Woo Hoo. Just drew my WY elk tag. Grendel or the big boys.

[Jetpig]

6.5-284 will get the job done. I like Accubonds for my elk load with that cartridge

Accubonds are my choice as well.

[kmon]

West Texas bull free range bull that was eating in an alfalfa field, rifle Cooper M52 in 6.5-284 140gr Accubond handload @ 2900fps, shot was about 250 yards do not know exactly. Best tasting ofall the elk I have killed.

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[Jetpig]

West Texas bull free range bull that was eating in an alfalfa field, rifle Cooper M52 in 6.5-284 140gr Accubond handload @ 2900fps, shot was about 250 yards do not know exactly. Best tasting ofall the elk I have killed.

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That looks most tasty! What is your load in the 6.5-284 if I may ask?

[OpFor1]

I don't know everything, and I am speculating... not calling anyone out.
As I know, Texas doesn't have free ranging elk so is that a canned hunt escapee?

[kmon]

I don't know everything, and I am speculating... not calling anyone out.
As I know, Texas doesn't have free ranging elk so is that a canned hunt escapee?

Nope, Texas has a growing population of elk in West Texas and some in the panhandle. There was a season for them at one time that the limits were managed much like the Pronghorn are with permits issued to landowners since almost all of the elk are on private land For various reasons they cut that out some years back and classified all elk exotics. Some ranchers where the elk are at like them others do not. There is no telling how many elk were killed by the State at their bighorn sheep area over the years. After one of those state done elk kills on that place some of the elk relocated themselves to a nearby ranch and a friend got a 77 that scored 383. B&C will not accept an elk from Texas behere is a page that cause of all the high fence places but admits there is a good herd in some of the mountain ranges of West Texas.

The bull in the picture was taken off a ranch 10 miles south of Van Horne Texas all low fence 5 strand barbed wire and at any time the land owner said he had 30 to 50 elk on the 18000 acre ranch which sits in the valley floor but 3000 acres of irrigated fields is a magnet for them. There is a good aquifer running under the ranch and 1/4 mile long pivots are run from wells about 75ft deep. If you are drawn for a mule deer hunt on the Sierra Diablo WMA where they have bighorn sheep and was their breeding facility for years and see n elk on the mule deer hunt you are welcome to take it as well. I saw 30+ elk at one time in one field during the hunt

A few years ago there was a heard reduction hunt on one of the big ranches and they were wanting to reduce the herd by 40 cows. That ranch still has a good population of elk and manage them well. But f you kill one of the monster bulls it cannot be entered into the record boos if B&C or P&Y.

Here is a link that might prove interesting to those that might like more info about the free range elk of the trans pecos https://circleranchtx.com/are-elk-native-to-texas-yes/

if you research the elk of New Mexico, West Texas and Arizona they were the Meriams elk which are considered no longer around and have been since around 1900 do not remember exactly their last documentation. The Current herd of elk out that way is from Yellow Stone herd introduced years ago on a few Central New Mexico ranches

Hope that helps clear up the mud. I will say I am in a minority of elk hunters that can claim a true free range West Texas Elk. Since the state classifies them as exotics they can be hunted anytime. The bull in the photo was in velvet the day efore I took him on the Sunday before Labor Day a few years ago.

[kmon]

That looks most tasty! What is your load in the 6.5-284 if I may ask?

It is a load above the max listed in Hodgdon reloading data that i got from an F-Class shooter. I worked u to it without pressure signs and the rifle printed a 5/8 3 shot group at 200 yards so I figure it should be good at 2900fps shooting in 95 degree Texas heat.
I hesitate to put over listed max on this or any site. My COAL is about .1 longer than Hodgdons though.

If you want the load PM me

[Jetpig]

It is a load above the max listed in Hodgdon reloading data that i got from an F-Class shooter. I worked u to it without pressure signs and the rifle printed a 5/8 3 shot group at 200 yards so I figure it should be good at 2900fps shooting in 95 degree Texas heat.
I hesitate to put over listed max on this or any site. My COAL is about .1 longer than Hodgdons though.

If you want the load PM me

Oh yea mine is way over published max as well.

[OpFor1]

Kmon, Thanks for the education. I stand corrected.

[kmon]

Kmon, Thanks for the education. I stand corrected.

No worries Opfor1, you are correct that there are quite a few elk roaming around that are escapes from high fence places. Had a spike bill show up one afternoon. No idea where he came from, but I never got a clean shot at him. I would not have called him Free range though since I was hundreds of miles from where the true free rang elk are and there were about 40 elk got out of a high fence place about 10 mies from where I was hunting that Summer when a fer swept through it and they cut the fence to at least let them have a chance of survival, figure he was one of them.


The Circle ranch in the link I posted is not that far from where I got that bull in the pic and they have elk an bighorn on the ranch.

Cheers and happy hunting

[LRRPF52]

If you are with a hunting party, it makes sense to have a mix of weapons sometimes, depending on the terrain.

Since a lot of Wyoming is open, it's a good idea to have reach and killing capability at the distances you're capable of making shots into 12" vital zones.

If your shots are within 400yds on cows and young bulls, Grendel is capable.

If your shots are more like 500-600yds and you have the skills to make reliable and predictable shots at those distances, 6.5CM and higher make sense there.

A 129gr ABLR from the Grendel and maybe a 20" barrel or longer can be plenty effective at 600yds though.

Ballistics up at these altitudes are a bit different than sea level, often giving you 200yds more effective reach with the same rifle.

[Sinclair]

Jetpig, when I was young and foolish, I was bragging one day about what I could do with a 1917 Enfield. An old codger admonished me by saying that it is not what you can do when everything goes right, but what you can do when everything goes wrong. Confidence is like luck, it will only get you so far, then is when having enough gun and being able being able to use it effectively under stress takes over. Take what you can use most effectively and don't look back. You are paying good money for this hunt, don't let bravado spoil it.

[kmon]

Good advice Sinclair, words of wisdom for sure.

Every hunt I go on there is an extra rifle taken for backup in case something happens to the main hunting rifle. I have only used it on one hunt where I was successful on an elk and mule deer.

[SightedIn]

“A 129gr ABLR from the Grendel and maybe a 20" barrel or longer can be plenty effective at 600yds though.“

My next build is actually going to be that exact combo and for that distance. My current 18” hunting rig with SSTs is maxed out for me at 440yrds.
And my points are getting up there so pretty soon an elk will be on the way hopefully