374-4/8 vs. 35-06 JDJ

By John F. Martone

 

Published in The Sixgunner February 2007

This hunt started coming together back in March 2006. I was living in Missoula , Montana at the time trav­eling back and forth to Seattle seeing family and friends. There was a sportsman's show at the Evergreen State Fairgrounds in Monroe , Wash­ington and a buddy of mine had men­tioned he was going and why don't I tag along.

Attending a sportsman's show is always something I'm up for. So I planned my trip over to Seattle on the weekend the show was going on.

There was a lot of fishing guides and other stuff that catches one's eye and we had a good time. On the way home my buddy handed me a bro­chure from a elk ranch known as Mountain View Elk Ranch in Riggins , Idaho . Without getting into any dis­cussions about the pros and cons of ranch hunting, when I got back home to Montana I decided to give them a call.

I spoke to the rancher himself, Ken Walters and he described their ranch and hunting service. The ranch sits on top of a beautiful mountain that you have to head up an eight mile long old logging road. The 6000 acre ranch has been in Ken's family for two gen­erations now and they logged it but times changed and to merely survive they started elk ranching.

The operation has been going on for over eight years. After Ken and I talked for almost an hour, I decided it was something I'd be interested in. He sent me information and some references and I checked things out and decided to book a hunt.

My particular hunt was from Octo­ber 6-8. I arrived on October 5 and got settled in and fired off a round or two to make sure the gun was sighted in and my eye site wasn't off to bad. Well to my surprise both were dead on! What a surprise it was and a good omen indeed.

The Encore I decided to use was my 35-06 JDJ. My particular gun is set up with a 15 inch barrel with the military-style muzzle brake on the end of it making it a 16-1/4 inch bar­rel. I have the T'SOB quarter vent rib with a Leupold 2.5X8 handgun scope. I really like this scope and setup and have it on all my Encores.

I also had SSK drill an extra hole in the bottom of the barrel to accept the TIC factory forend since" I feel the pistol forend is useless. SSK also did a trigger job on the frame making this gun a sweetheart to shoot. It was back in 2002 when I had gotten turned on to the 35-06 and have loved it since.

I originally bought the barrel' to take on an Alaskan moose hunt which never happened, so the gun had never taken any game and I decided that this was the year and hunt that would change all that.

The 35 caliber load I chose was the 225 grain Nosler Partition bullet sit­ting on top of 62.50 grains of RL-15 on a Federal 215 primer. Out of my barrel this load gets a consistent 2530 fps and is "dead on balls accurate!" Plain and simple I love this round and this gun.

While sighting in the day before the hunt it was like a symphony go­ing on all around me. Bugling was everywhere. It made my trigger fin­ger twitch uncontrollably. We bedded down for the night and I was up around 3 a.m. just from all the bu­gling going on. My guide for the hunt was Ken's son Brad Walters.

Brad proved to be a great hard working guide who did everything he could to get me on a bull. We decided to hike since I could hear bugling that wasn't far away. We headed out just before first light trying to get an edge on the elk. We past a few Spikes and then I saw a sign that said " Tibet 4 miles!" Oh no, why didn't we take some horses?

Well being too late for all that, we decided to follow some bugling going on below us. We never did come on the elk that was bugling below. I could hear him, smell him, feel him but never saw him. This went on for over two hours and we decided to take a breather and rest a spell.

While doing so, we could hear some bugling coming from above us that seemed really close. We kind of just sat quietly listening and listening. What a musical it was! That first bull we were following appeared to go down into the bottoms and I wasn't too keen on going down after him.

You know what I'm talking about ... The thickest, nastiest wilder­ness stuff that keeps the bulls safe and almost impossible to get into and thru unless you're an Elk. Being the fool that I am, I had a bout of genius and decided not to go after him. Now the bull that had bulged above us was a whole different story. Brad and I decided to pursue him. After all he sounded very very close.

Well off we went in pursuit of the noise maker. We came upon an old logging road and decided to walk the road for a bit since it was easier and less noisy. Why advertise that you're out there? The elk was doing that al­ready and that was good enough for me.

After walking the logging road for about 1/2 mile, the road started to bend to the right and all of a sudden Brad dropped down and I followed right behind him. He had seen a few cow elk and wanted to check it out. After glassing for a: bit, we could see there were five cows and a sixth one that was feeding.

I wanted to get across the road since there was some fallen timber and it was a better angle to see the elk. Brad watched in his binocs and let me know when the coast was clear to quietly get across the road. A good guide is so invaluable in these situa­tions. Over on the other side, I had rested my Encore on a stump and started glassing.

I saw the cows and that one elk that was feeding but never lifted its head. It never lifted its head since it wasn't a cow but a big bull that had his cows watching things while he fed. Brad bugled and he lifted his head looking in our direction. I’ll never forget the look I saw through my binocs.

He lifted his head and had grass and everything else he was eating coming out the sides of his mouth. He

Stopped, looked, listened and then made his mistake.

He lowered his head and continued feeding. You're mine big boy was the only thing I could think of. I got him in the crosshairs and just watched him so I could get a good shot.

He was quartering away from me at 130 yards and since he didn't know I was there, I just kept an eye on him through the scope and waited for a better position. I think this is one of the hardest things to do. Wait and be patient! I hate it but I did it.

After about a minute he started to turn towards me giving me a better angle and almost a broadside shot. Brad bugled one more time and the bull lifted his head and I let one go midway in his neck. Down he went!

The cows took off and he just laid there. I got up to him and put another shot in the top of his neck just below his head and it was over. I was shak­ing with excitement over what had just happened.

It took some doing to get him out of the stuff he went down in and get him gutted and off the mountain. That took another four hours of real work for both of us. We got-er-done! The bull measured 374-4/8's and had a hanging weight of 493 lbs.

This hunt was a wonderful adven­ture. I had them process the elk for me and I was there with them watch­ing, learning, and sharing their company and experience. They do everything the way you want it; charge a good fair price and send you home with your meat.

I decided to order smoked pep­peroni and jalapeno cheddar brats. I'm Italian and their pepperoni was some of the best I've ever had. I can't wait to get it and hunt with them again.

Mountain View Elk Ranch in Riggins , Idaho is family run by Ken and Tammie Walters. Their son Brad guides and his wife Sara helps out everywhere.

These are good solid honest people.

If you're interested in a ranch hunt (and I've done a few) these folks are the best and treat you right. They can be reached at 800-618-3803. I smell the backstraps on the grill so I'm outta here. Good luck, good hunting and God bless.