.223 for bear, mountain goat, deer, elk, and moose.

80 grain ELDX. Mature bull moose. 523 yards. Roughly 2,180 impact velocity. Quartering slightly away. Moose was hit once, moved forward 20 feet behind some trees. Before I could shoot again he dropped (less than 5 seconds).

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The “dreaded shoulder shot” with a “small bullet”…

Entrance.

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Entered above shoulder bone and tore through lung. Sliced the bottom of the heart on the way through to the exit side lung. Broke two ribs and part of the scalpula before exiting. Both lungs were chunky mush and lung chunks on the ground and tree behind the moose where he was shot.

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Two finger sized wound channel on the entrance side turned into a 4+ finger sized wound channel most of the way through the animal.

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80 grain ELDX. Mature bull moose. 523 yards. Roughly 2,180 impact velocity. Quartering slightly away. Moose was hit once, moved forward 20 feet behind some trees. Before I could shoot again he dropped (less than 5 seconds).

View attachment 763019

The “dreaded shoulder shot” with a “small bullet”…

Entrance.

View attachment 763015

Entered above shoulder bone and tore through lung. Sliced the bottom of the heart on the way through to the exit side lung. Broke two ribs and part of the scalpula before exiting. Both lungs were chunky mush and lung chunks on the ground and tree behind the moose where he was shot.

View attachment 763016

View attachment 763017


Two finger sized wound channel on the entrance side turned into a 4+ finger sized wound channel most of the way through the animal.

View attachment 763018
Awesome! But weren't the bullets supposed to bounce off?
 
80 grain ELDX. Mature bull moose. 523 yards. Roughly 2,180 impact velocity. Quartering slightly away. Moose was hit once, moved forward 20 feet behind some trees. Before I could shoot again he dropped (less than 5 seconds).

View attachment 763019

The “dreaded shoulder shot” with a “small bullet”…

Entrance.

View attachment 763015

Entered above shoulder bone and tore through lung. Sliced the bottom of the heart on the way through to the exit side lung. Broke two ribs and part of the scalpula before exiting. Both lungs were chunky mush and lung chunks on the ground and tree behind the moose where he was shot.

View attachment 763016

View attachment 763017


Two finger sized wound channel on the entrance side turned into a 4+ finger sized wound channel most of the way through the animal.

View attachment 763018
Congrats and thanks for the awesome pics! I just bought more of the 80gr ELDM's last week. I'd be interested in the load and rifle.
 
80 grain ELDX. Mature bull moose. 523 yards. Roughly 2,180 impact velocity. Quartering slightly away. Moose was hit once, moved forward 20 feet behind some trees. Before I could shoot again he dropped (less than 5 seconds).

View attachment 763019

The “dreaded shoulder shot” with a “small bullet”…

Entrance.

View attachment 763015

Entered above shoulder bone and tore through lung. Sliced the bottom of the heart on the way through to the exit side lung. Broke two ribs and part of the scalpula before exiting. Both lungs were chunky mush and lung chunks on the ground and tree behind the moose where he was shot.

View attachment 763016

View attachment 763017


Two finger sized wound channel on the entrance side turned into a 4+ finger sized wound channel most of the way through the animal.

View attachment 763018
223 or 22 creed?
 
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80 grain ELDX. Mature bull moose. 523 yards. Roughly 2,180 impact velocity. Quartering slightly away. Moose was hit once, moved forward 20 feet behind some trees. Before I could shoot again he dropped (less than 5 seconds).

View attachment 763019

The “dreaded shoulder shot” with a “small bullet”…

Entrance.

View attachment 763015

Entered above shoulder bone and tore through lung. Sliced the bottom of the heart on the way through to the exit side lung. Broke two ribs and part of the scalpula before exiting. Both lungs were chunky mush and lung chunks on the ground and tree behind the moose where he was shot.

View attachment 763016

View attachment 763017


Two finger sized wound channel on the entrance side turned into a 4+ finger sized wound channel most of the way through the animal.

View attachment 763018
Think there's a "stepbrother, what are you doing?" joke here somewhere..
 
80 grain ELDX. Mature bull moose. 523 yards. Roughly 2,180 impact velocity. Quartering slightly away. Moose was hit once, moved forward 20 feet behind some trees. Before I could shoot again he dropped (less than 5 seconds).

View attachment 763019

The “dreaded shoulder shot” with a “small bullet”…

Entrance.

View attachment 763015

Entered above shoulder bone and tore through lung. Sliced the bottom of the heart on the way through to the exit side lung. Broke two ribs and part of the scalpula before exiting. Both lungs were chunky mush and lung chunks on the ground and tree behind the moose where he was shot.

View attachment 763016

View attachment 763017


Two finger sized wound channel on the entrance side turned into a 4+ finger sized wound channel most of the way through the animal.

View attachment 763018
That’s awesome !

But you gotta roll up your sleeves, man! Or at the very least remove the thumb loops haha.
 
Sighted in my wife's suppressed RAR 5.56 today with 55 grain ball. This was the first 5 shot group with Black Hills 77 TMKs. She said it was the first time she ever really had fun shooting. Life is good!
View attachment 762914
My 17 year old daughter who has been shooting her whole life says basically the same thing about my suppressed 223 Tikka. She is the only woman who has qualified for our local long distance shooting range and shoots it out to 600 from field positions. Taking recoil out of the equation makes a huge difference.
 
My 17 year old daughter who has been shooting her whole life says basically the same thing about my suppressed 223 Tikka. She is the only woman who has qualified for our local long distance shooting range and shoots it out to 600 from field positions. Taking recoil out of the equation makes a huge difference.
That's awesome! Sounds and muzzle blast go a long way towards building a flinch.
 
It’s not about getting them clean. I just hate wet cuffs around my wrist.

But I hate bug bites more.

I very rarely use latex gloves, but I do carry them and maybe that would’ve been my use case haha.
Used them for the first half. They were filled with blood and got slippery and didn’t have a second pair for the other half of the break down.
 
You may already do this but I put on 2-3 pair before I start field dressing. When the outer pair is done, I peal them off and already have my next pair on.
Another thing you can do for cold hunts is get rubber gloves that are 2 sizes too large for your hand and put them over a pair of white knit stretchy gloves (we call them roper gloves) so you have something to keep your hands warm while gutting and cutting. Keeps your hands dry so you can put new gloves on as needed too. Really helps when it is below zero and blowing.

Damn near lost my finger tips one year cause I got elk fat under my finger nails and that froze the tip of my nail bed. I only lost skin but it was close to turning flesh white.

Jay
 
Sighted in my wife's suppressed RAR 5.56 today with 55 grain ball. This was the first 5 shot group with Black Hills 77 TMKs. She said it was the first time she ever really had fun shooting. Life is good!
View attachment 762914
Is this the RAR gen II? I have one coming as a “trainer” for the kiddos, and more than one box of black hills 77tmk. Gets me excited for them.
 
Another thing you can do for cold hunts is get rubber gloves that are 2 sizes too large for your hand and put them over a pair of white knit stretchy gloves (we call them roper gloves) so you have something to keep your hands warm while gutting and cutting. Keeps your hands dry so you can put new gloves on as needed too. Really helps when it is below zero and blowing.

Damn near lost my finger tips one year cause I got elk fat under my finger nails and that froze the tip of my nail bed. I only lost skin but it was close to turning flesh white.

Jay

Yep, I'll carry Atlas insulated rubber crabbing gloves in wet, cold conditions. Alternatively, keep a pair of the Gripxx textured 8mil nitrile gloves in a size or two up to go over your hunting gloves.

Also bought cut resistant gloves for the kill kit this year. Always nick myself once or twice, figure they'll provide some extra warmth and protection.
 
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