6.5 PRC fail on elk.

[clearconscience]

I would quarantine by myself, in the woods, looking for that elk!

This!!!!!

How is spending your time in the woods not quarantine?!

Personally I know the 6.5 can take elk, if you are extremely precise. I wouldn't use it, but then again I don't get enough practice for longer range shooting.

Even a great shooter can have a bad shot.
400 yards is still a long ways for a small bullet, in bad conditions.
I hunt with a .308 and I won't shoot at an animal past 300yds. But thats me, my skill/practice, and what I feel is humane.

A .22lr will kill an elk with the right shot.

Just wasn't his day.

 

[Racktech]

Worth the watch

 

[CastleRocker]

My sentiments exactly!

 

[tac]

Happened to a pal in the North East about ten years back. Shooting a .45-70, 405gr semi-jacketed from a Marlin underlever. Solid hit almost head-on right into the boiler-room at just under 75 yards on flat ground. The elk then charged the shooter, who put another two shots where the first one had gone. It got within fifteen yards of the shooter before it went over. It didn't stop breathing until his shooting buddy put one into its head from behind. Spoiled the head, of course...

 

[westcoastal]

would have never left the search for that elk, piss poor sportsmanship

 

[tac]

would have never left the search for that elk, piss poor sportsmanship

Poor elk, too.

 

[westcoastal]

Poor elk, too.

ya

 

[1911fan1]

Not enough smash. I wouldn't use that caliber/bullet choice on an animal as big & tough as an elk.
It's a quarter-bore shooting a light bullet. Can be done, not optimal.

 

[ossie jr]

what bullet was you brother using
one of the high BC POS bullets
or a hunting bullet like a barns triple shock
or nosler partition

 

[osprey]

If you read the thread it was most likely a 143gr eldx. I am fine with the cartridge but not wild about that bullet choice. It probably would have worked fine if it had been placed behind the shoulder and got to heart lung region but most likely the bullet blew up on big shoulder bone. Sad tale to learn from. I would recommend at a minimum a bonded bullet but better yet a partition or one of the barnes all copper offerings.

 

[Koda]

I think one of the lessons here is he should learn to use the caliber he chose. He picked a quarter-bore class caliber to use on a CXP3 class animal, and then at long distances. He didn't hit vitals or double lung shot or the elk wouldn't have been able to run that far to not be found. Most likely at that distance the bullet deflected or disintegrated on a shoulder bone. A shot past 200yds with a quarter bore caliber on an elk needs to be a precision shot, head, neck or double lung... not an easy task for the best of shooters I dont see how the guy could have practiced that precision with factory ammo at over 400yds to have taken a shot in the field.

 

[tkdguy]

Sounds just awful. I only prefer to shoot elk with no less than a 300 Winchester and primarily 338 Winchester for the exact reason and event that you describe. One good shot to put them down period! I, personally do not like the 30 06 against such a large animal at that distance; prefer inside 150 yards, but still prefer the 338. Just awful story.

 

[Superglide]

Thread title 6.5 PRC fail is inaccurate. What does an baseball outfielder do when he drops a ball? They immediately look at the glove.

The ball was dropped here perhaps by bullet selection, excessive distance or some other reason. But those are my best guesses.
There are no sure things when it comes to elk, but they deserve our best shot.
Best case scenario is this would be a lesson for more than one person. And my 2 cent advice is practice range estimation as well as shooting over 300 yards or get closer. And carry a rangefinder. May or may not apply to your brother, just my .02
Thank you for sharing the story. Some tales are harder to tell particularly ones that don't end well. But it does add balance and perspective to those tales that tacitly encourage irresponsible choices.

 

[pharmseller]

With all due respect, elk aren't all that tough. Shoot anything through the lungs with a proper expanding bullet and it won't go far. I've killed 15 elk and the only one that didn't fall within sight was a 5x5 I killed in the Mt. Washington Wilderness. The distance was just over 100 yards and I was using a 300 Weatherby Mag and 180 grain Partitions. The issue, as it is almost every time, was placement. It's my avatar photo.
One of the fastest kills I've ever made was on a bull in 2015. I was shooting a 7mm-08 with 140 grain Partitions. The distance was 346 yards. The bull dropped so fast I thought I had missed, as he was out of sight when I came down from recoil. Out of sight because he was flat on his side. Double lung and exit. In 2017 I watched through the spotter as my nephew killed his first bull, a 5x6 at 409 yards. He used my handloads, 150 grain eld-x from a 7mm-08. The bull went maybe 25 yards. Double lung and exit.
In 2015 my dad killed his largest and last bull, a big 5x5 at 225 yards. A single 140 grain Accubond from a 7mm-08, double lung and exit. The bull staggered for about 90 feet and fell over.
And yes, I've had my share of shoulder joint blowups (what a mess, but sometimes that's all the shot you have) but I've never had a bullet fail to penetrate. Core-Lokt, Partition, Accubond, Eld-x. This year's cow at 380 yards took a single 162 eld-x through the big leg bone about two inches below the joint. That's a big bone right there. The bullet blew up the bone, took out a rib, destroyed both lungs, broke a rib on the other side, and stopped under the hide. I couldn't finish counting to ten before she died.
I'll bet there isn't much practical difference between the 6.5PRC and the 7mm-08 at 400 yards. I'd put my money on operator error rather than bullet failure.



P

 

[XoXSciFiGuy]

Probably the scariest experience of my life was running into a black bear in the Olympics (Google Map on 'Goober Pond, Olympics' for location) that someone else had wounded, but not killed. I damn near had a heart attack.

My friend Jeff and I were camping at this small lake (picture below) and not hunting. Just fishing the lake and having fun. I went on a day hike and was only packing my Belgian Browning 22 that day. I get about fifty yards from the campsite and I'm passing a clear cut down below the Forest Service road. Down in the clear cut, about a hundred yards out is this black bear. We make eye contact. He IMMEDIATELY starts charging. I mean you could see the muscles rippling in his shoulders and he had Death To You look in his eyes.

I knew I couldn't outrun him. So I pulled out the Browning and started taking shots at him. I was loaded with CCI solid head Mini Mags. Careful shots. My knees are shaking. Pop pop pop. After pop number seven or so, he turns away and tries hiding under a massive fallen tree.

Okay. NOW we have to finish him off somehow. But we're fishing and camping, not hunting. Jeff only had a Marlin 22 tube loader. We had to shoot the hell out of that poor bear before he finally dropped into the grass. We can't see him now. We flip a coin to see who goes down there. I lose, I take the Browning with a full load and one in the chamber and go look. CAREFULLY. Well, he's dead for sure. And then you could smell that terrible wound some careless hunter put on him. It was festered and smelled worse than anything I had ever experienced.

Ruined the whole trip. We had to pack up and drive down to Hoodsport and talk to the rangers. They came up and checked out the bear. They told us there was nothing else we could have done and they were not angry with us. I was still pissed though. Spent 200 bucks on supplies for that trip and it was all ruined the first damn day.

And...I never went out again with just a 22...I can tell you that. Picture of the area below where this happened. It was back in 1998 I think.

 

[TTSX]

That's what you get for using a 6.5 People's Republic of China

 

[TTSX]

With all due respect, elk aren't all that tough. Shoot anything through the lungs with a proper expanding bullet and it won't go far. I've killed 15 elk and the only one that didn't fall within sight was a 5x5 I killed in the Mt. Washington Wilderness. The distance was just over 100 yards and I was using a 300 Weatherby Mag and 180 grain Partitions. The issue, as it is almost every time, was placement. It's my avatar photo.
One of the fastest kills I've ever made was on a bull in 2015. I was shooting a 7mm-08 with 140 grain Partitions. The distance was 346 yards. The bull dropped so fast I thought I had missed, as he was out of sight when I came down from recoil. Out of sight because he was flat on his side. Double lung and exit. In 2017 I watched through the spotter as my nephew killed his first bull, a 5x6 at 409 yards. He used my handloads, 150 grain eld-x from a 7mm-08. The bull went maybe 25 yards. Double lung and exit.
In 2015 my dad killed his largest and last bull, a big 5x5 at 225 yards. A single 140 grain Accubond from a 7mm-08, double lung and exit. The bull staggered for about 90 feet and fell over.
And yes, I've had my share of shoulder joint blowups (what a mess, but sometimes that's all the shot you have) but I've never had a bullet fail to penetrate. Core-Lokt, Partition, Accubond, Eld-x. This year's cow at 380 yards took a single 162 eld-x through the big leg bone about two inches below the joint. That's a big bone right there. The bullet blew up the bone, took out a rib, destroyed both lungs, broke a rib on the other side, and stopped under the hide. I couldn't finish counting to ten before she died.
I'll bet there isn't much practical difference between the 6.5PRC and the 7mm-08 at 400 yards. I'd put my money on operator error rather than bullet failure.



P

It's never the Indian and always the arrow. Haven't you been reading the forums??? Everyone's a mile long sniper, easy.

 

[Superglide]

That's exactly what the first and last sentences of my post were trying to say.

 

[Ringo]

sounds like there's bigger holes in the story than in the elk... use a bigger caliber and know how to work the action... now covid is killing elk...
LOOK UP IN THE SKY, WHAT ARE THOSE FLASHING LIGHTS ???

 

[tac]

Here in UK, where wood stalking is common, as is hill-stalking, shots are very rarely taken over 200 yards, even on the open Scottish highlands or Welsh borders. The reliance on the skill and artifice of the shooter is obvious, rather than a wobbly bit of lead and wet-finger guesstimates.