunter over at The Outdoor Smorgasbord scored on a great public land buck in Alabama. As usual, he tells a good story and takes great pictures. Take a look here.

Observant readers will notice that I have made an addition to the section of my blogroll called, “Blogs I Read”. My new favorite non-hunting blog is called Up In Alaska and is written by an outdoorswoman named Jill who is always going on a wild adventure in some of the most beautiful country on the planet. Even if you don’t care what she has to say you absolutely must check out here pictures. Go here. Seriously, just go.

dihardhunter over at The Outdoor Smorgasbord has been darting a bunch of deer for his research including a stud of an Alabama buck. Take a look here.

Since I gave you the climactic day of Pat’s live elk hunt I thought I’d also give you the conclusion. If you remember Pat stuck a bull he guessed was in the 340 range. He thought it was a good shot but then ran into trouble when they started tracking. The bull had gone too far for a double lung shot and even after several hours they found him bedded but alive.

Now you can read the conclusion to the recovery here in the final installment.

Pat over at Bowsite has been trying to stick an elk for something like 12 or 13 hunts without success. He’s back at it right now and today he stuck a good bull… But the story doesn’t end there. Go read it here.

So I’m toeing the line yesterday at the local law library when I get an email from a guy who says he likes my pictures. I thank him for the compliment and a discussion ensues. He says:

Unfortunately I’m gonna have to do my hunting vicariously through guys like you this season. I’m stuck in Iraq with my National Guard Unit. This is the 3rd Hunting Season I’ve missed due to deployments now.

As best I can tell he mostly runs pointers on pheasants. He’s from Pennsylvania but travels to South Dakota to chase wild birds each year. I was inspired by both his sacrifice for our country and the quality of some of his upland pictures so I asked if he would allow me to bring them to you. He was generous enough to say yes:

Read the rest of this entry »

Fellow Skinny Moose blogger Chesson brought back some great pictures from his trip to New Zealand. Take a look at scenery here and the hunt pictures here. Go check them out.

Some of you may remember that dihardhunter got his first turkey this year in Kansas. I posted the link here. Short version: he flogged one to death. Great story, even better pictures.

Now he’s tried his hand at guiding pig hunters. Some parts of the story might sound familiar. Great story, even better pictures. Take a look here.

I’ve never understood the passion with which some people will defend their favorite minimalist caliber. .243 for elk? .223 for Midwestern whitetails? 30-30 for buffalo? Sure, why not. Any of those animals can be killed with a .22 long rifle. But that’s not the point is it?

Oh, but I know what you’re thinking:

I have two PhDs, one in ballistics and one in American Big Game History. I happen to know for a fact that 200,000,000 buffalo were killed with a 30-30 or smaller, and 300,000,000 elk were killed with a .243 or smaller. If it worked for the old timers it will still work today. Stop talking smack on my favorite minimalist caliber!

Right. I just said that you can kill all these animals with a .22lr. Obviously those listed cartridges worked in their time and would work today. You know what else worked in it’s time? Horse drawn wagons. Amputations without anesthesia. Mercury as a treatment for whatever ails you. Those things all worked in their time, but science provided us with better options. If someone’s going to cut your leg off, why not use anesthesia? If you’re looking at a 350 class bull in a meadow 250 yards away, why not be happy you’ve got a 300 magnum or at least a .270? If you can’t handle the massive .270 recoil you probably should be hanging with T. Michael Riddle and shooting something that can’t get out of the pen if you wound it.

Will that bigger bullet help you if make a bad shot? Yes. A .30 caliber hole in the liver is better than a .24 calliber hole. But that’s not really the question. A .30 caliber hole in the lungs is better than a .24 caliber hole. But that’s not really the point. A few years ago I was on a rifle elk hunt in Colorado that went bad when a guy who was way too pretty to be elk hunting shot a bull in the lower front leg. A massive tracking operation was undertaken in which they jumped that bull a couple of times. Let’s say you’re on that tracking team when the bull hobbles out into a clearing 150 yards away. Your opportunity is to shoot into a back hip and hope you get good penetration. Still want that .243? If you say yes you’re lying. You want a bullet with the mass and energy to bust through bone and maybe two feet of tissue before getting into the lungs. You want an elk gun. You never know what will happen on a hunt, but one thing is for sure… bad things will happen. Mistakes will be made, and sometimes you can’t wait for the perfect shot you promised you’d hold out for.

So now you’re thinking of extending my logic right? You’re about to argue that by my logic you should be shooting a .50 BMG or bigger. No. Obviously that’s stupid. What you should be shooting is whatever reasonable elk caliber you can shoot accurately and carry comfortably. For some that may be a .338 in a 6 pound gun. For some it may be a .270 in an 8 pound gun. But unless you’re a 12 year old girl I think we can all agree that you can do better than a .243.

What prompted all of this? I stumbled across this wonderful piece written by a real elk hunter. I bet he watches more elk get killed in a month than I’ve seen in my whole life. He tells the story of watching a bull get shot many times in the chest by a 7-08 and then run off (after getting shot in the jaw).

I get an incredible amount of Google hits from people checking for a health update on Tred Barta. I’m not sure why because I don’t speak Google and I certainly have not gone out of my way to position myself as any kind of expert. Nonetheless, since people are checking here anyway, I’ve added today’s update from Dan Harrison:

I talked to Tred yesterday and his spirits are high. They think they have the cancer under control hopefully!! He should be heading home in about 3 weeks? not sure.

I am trying to find a utv for him to get around the ranch on. We also ordered a special needs saddle that should be done in about 8 weeks.

Thats all I Know.

Thanks Dan

From here.