Elk Hunting in Oregon and Idaho

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palehorse

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I am still relatively new to all of this. A life long friend of mine recently moved from CA to OR. While up there he has moved from the realm of consumer to hunter gather. He is scheduling a elk hunt next year and has invited me to come up and participate in what would be my first big game expedition. The only hunting I have done has been for quail.

Here is the question. I have a Marlin 1875 .45/70. Will I need to go out and purchase a bolt action rifle to more fully enjoy myself, or will my current rifle be adaquate for such a trip?

I have some time still to purchase as it is next year, but if I can save the money for other things, that would be my preferance.

Also, I do not have a scope on my rifle. I know the ballistics on a .45 diminish significantly after about 200 yrds, so I never thought about using one.

Any thoughts and insight would be appreciated.

palehorse
 
Need more data!

The .45/70 will be more than enough for Elk, as long you know the ballistics of your load.

If you are hunting in the forests or valleys of Western Oregon, you will be A-Ok.

But, if you are going to be in the desert/sage brush of Eastern Oregon, you might want to invest in something with a scope...

Of course, if you are like most of us, any excuse to get new rifle is a good one...

greg
 
Pale Horse,
45-70 is plenty of power. Iron sights limit your range to your ability. I recommend the Barnes all bronze bullet, 300-350 grain. If you don't handload have somebody load you up a batch and get a good group on paper at your maximum range. I have seen so many wounded elk and deer get away, but the Barnes bullet is very leathel. Place your shot just BEHIND the front leg. If that's not possible angle your shot into the chest cavity trying not to hit the big bones and mucsles of shoulders and hips.

If your hunting during the rut and the bulls are bugling, use a COW call. Buy a couple of them and listen to the tape that comes with them. You can call a bull to you with a few feet under the right conditions. Other hunters will be doing plenty of bull bugling.

Use the wind. Get a puffer bottle of dust and use it constantly. Don't let any game get down wind of you.

Binoculars. Get a name brand with a warranty. 8x40 to 12X50. Find high ground, rises whatever and look alot. This will give you time to listen as well for bugling, you may here a cow call then you know your close.

Cross sticks. I carry a pair cut from a cedar bush 30" long and tied 6" from the end with a bungy cord. I use them in a sitting postion.

You will have alot of fun, elk are an amazing animal.
 
Excellent suggestions there Harve. Thank you for presenting them. You too priv8ter. I especially like your comment about getting a new rifle. :D

I think at this point I will consider scoping my rifle.
 
A load like the PMC 350@2100 seems to be highly recommended for elk. It's very accurate and penetrates very well also.
 
If it's what you have, you'll do fine. I have a Marlin 1895 that I am just starting to work with and I may take it elk hunting this year here in Montana. I've been reading up on the 45-70 lately and it is clear to me the round can kill way out there. The limiting factor is trajectory. Depending on what you're loading, etc., your maximum point blank range (not to be confused with maximum effective range)is in the 150 to 175 yard range. In some areas that matters and in others, it doesn't matter at all.

I suppose it depends on your style and your ethics, too. If you like to hunt close, even in open country and if you have the discipline and judgement to hold off on longer shots and if you can leave the field empty handed and still consider the hunt a success, go for it.

Good luck.
 
Will a 308 do? My friends in Oregon keep telling to to go back for a visit and go huntin' with them!

.308 with something on the north end of 180 grains do the job, or no?
 
Yes a .308 Win will do. I'd find a good load that is accurate and practice with it on paper and several distances. Use a Barnes X bullet or Nosler partition bullet. They are lethal and hold together.
 
.308 will work well. Everyone in my hunting group uses some version of the .308.

Ours include .308/30-06/300 win/300wea

I hunt Eastern Oregon with a Sig Arms 30-06, using a Leupold 3-9x, and Federal High Energy ammo with 180gr Trophy Bonded bullets.
 
Ummmmm....

Sig970, I'm going to come out and say you have me a little confused with this statement:

Everyone in my hunting group uses some version of the .308.
Click to expand...



Ours include .308/30-06/300 win/300wea
Click to expand...


Ummm...Maybe I'm not reading it right, but, .308 is not even in the same family as the .300 Weatherby. I mean, they do use the same diameter bullets, but....

I will agree wholeheartedly with the .308 being a useful round for elk. I'd say over the last ten years, about 20-25% of the elk I know of where taken with a .308.

greg
 
What's confusing?

We have 6 hunters

1 uses a .308
2 use a 30-06
2 use a 300 win
1 uses a 300 wea

We all use the same bullet size.

I'm not saying that the 30-06 is the same as the 300 Wea power wise. Again we all fire .308 diameter 180gr bullets.
 
There is a large herd of elk (probably 70 or so critters, with at least 6 bulls) less than 3 miles from my old place..

One morning while driving down an old logging road (last winter), I came around this bend in the road and there they were.. standing right in the middle of the road. Wet brown fur, hooves, and antlers, huddled in a large group less than 20 feet from the front bumper of the Yota (All the bulls were in the center surrounded by cows on the outside). They all stopped, gave me a good long stare, and then slowly moved, en masse, across the road, over some farmers fence and into his cow pasture. It was cool the way that they just sauntered into this field, like they were in no hurry, without a care in the world.

Gawd, I wish that I had a camera.. it was a sight to behold. :)
 
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