However, since the 2007 advent of the 6.5 Creedmoor, theyve taken the target and hunting world by storm. If you can add an ear and a half to each side, then the inside spread measures approximately 45. :wink: The other thing is how a bull makes 300. But I still dont consider them a top pick for elk just because, well, larger calibers provide a slight edge. A cartridge that starts a slippery bullet with plenty of speed provides flat trajectories and maximum wind-bucking ability. That's not to say there aren't larger bulls around, but in most hard hunted general areas they're the exception rather than the rule. You must always have two views. The kicker about this bull is he is 52" wide at the widest points. Any rifle strong enough to contain the 7mm Rem. The distance from that hump down his front leg to his hoof is generally 54 to 58, depending on the maturity of the bull. With the right bullet and .308 hunting rifle, the ubiquitous .308 Winchester is more than adequate out to 300 yards where a high B.C. Free or royalty-free photos and images. Now add 152 to our base of 200 and you have a 352 bull. There is a persistent myth flying about that the 7mm Rem Mag shoots too fast. Many claim its bullets dont have time to open. Straight looking points are always short. Add in the lighter recoil of the .300 Win. Mag. A 360+ inch giant eats dirt in this web edition of Eastmans' Hunting TV. Can't find the picture now of one that was 275". Silvertine kills more 400" bulls than any other hunt ranch . Is the mass heavy or light and how does it compare to 30 per side? This little brother to the .338 Win. Here is a 330 gross bull with a down turned brow ;^). 180-gr. Final analysis: Its not for everyone, but when you want to drive tough, heavy .30-caliber bullets fast, its awesome. Any real or perceived failure of the 7mm Rem. Fine options include the old .264 Win. The accurate answer is it depends. Offering the perfect balance of tremendous energy, large frontal diameter, ballistic efficiency, and long barrel life, the .338 has garnered disciples among rifle savants such as F&S own David E. Petzal. This equates to extra inches since point lengths are measured along the outside curve. I just read one in September's Petersons. Anyone call/bring in blacktail or black bear? Look for good curve in the G1, G2, & G3 points. It can be loaded with everything from 100-grain Sierra Hollow Points to 195-grain Berger Elite Hunters. Eastern elk were driven to extinction due to commercial use, unregulated hunting, and habitat loss in the 1800s and early 1900s. Just be aware that shot angles and placement do become critical as bullet mass and energy decline. A very important thing to keep in mind that will make your judging more accurate is to identify any weaknesses that a bull has. Despite the age and reputation of the 6.555 Swede cartridge across Europe, the 26-calibers have never been a go to for elk in North America. The second important assumption is slightly-suboptimal to optimal shot placement. Other than big fish stories, I dont know of anything that gets stretched more than the size of a bull elks rack. Most of us would rather not shoot a rag horn on our limited entry hunt that we appliedover a decade for, right?! trajectory may explain how the 7mm Rem. Mag. Kent's trophy bull scored 401 2/8 inch, non-typical SCI! The question is, are detached retinas worth it? Mag. Like other members of the deer family, the antlers of bull elk grow during spring and summer beneath a hairy skin covering known as velvet. field judging It hits harder than the .30/06 and even the old .300 H&H Magnum without as much recoil as the .338. Can people post pics of what a 300 inch bull looks like vs. say, a 280 inch. text-align: center; Re: In search of pics of a 260-300 bull. The bull elk is North Americas toughest hooved big-game animal. Then there are really big, world-record-class bull elk. 82= 16. Here we have leaned conservative by taking the average weight of a male individual of the species, since females generally weigh less and require less stopping power. Learn more . Lets break them down: Because elk are three or four times bigger than even a big-bodied deer, the best elk cartridges are authoritative, mighty authoritative. Hunting elk in Colorado requires patience and a keen eye. If you can add one ear length to each side, that should put you at a 37 inside spread (22 + 7.5 + 7.5 = 37). One thing to be careful about is that until you truly breakdown a bull with the other two methods your air judgement is a rough quick guess. padding: 10px 5px; Be careful not to air judge too quickly because once you start saying a bull is 325 and he really is 300 your judging scale gets skewed. It was the only non-typical on Area 23! To answer the question completely, we would need to evaluate the downrange distance to the elk, the bullet type, the grain weight of the bullet, the physical condition of the firearm, the size of the elk in question, the shot placement, the local wind conditions, the expected accuracy of the shooter, the ethics of the ideal maximum number of shots the list goes on. As a result, we put too much pressure on ourselves to kill a bull that scores X amount. The Creedmoor is the hottest cartridge on the Everything you need to know about the parts Sign up for the Field & Stream newsletter and get the latest intelligence straight to your inbox. Recoil is about 30-percent less than the .338 Win. In this case, the average weight of an adult male elk is approximately 720 lbs. Would've been right at 300 if not for the two chipped points. 280 140 244 122 2 337 168 . Its not my all-time favorite elk cartridge, but its a really, really close second. The .338 Win. Itll only hit 2,400 fps or so with a 225-grain bullet, so the 200- and 210-grain slugs might be the better choice. 290-300 is what I always guesstimated him at, but I vowed to never put a tape to an animal after living in Texas. Finding and indentifying Shooter Bulls: Identify the sword (G4) and the whale tail to verify that you are looking at a 66 or better bull. With the draw results out in the western states there are many hunters celebrating their good fortune in the draw. scoring No idea why the pic is upside down.just flip your phone. The .338 Win. Pen and Paper (or a print out of the Boone and Crockett score sheet) Start by measuring the length of each tine on one side of the rack - if your bull is a 6X6, there will be 5 tines to measure (G1 thru . border-color: #656565; These totals amount to right at 320. Do your best not to overestimate your shortest points. border-color: black; Mag. font-size: 14px; bullets with B.C. True. Mag. .tg td { Choose at least medium weight for caliber: 140 grains in 6.5mm and the lighter 7mms; 140 and 150 grains in .270s; 150 to 160 grains in faster 7mms; 165 or 180 grains in .30 calibers. vertical-align: top } There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. A long barrel might be more useful in open habitats where shots are likely to be longer. My archery bull from last week goes right around 300, maybe an inch or two below. Think it all through carefully before choosing. The 33-caliber has become a crowded family, and all members are more than suitable for elk. Put 2" on each point and main beam and a 275 becomes a 300 Add a little mass and . -Body girth through the shoulders (front view) = 18, -Tip to tip ear spread (front view) = 26. The bull elk is North America's toughest hooved big-game animal. but doesnt kick as hard. This is a 297 bull that has a broken tine. 422 inch elk) he took this whitetail deer. A high B.C. Learn More . The 6.5 Creedmoor is no dragon slayer. I believe that air judging is the most commonly used field judging method. His swords flared out. The immediate success of the 7mm Rem. Once I have classified and categorized the bull that determines if I need to dive in further and use one of the other scoring methods. From 1997-2002, more than 1,500 elk were shared with Kentucky by western states. For more on Arizona Guided Elk Hunts visit:http://exclusivepursuitoutfitters.com/arizona-elk-hunting/ Mag. The 190-gr. Here's a bunch from 300 to 400+ SCI scoring ones. You should look for at least 4 of curl for a 20 tine). Here's mine from last season. And the bigger they get, the tougher they become. Join F&S+ to read exclusive stories by your favorite writers. I am working up elk loads with both. Grossed at 323 and netted 318. To help you judge main beams, point length, and spread, here are some average anatomic reference measurements for mature bulls. A 300 class bull usually has eye guards and brow tines that are less that the diatance from his eyes to the end of his nose. While not quite reliable, it has its place at times. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. Finally, the .280 Ackley Improved is rocketing to western-hunting stardom. Winchesters original loadings included a 200-grain bullet rated 3,000 fps, a 250-grain at 2,700 fps, and a heavy 300-grain at 2,450 fps from 24-inch barrels. A six round magazine tube and 3 inch chamber ensure that you will have the firepower to handle any situation. If a Berger (hunting) VLD from a 7mm Rem mag can effectively kill bull elk with enough downrange velocity and energy out to 900 yards (with the right optics of course), as I`ve seen on TV, then certainly a 280 Rem can do the job within all reported (long and short) AVERAGE hunting distances for elk, which are mostly all within 500 yards. However, it doesnt handle projectiles heavier than 180 grains as well as other magnums. And while most heavy .300 Win. 3. Also known as the .280 Ackley Improved or the .280 Remington Ackley Improved, the .280 AI is basically a .280 Remington case (itself a .30-06 Springfield case necked down to 7mm/.284") that's . If the first two points on each side follow parallel with the nose and tip up just at the end of the nose, then they should be right around 16. Coondog, there are a few articles in some of the current gun/hunting rags regarding field judging. 2023 Western Hunting Application Deadlines, New feature released on Insider Hunt Planner, Point Tracker: Your first step in researching hunts, How to import waypoints from other sources to GOHUNT Maps, Dialing in your fitness now to be ready for fall, Research your way to big bucks with a tool you're probably not using, The ABCs of finding a legit hunting partner. 77s can sometimes be tricky, but really all you have to do is estimate the bulls 6th point (G6), double that and add it to your total. This bill is 300 with the broken 5th. .tg .tg-sklq { Sounds like a deal, lets compromise. because the latter rolls out those wide, .338-inch diameter 250-grain bullets. Entact would have been close to 310. Thanks guys those are some awesome bulls. Elk 280-300" Bulls Brush Buster Mar 30, 2021 1 2 3 4 5 Next Mar 30, 2021 #1 Brush Buster Well Known Rokslider Joined Sep 21, 2017 Messages 275 Let's see some pics of legit 280-300" gross bulls! The 28 Nosler and Remington Ultra Magnum adds about 250 fps to the Rem. A final consideration these days is availability of guns and ammo. I know small-framed hunters who happily pay the gravitational price for packing Granddads M1886 Winchester lever-action in .45/70. Bulls with straight looking points wont score well. Mag.and does it in a short-action platform. Bullets engineered to expand at 7mm terminal velocities are the ticket, and there are plenty of them. Nonsense. Bull elk have large, spreading antlers. Big cartridges provide forgiving margins of error. Second, I forgot which socks are my lucky ones. .308-inch diameter bullet carrying 1,500 ft-lb energy and I doubt theyll notice any difference. 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Lengths are measured along the outside curve rifles of the 7mm Rem at the points. Become a crowded family, and habitat loss in the Kaibab National Forest last fall measurements for bulls! Ve been right at 320 that we appliedover a decade for, right!! Now of one that was 275 & quot ; bulls than any other ranch... The average weight of an adult male elk is North America & # x27 ; t the... ^ ) the pic is upside down.just flip your phone Sierra Hollow points to Berger. ; ve been right at 300 if not for everyone, but I still dont them.