Total is now 2 elk and 3 deer!

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

AS of this morning, 8/8/12, 7:30am, the RUGER #1s - 45/70 puts one more critter on the score card.

Took a nice mature and barren cow elk this morning in our early anterless elk hunt.

No less impressed after this critter then I have before!

The WFN cast booits are AWESOME! In this case, 465gr WFN at 1600 to 1700fps.

Score for this boolit is 2 & 2 and very likely to add 2 more deer come October and November.

Wish I could say I was 100% with the 45/70, but I rushed a shot this past Monday and missed. So cast boolits shot at game is 5 critters for 6 shots fired.

Guess a miss, helps keep me humble!

Sure having a ball taking critters with my own cast boolits. Wish I'd started before I became a fully vested Ol'Coot. [smilie=w:

Keep em coming!

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

[Hamish]

Bub, yer not doing a very good job living up to your CB handle.:bigsmyl2:

Good hunting!

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

Well I don't know about that, Hamish.

I am pretty crusty! :p

CDOC

[JJC]

Must be nice to have a early rifle season. Bow don't start here for two weeks. Good goin with the 45 70.

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

Now I need to get in my harvest report!

Took my first cast boolit elk last year at 7:10am on opening day, Aug 1st.

Lagging behind, maybe age??, as about 20minutes and 8 days late this year.

Last year, guess I was the first person to harvest a game animal in Ideeeeho and the game dept didn't have the report site up and running for 2011 until about 2 or 3 days later. I'll check in and see if they are up and running this year.

CDOC

[waksupi]

Good going, but lordy, I would hate to have an elk on the ground with it this hot out!

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

Waksupi,

Yep, you are 100000% correct, so --------- I only hunt in the cool of early morning so daylight is not an issue (head out at just before shooting light), then hunt only when a friend who lives VERY!! close to the hunting area is available to help.

The friends have a LARGE walkin cooler used for their greenhouse operation (storing dorment trees before Spring shipping/delivery).

Last year, we did the on the ground thing with gutting, skinning and quartering, but this year because the critter dropped in the sun I suggested pulling it down the road with the 4wheeler and into the shade.

On the way Doug suggested dragging the critter to where he could get his tractor to it.

Great idea, hauled it to the cooler, hung it from the tractor bucket for gutting, skinning and quartering and it has been laying on a pallet in the cooler since about 10:30am.

AS said, you are correct, so I must have my ducks in a row and help on hand or this Ol"Coot simply could not get er done. These critters are much to large for this feller to deal with as fast as it must be!

Thanksfull for the opportunity, and the good friends that make it possible.

This years critter dropped about 50 yards or less from last years, but because of the way we handled it, much less effort was required for the hard dirty part!

CDOC

[UBER7MM]

Congradulations!

There's no argument with a 45/70. I suppose it's a little late for any photos?


Good hunting,

[ammohead]

Been practicing with my marlin 1895 cowboy and the lyman gould boolit. I got me a date with a Nevada cow elk this December. Nice and cool here that time of year.

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

Haven't checked the camera. Some were taken, but the problem is now, just how in the world do I get em on the forum.

Need a 4 year old to help the Ol'Coot out on pooter stuff.

Now, photographs, those would be worth seeing if they were of the bull I saw on Monday! YES!

CDOC

[429421Cowboy]

Sweet deal! i thought those big lead chunks in cartridges designed for BP just bounced off of critters (except buffalo). Huh, maybe cast really does work?
Early season hunts start next month for us, my mother got drawn before any of us this year so hopefully we can get her one.
If you lived closer i'd be happy to come help you butcher her!

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

Naaaaaaaaa Cowboy.

Don't believe what you read about cast boolits.

They just don't work!

Way too slow and don't expand and ---------------------

Even though they just can't get the job done, I am sure having a ball with my 45/70!

Ya, and yes I'd take you up on the help. Would be in a world of hurt if it wasn't for the friend's big walk in cooler that is buying me time!

Figured on just having half to deal with, since the friend got his own critter Saturday evening, I will be working on the whole critter my self.

The plus side is he has the cooler and it was already cooled down when my critter dropped.

CDOC

[429421Cowboy]

Are you sure they don't work? I bet if you don't tell the elk they won't know the difference:Bright idea:

I really would be happy to come help, my parents taught me to cut meat at a young age and bought us each our own set of knives once we were old enough to use them. I have done hogs, lambs and many many beef and game animals. There still is not much better meat out there than a well cared for cow elk!

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

Cowboy,

Have cast boolit for years, mostly for handguns. So just entering my third season hunting with my cast rifle boolits.

Glad I decided to go there, what a ball.

After loading and hunting with "J" bullets since the 60s, it is just so amaizing to see the results of this non-expanding WFN boolit. Just AWESOME!

As I suppose you have, I have read about eating right up to the hole with cast boolits, but in truth I didn't expect the hole to be quite so big! [smilie=l:

I understand fully that there are or could be distance issues with this big and slow mov'in boolit, but doubt that 465gr WFN boolit was doing over 1500fps when it hit the critter and the effect was still awesome.

CDOC :CastBoolitsisbest:

[GaryN]

Another suggestion: If you lose access to the walk-in just get a big ice chest and bone the elk out. I usually hunt with the ice chest in my truck. Then when I come back with a sack of meat it immediately begins to cool. The hard part is carrying all the meat. Sometimes it takes a couple hours to cut it up but that's just less work when I get home. You also have to keep adding ice during the hunt because of it melting.

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

Hey Gary,

Thanks for the idea. Have heard about doing the cooler thing with Antelope.

In fact have heard about taking dry ice and putting it in a body cavity, covering the critter and it is said to really cool things down.

Have been to your state twice to hunt cow elk on a reservation, and being mid November, didn't have an issue on keeping the meat good.

On the way home, put the critters down center of the load on top of tarps, one time hides below and on top, and everything stayed in fine shape for the drive home.

CDOC

[sixshot]

Great job on that cow, cast bullets are as good as it gets. You were lucky to have access to that tractor & cooler, many times the heat can be a huge problem. In the early months I much prefer to hunt in the evening, I've heard all the stories about losing one in the dark, but thats never happned. If it looks like a risky shot don't take it, morning or evening.
What I like about the evening hunt is, its getting cooler every minute when you put one down, most of us are alone & that makes the heat a real factor. In the evening you don't have many bugs because it getting cooler. Those morning hunts when I bow hunted could almost be unbearable, you worked your guts out trying to get the meat taken care of, the flies were all over you & your elk & the sun just kept beating down. Yup, for me I'll take the evening hunt every time in the early part of the season.
I use the hide like a blanket, block the elk on its back, skin the hide down & then I bone the meat right on the "blanket", I don't gut them, no need to, thats just extra work. No, I don't eat heart or liver.
Hope you keep whacking deer & elk with that #1, mine was a dandy.

Dick

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

Thanks Sixshot,

If you can recall back to the first critter taken with your own handload, I have found the "high" to be even better with using my own boolits in my handloads.

Maybe it is because it has been a long time since that first handload kill, and maybe it is because with age becoming a factor, every head of game taken seems to allow for a greater degree of thankfulness.

Thankful to still be able to hunt, thankful for the bounty of the meat supplied.

The taking of the critters, now with my own cast boolits is just a really thick coating of frosting on the cake. ;)

CDOC

[waynem34]

I would love to see some of those large critters around here but I guess I'll have to stick too the white tails.I like to let em age a little when it gets colder.Just letem hang in the shed.When its still hot I gutem where they fall and dragem to the creek and start to coolem off.I'm new to casting so gona be aways off from taking one with a cast boolit.But working that way lord willing and the creek dont rise it will be.Thanks for the motivation hope you'll share the photos.

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

waynem34,

Would love to share the photograph, but sure need help in that respect.

No expert in meat, other then I like it, but my understanding is, there is little to be gained with hanging wild game more then long enough to cool and firm up.

Something about the makeup of wild game when compared to beef

Also I find that deer meat in areas like the ribs, just dry up to nothing, where if I get it stripped off within a couple days it makes great sausage or ground meat jerky. Otherwise, it is just wasted.

CDOC

[waynem34]

waynem34,

Would love to share the photograph, but sure need help in that respect.

No expert in meat, other then I like it, but my understanding is, there is little to be gained with hanging wild game more then long enough to cool and firm up.

Something about the makeup of wild game when compared to beef

Also I find that deer meat in areas like the ribs, just dry up to nothing, where if I get it stripped off within a couple days it makes great sausage or ground meat jerky. Otherwise, it is just wasted.

CDOC

Yes sir I just bye time with the animal.I get it cool quik and keep it fresh.I'm just getting back in too it so going on what i learned young.Hoping to learn more.

[TXGunNut]

Gonna be 100 degrees here again today and you have me thinking about hunting! Thanks, CDOC! Glad to hear you got a nice one headed for the freezer already. I still need to make one more batch of sausage before I go hunting.

[ammohead]

Also I find that deer meat in areas like the ribs, just dry up to nothing, where if I get it stripped off within a couple days it makes great sausage or ground meat jerky. Otherwise, it is just wasted.

CDOC,

using a sawzall cut the elk ribs into racks with ribs 4" long. Coil them up in a dutch oven and season to taste or smother with bbq sauce. Bake at 350 till tender. I take bbq sauce and add old style cranberry sauce made from berries with the orange jest in it, and them some jalapeno jelly to smother the ribs with. Kind of a chutney. yum.

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

Sounds good ammohead!

Starting to cut elk here in the next few minutes. it will all be boned and then be steak, roast or burger. Two grades of burger, the premo and the sausage. Hmmm GOOD!

Will take me 4 mornings to get it done, not counting grinding. We put all the grindings in white plastic bags, freeze and then grind all at one time.

Last year, we had "delk" burger and sausage :bigsmyl2:, but this year think we'll have elk and deer burger & sausage.

CDOC

[sixshot]

Hey Crusty, any chance you might share the sauage recipe, I want to try some, I've wasted a lot of money of the years on burger, sauage & jerky, seems like very few places can get it right, at least it my part of Idaho.

Dick

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

Sixshot,

Check out "LEM" meat processing supplies on the net.

We have made summer sausage from their kits for the last two years.

They have a good range of meat processing supplys, spices etc.

I am soon going to order more of the summer sausage and breakfast sausage mixes.

The summer sausage kits come with casings if you order the kit.

The breakfast sausage we bought last year, had natural casings, which we thought were a real pain to deal with, so will just mix the sausage and make patties when we go to thaw and cook.

We use the stuffer tube for our LEM grinder to stuff the saysage.

I smoke the summer sausage and it is cooked in the process.. Just push a therm. stem into the center of the sausage to make sure it is done.

People that try this sausage seem to like it pretty well.

Not sure where in Idaho you live, but a friend had some sausage made at a place close to St. Maries and it was REALLY good, much better then some of the stuff I've tasted closer to home.

Oh yes, the sausage we are making has 20% pork added to the deer or elk or delk meat.

later,

CDOC

[sixshot]

Thanks, I'm about as far from St. Maries as you can get & still be in Idaho, clear down to Soda Springs.

Dick