Shiloh Rifle Forums

Marathonman will give the details tonight!

http://m559.photobucket.com/albumview/a ... l?newest=1

Stephen

Thanks for posting the picture for me Stephen!

This was a long hard hunt that covered 4 days in Wyoming. In that time I saw only one legal cow which is the one I shot. Two other bulls made a total of 3 moose total. Moose hunting in conditions like this mean covering as much ground as possible and even hunting during the middle of the day. I spotted this cow about noon on my last day and found a way to sneak up on her while she was bedded down. One shot off hand with my 14 pound Shiloh 45-110 at just under 100 yards estimated and she jumped to her feet and then she wobbled sideways and fell. The shot was perfect double lung and she died before I could eject the spent shell and reload. I took the photo by setting my camera on a tripod pushing the button and then jumping in the picture. Being alone I quartered and boned much of her with an axe and packed her out a piece at a time over several hours. More moose have been quartered with an axe than any other method in human history so I hear. Anyway I had the time of my life enjoying every minute!

Details:

Shiloh sporter with shotgun butt semi fancy wood 14 pounds in 45-110 calibre.

Load was 83 grains of KIK 2F by weight over a card wad using a 348 Win case from Buffalo Arms and a WLR primer and card wad. No compression of powder.

Bullet was 500 grain flat point supplied by Jerry Dean of Powder Inc for my hunt. Jerry will get a few pictures for his upcoming new catalog featuring the black dawg bullets used here.

Sight setting was open barrel sights with a Shiloh buckhorn rear and duplicate original sharps sight for the front. Info on how to use this combo courtesy of my friend Bill Bagwell. Bill also supplied me with suggested powder type and charge weight. Turns out Bill was spot on by all counts!!

Practice before the hunt was 2 shots at a rock in the middle of a local river to see the bullet strike and then one 30 yard stump shot. After that I knew precisely where to hold out to 150 yards with one sight setting. All shots were off hand including the shot on the moose.

All in all it was a hoot!

Thanks to everyone who helped with this effort.

Dan

Great hunt my friend! The 45 did a fine job!

Stephen

marathonman--Glad you're back, and congratulations on a hard hunt well done. Not many can spend 4 days looking for moose, bring it down, then skin and quarter it and get it out without help. My hat is off to you.

I'm glad the rifle and load worked. That bullet is the Real Deal, and the load is accurate, as you proved. I saw a 6x5 elk shot through and through the lungs DRT with that load and knew it would work on the moose. You for sure and certain earned that one. Shoot straight, rdnck.

marathonman;
Congratulations. After carrying that 14# rifle around the moose probably didn't seem so heavy . Hunting like you did is something not many people would do because most people think they have to go out with a big party. Did the bullet exit?

pete wrote:marathonman;
Congratulations. After carrying that 14# rifle around the moose probably didn't seem so heavy . Hunting like you did is something not many people would do because most people think they have to go out with a big party. Did the bullet exit?

Thanks Pete you understand me well. When I hunt, I hunt alone. I've always done it that way and often skip meals entirely and go to sleep often with a thermos of cold coffee to wake up well before daylight. When I actually sleep soundly it's usually in mid-afternoon sprawled out under a tree with one ear open. Most times people in a party situation ruin a hunt by staying too long in one location along with cards, eating big meals, and drinking booze. Don't get me wrong I like cards, booze, and big fat cigars as much as anyone but they just don't mix well with the business of filling big game tags.

That 14 pound rifle felt just fine and I've hunted with Sharps rifles including antique originals up to the 16 pound mark. It's not the weight of the rifle that matters but rather the balance. A 14 pound Sharps Buffalo Rifle with a 30 inch barrel handles better than most people of today can understand unless they've hunted with one. I shoot most of the time with this rifle off hand, not to show off but because it works for me. Probably a lot of the old dead guys did too.

Yes the bullet exited. I wish I had taken some internal pictures showing the entry and exit wounds perfectly paralell and about the size of a quarter but I was a mess by then and didn't. Ended up throwing all of my clothes worn that day in the trash. Yes, they were that bad with the black muck mud and blood soaked through and through. Because she was lying down with her legs folded up under her the bullet exited through the right shoulder close to the elbow. With her body condensed I think this is a perfect testimony of proper bullet placement and complete pass through. She only lived 3 or 4 seconds tops!

Thanks for the inquiry, anyone else?

Best,

Really a great story Marathonman! I killed a 40" bull with my bow when I was 19 yrs old in North Dakota! I don't blame you for throwing your cloths out, moose do have a lot of guts! where were you hunting in Wyoming?

Stephen

Stephen Borud wrote:Really a great story Marathonman! I killed a 40" bull with my bow when I was 19 yrs old in North Dakota! I don't blame you for throwing your cloths out, moose do have a lot of guts! where were you hunting in Wyoming?

Stephen

Thank you my friend Stephen!

I owe you a great deal for your help and friendship in the last few years. One of these days we'll have to go on a quick antelope hunt or something.

The actual GPS setting for my hunt is lost but I can give you a general idea. The units were 38 and 41 which ranges from Baggs north to I-80 east to Cheyenne and south to the Colorado border. The Snowy Mountain Range for the most part. Moose were wide spred and hard to pin down on this trip. I'll send you a more specific location by PM if you wish. Keep in mind though that pre season scouting does little good determining where to hunt moose in late October through the middle of November.

Best,

Nice work Marathonman!

Bill helped me out getting me to understand the right way to use tradition barrel sights. He is a wealth of experience and information. Now I just need to practice. My buddy and I were lucky to get a moose in Alaska (DIY trip) and I still am enjoying the delicious meat every week. Top notch.

I'm hoping to draw a tag in a couple years (Wyoming) since I've been collecting points for 12 years now. Just need to wait until my freezers have some more room. I'll probably hunt on the far West side in the Salt River or Wyoming Range since that is where I deer hunt ever once in a while.

Congratulations all around and thanks for sharing the details!

Mike

Marathonman that would be fun to hunt antelope together! I need to start putting in for moose! It's a great animal to hunt! Thanks for info on your hunt area!

Stephen

You definately had an adventure to remember for sure. I'm not the hunter you guys are but what I have done has been done overwhelmlingly with my wife or by myself. The times I went with other guys I went off on my own and met them back at camp in the evening. I think there's a stigma to solo hunting but I also think it's born of most people's inability or fear to spend some time by themselves. I must say though that the older I get the more I have to think about whether I want to do things and my limitations as opposed to when I was younger I used to just go out and do it.
I'll take your word for it on toting the 14 pounder as the heaviest Sharps I have is almost 12 lbs. My bp hunting rifles weigh 8 1/2 and 9 3/4 lbs.

Thanks Denali, Stephen, and Pete.

Actually I've done a fair amount of hunting with my wife over the years too. She's mighty handy with a scoped 270 mounted on a bipod shooting prone off a tarp. Her health now doesn't allow for the rigorous trips. It's getting tougher for me as well. There were many times packing this moose where I stopped bent over holding on to my knees with a heavy load of moose meat on my back catching my breath while the blackness cleared from my head. Another thing is safety with the axe and skinning knife. Treacherous footing and carelessness could lead to a wound that you could bleed out from before you could even get back to your truck let alone to a hospital. I always think about this and the direction the knife or axe is pointing on each and every cut.

Marathonman,

You have earned my respect! Easier is not always better. Good Job!

Best, David Barfield

Marathon man,

A couple of questions re: your axe, if you don't mind. Skinning and general purpose knives pose no transport safety problems in the field, but how do you carry an axe around safely in the field until needed? Additionally, I assume you're using a single blade axe for breaking down a carcass, but what size axe do you use for this job? Thanks.

Regards

IR

deerhuntsheatmeup wrote:Marathonman,

You have earned my respect! Easier is not always better. Good Job!

Best, David Barfield

Thanks!

It was fun even if it was not easy. Maybe fun because it was Not easy!

Best,

Dan