SmallCaliberCentral

Drove from my home in eastern Co. friday to my mountain elk grounds 250 miles away. At 7:00 am on the saturday opener, I had a nice freezer bull down. Had him packed out, struck camp, and was home before bedtime sat. nite. Rifle was a Kimber Montana in 260 rem., range about 60 yds., bullet thru both shoulders(recovered), bull stumbled and nose-dived into a downed quakie. A real whirlwind of a day.....Don

AWESOME! That will be some good eating. Great hunt!!

Barnes bullet by chance?

Yep, 130 gr tsx

GREAT JOB

huntsman22............ Congrads and nice pics and story. Good bullet performance. Have you used this bullet before or is it the 1st time? Thanks for sharing and enjoy the meat.
Later
Ray P

Ray, this is the second bull I've killed with this rifle/bullet combo. Both under 100 yds and both never made it but maybe 10 feet. The first one fell to a neck shot. I do have a few boxes of the 120 grainers to try, but I'm not out of 130's yet. Don

Don, way to go buddy! Sort of a short elk season, but hey, you were hunting elk after all, and took a nice bull home the same day you got there....sweet.

Two things I'd like to comment on; first, this should settle the debate about .308-based cartridges being "too small" for elk (re: the Magnum Boys). Second: The Barnes TSX's just plain work!

Nice bull, sweet little rifle, good photos. Thanks for sharing, I bet you're still smiling.

Nice lookin bull you got there!! Congratulations for sure!!

Huntsman - you have to throw him back. You didn't take him with a Magnum - therefore he's not really been taken...

Excellent job and thanks for sharing the great photos. Nice looking elk!

Congrats, Guy

Nice bull Don. I always like seeing recovered bullets also. Very interesting to see.
You must know those hills pretty well!

Maybe.......I've been there once or twice, OR most every year since '78. It was easier when I lived there, and didn't have to drive halfway across the state....... Thanks, guys. Don

I covered his horns in black leather and mounted them to a black-bordered maple base. Colorado/euro style... He is on the wall, and I like how it came out. Don



closer up....

That came out great Don!
I've tried a "do it yourself" kit for a set of deer antlers once, and it just wouldn't turn out right. But I think you've got yourself a real nice look using that black leather. Looks like it stretched over the skull nicely so that you didn't end up with a bunch of wrinkles.
You might want to patent that.

The mount looks great!

Trophy deer mounts here have gone up to the $500 - $600 range, with at least a six month wait, more likely a year. I've become real fond of the European mount or simply putting the antlers on a wooden plaque and hanging 'em on the wall like that. Looks good, price is right and turnaround time is fast. Your black leather looks great - haven't seen it done quite like that before.

Regards, Guy

Thanks, guy and 'frog. The reason I cover with leather is, I am too cheap to hire it cleaned by beetles and too lazy to want the mess of boiling. I've done a few, and all ya gotta do is clean 'em up a little and let dry before wrapping. So much easier than the alternatives...... another bull, in brown.

A set of deer horns in turquoise...