Sick, sick, and more sick!

[RMulhern]

I made a hunt back last October out of Chromo, Colorado, killed a nice 5x5 elk and as the elk's nose hit the dirt....I was immediately sick, sick, and MORE SICK! Why? Well....my son Brandon paid for a portion of this hunt...and he isn't a BPCR shooter! But...he can shoot the "fonk" outa one when I can get him to do it! When he asked me..."what rifle are you gonna take on the trip; not the Sharps I hope?"....it was obvious that he doesn't have much faith in these rifles! So I told him I would take a SP rifle! The whole time we were enroute to Colorado....I had this "sickness" in my stomach that just made me regret that I wasn't going to get a chance to "bang" a nice bull with my Sharps!

The first morning out...as we were walking back in...we could hear 7 different bulls bugling in the direction we were headed and shortly after it was light enough to see we had reached the area that we would hunt. We heard a bull bugling just north of us but we couldn't tell just how far away he was. At this time we stopped and made a call and within 3 minutes this nice 5x5 appeared and started walking out of the aspens near us. He was walking at a slight angle headed southwest...at around 110 yards. He stopped and Brandon asked me...."have you got him Dad?" I told him I did. Brandon had asked this question because he knew there was some trees between the elk and our location. The bull stopped walking and I made the shot and saw the hair fly from behind his shoulder. Brandon saw hair fly off the opposite side so he was hit good! The bull went about 30 yards and hit on his nose! Well....there I was....looking down at this rifle?? that felt totally foreign to me and I asked Brandon to come over and stand behind me. He wanted to know...."why?" I told him...."so you can kick my ass real good!" He grinned and wanted to know why. I told him "because I didn't have enough sense to over-ride your wishes and bring my .45/90!" This was an opportunity of a lifetime and I "blew it" by not taking this animal with A REAL RIFLE!!

Well....you fellows don't take any bets on the fact that if the Good Lord lets me live long enough I'm gonna be back up there this Fall and I'll have a REAL RIFLE with me! Gonna take me a sack lunch...thermos bottle and a sandwich or two....and I know a real nice location where I'm just going to find a little "nook" to sit down in....and me and this Sharps are gonna enjoy the day! And just maybe there will be a BIGGER BULL show up this time...and I'll get to show my son....SHARPS ARE REAL RIFLES!!

[Ken Hartlein]

If you follow your heart and your gut feeling you'll never go wrong. I hope you have a better hunt next time, and there always should be a "next time". Best of luck.

[JAGG]

S M ! That's what you get for listening to the Youth of today ! What do they know ? They have to have 57 flavors of ice cream or they start crying ! JAGG

[RMulhern]

JAGG

<<They have to have 57 flavors of ice cream or they start crying !>>

You got that right! And ya know....most of 'em can't shoot anything but a rifle with a scope on it! Brandon knows how to shoot aperture sights...because I taught him a long time ago! He had a "clean" going the first time I laid him down at 600 yards with a NM M1 but on his 20th shot...(I saw the trace of the bullet go way off right and up high) he turned to me and said...."Sorry Dad....I went coon hunting with that one"!

One day...he and my grandsons...will have a fine "cadre"....of BPCR rifles! I just hope they don't let 'em collect dust!

[kamotz]

SM, I dont think you should worry about those bpcr rifles collecting dust in the future.Sooner or later those youngsters will grow weary of those newfangled contraptions in search of a higher degree of sport and nostalgia, if you will. Much the same as many experienced bowhunters put away compound bows in favor of primitive bows. Besides, its just a passing fad