New rifle...theoretical elk hunt

[mlp021]

Thanks fellas!

Any input on a Montana Rifle Company X3 extreme? Seem to lefty friendly and seemingly can get into one for about the same price as a Tikka T3x after I replace the plastic stock on the T3.

Cheers

 

[MachIVshooter]

I usually go west of Ft.Collins, and I use a 30-06 because it works just fine. My friend who hosts me uses 45-70. Brush is very thick unless you find a shot across a young clear-cut. There may be some hills around Durango somewhere, I guess, which allow a long-range shot. Or, north towards Cheyenne where it's basically Wyoming.

Out by Red Feather Lakes? There's plenty of open space there.

Yeah, there's no shortage of dark timber in the Colorado rockies where you can only see a few dozen yards. And then you'll break out of that to find a vast meadow half a mile across. Or you might spot your bull on the next ridge over, which is 450 yards as the crow flies but the better part of an hour to go down and back up, so stalking for a closer shot isn't really an option. And then there's everywhere that's not the mountains, which includes everything East of I-25 and pretty much the entire Western slope.

I've popped plenty of game under 100 yards. I've also had many instances where it's either be good enough with a capable rifle to make a 400+ yard shot or accept that you won't be taking one of them home. Would sure be a bummer to spot that nice animal on the last day after a week of seeing nothing only to realize you can't make an ethical shot due to rainbow trajectory and/or lack of punch at the range you're dealing with. That's why I do take my 8mm mag for bull hunts; even though it has the trajectory, my .25-06 isn't a >400 yd elk rifle.

 

[PlumRotten]

Hard to argue with the success of the 7mm Rem Mag.



The .280 is a fantastic round, is what we set my sister up with for big game, and it's served her very well. But it's also not much of a step up over the 6.5 Creed, basically going to give the same trajectories with a little heavier bullet. I would choose the .280 over the 6.5 CM for hunting, but I wouldn't sell a 6.5 CM to buy a .280 for hunting.

I use a .25-06 for elk most of the time.



Have you hunted here? Doesn't sound like it. I've been in a lot of elk camps over the years, seen a lot of different rifles carried. .45-70 has never been among them. You're far more likely to find someone using .243 here than .45-70.

I've hunted CO a number of times and I have killed two elk with a 45/70. Both years was at an old sheep reserve area east of Basalt. I've also killed one with my 7mm mag, that one was north of Gypsum.