Three cow elk harvested in the past two weeks using the 223/77tmk
Rifle:
Uberlite StraightPull AR15 (base rifle weighs 2.5lbs) 4lbs including scope/suppressor/mag
MV 2750fps
SWFA ultralight 2.5-10x32 BDC
JK Suppressor
Elk 1
110 yards, 1 shot
Conditions: thick timber, downhill shot.
Impact point; high shoulder/spine/backstrap
Dropped and rolled/slid 50 yards. Still breathing, but incapacitated when we got to it.
Elk 2
325 yards, 1 shot
Conditions: open high saddle, heavy wind gusts and blowing snow. Elk was standing broadside amongst other bedded and feeding elk.
Impact point; center body, liver/stomach
2 inches behind the lungs. (Bad wind call)
Herd spooked at the shot, and the cow followed for about 100 yards and then stopped just beyond the rise. Eventually laid down before it bled out internally. No blood trail. Bullet did not leave the far side of the stomach.
Elk 3
100 yards, 1 shot
Conditions: thick timber, steep hillside. Elk was standing, slightly quartered away amongst other bedded elk.
Impact point; high shoulder/high lung.
It ran 89 yards (with a good blood trail) and then fell (tried to get back on its feet several times). It took 20-ish minutes to fully expire.
Overall, none of the shots were "ideal" but still resulted in a notched tag. I've seen similar results with bigger calibers.
No exits. Only blood trail was #3.
Comparison for Elk 1: Earlier this season my daughter shot a bull with a 6.5cm and got high shoulder/backstrap (missed the lung). The result was very near identical to that if the Elk 1 in this writeup. (Dropped at the shot, and was found incapacitated but breathing after it rolled/slid a ways down the hill).
Comparison for Elk 2. last season my nephew took a cow with a 6.5cm and hit a bit far back. Got liver/stomach... but one tiny bullet fragment went into the lung. It went about 200 yards (just out if sight) and we found it dead.
Many years ago my son shot a cow with a 28nos 195gr berger. 3 shots mid body in the stomach... no exits. The elk remained standing for quite some time. Was able to hop a low fence about 20 yards just out of sight. Even a bigger caliber doesn't compensate for a bad shot.
Elk 3 is the odd one. The lung damage wasn't severe, but was more than just a nick. She was coughing blood and the blood trail was wide and obvious. It surprised me that it took so long to bleed out. However, I'm not ready to attribute this result to the 77tmk. If the impact point had been an inch or two lower, I would have expected lights out in a minute or two at most.
By comparison, one of my boys shot a cow many years ago with a 300wm, 425 yards, factory 200eldx. Impact point was classic behind front shoulder, but bullet hit the rib and 3/4 of it went 90 degrees through the diaphragm and liver, and 1/4 of it went straight through the lung. The wounded elk traveled with the herd for several hundred yards before slowing and then toppled over. Time from shot to expiration was about 5 min. Once we backtracked the trail, we did not find any blood along her route. In that case, even with good shot placement, the result wasn't ideal.
