I was shooting off a large Leofoto tripod with a ball head actually and it was very stable. I had a ton of time to play it thru as the bull was bedded and took forever to get up. The problem was once he did the holes in the pinyon juniper were so sparse I rushed my shot selection because I didn’t want him to start climbing and have to redial.
Shot was 712. Hit low shoulder. Subsequent follow up barely ran under his brisket as he quartered to. I can’t entirely figure out why I was hitting low. I ranged and dialed using a vortex 4000 gb that I had just updated all external conditions on prior to the shot. We had 0 wind to speak of. And yes I trued my velocity at 700 with this rifle prior to the trip. I’m chalking it up to nerves but with any miss I’m tearing down the entire hunt and trying to find where I can improve and not make the same mistake twice. If I had more time for follow ups but I couldn’t spot my misses, my spotter was calling them but I was in such disarray after the shot I don’t know what I was hearing between ranging, dialing and trying to pick him up.
Thanks for being willing to share, most folks aren't keen to do so.
I think your 7 PRC is a good long range elk gun with the right bullet in general, but your real life situation shows a few things that we see time and time again...
1. A heavier recoiling chambering in a light weight mountain gun leads to more misses when compared to 6mm and below. I've been preaching and teaching this long before Rokslide was even a website.
2. A heavier recoiling chambering in a light weight mountain gun leads to slower target re-acquisition when a second shot may be needed. Paired with the fact that most almost never practice racking another and staying on target.
3. A heavier recoiling chambering is not a "guarantee" for a quicker time to death.
4. Shit happens when you shoot long range. 712 yards is a very long shot despite that some on the internet may call it a "chip shot".
Combining the long range shot, adrenalin, trying to get a shot off "in time", and heavier recoiling chambering/lightweight gun, this is where I see "goat rodeos" most often.
Please don't misunderstand that this "never happens" with 6mm and below cartridges. This could have easily happened with a ^ Creedmoor as well at 712 yards.
The point is trying to eliminate as many errors and variables within the shot process to kill better. (Hint: larger diameter bullet is almost never the answer here on an 7.5-9 lb mountain rifle).
I think dropping down to a 6 Creedmoor shooting 108 ELDMS and training with that rifle year round (not a on a bench) will be a good move for you. If you're an AZ resident and have time to shoot I'd be happy to let you shoot some of my rifles and run through some shooting drills before you make a change.