A Kechika River Adventure

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IronNoggin
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Re: A Kechika River Adventure

Post by IronNoggin »

paulaboutform wrote:
Tue Oct 09, 2018 4:24 pm
... Awesome story and pics brother. I feel truly privileged to have been able to spend a couple days hunting blacktails with you...
Focus now Brother! :lol:
I told you when I believe the main rut is going to go off here.
And I FULLY Expect to see you darkening my doorway right about then for another round at those Timber Ghosts!
And for added excitement, we have another 550 pound plus bruin cruising the area!! :shock:

Looking Forward!
Nog
"Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end."
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DuckHunt
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Re: A Kechika River Adventure

Post by DuckHunt »

Nog,
Thank you for sharing with us. Some can only dream of the adventure you were able to enjoy.

Here's to next time!

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Scarecrow
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Re: A Kechika River Adventure

Post by Scarecrow »

Thank you for taking the time and sharing your hunting tales with the rest of us. Gets me pumped up for my own trip I will be taking in November!!
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IronNoggin
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Re: A Kechika River Adventure

Post by IronNoggin »

The Mystery Bullet

Here are a complete set of pictures of the bullet fired from my rifle which we recovered from the back of the moose's neck:

Image

Image

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The top cartridge is loaded with a Nosler Partition, the bottom with another "Mystery Projectile"
No apparent visible difference.

Image

Another view of the same, Nosler to the Right.
Only difference is the primer type.

Image

From the top two pictures it is obvious (as was pointed out by a sharp eye on another forum) that it cannot be a Nosler Partition (which I thought it was).

For comparison, here is a picture of a Nosler Partition:

Image

The important thing to note here is that the Partition has NO copper covering the base of the bullet. When viewed from the rear, you will always see the lead center due to the type of construction. That is not the case for the bullet which struck the moose.

Confused over this, I sent off a message to my Father, as we used to handload together for a rather lengthy period of time, and a lot of that was for the 300 Weatherby & 300 H&H magnums. The following is his reply:

"Once upon a time Nosler sold a rather lightly constructed bullet they called a Solid Base Boat Tail. It did have a solid base and an exposed lead tip. Some people may have used them for hunting but I never did. They were a very accurate target bullet however and I used them almost exclusively for initial sighting in. You also shot them a lot when you were engaged in long range competition shooting with the 300 Weatherby.

Later they added a plastic tip to this bullet and changed the box it was sold in only sightly. The words Balistic Tip appeared below the words Solid Base Boat Tail.

Still later they changed the box it was sold in completely. Solid Base Boat Tail was dropped and it became just Ballistic Tip. They may be somewhat more sturdily constructed now as it says on the box that they are hunting bullets. I did shoot an antelope with one of these a couple of years ago. He was facing me at about 100 yards. the bullet hit in mid chest and exited just behind the ribs....never hitting any bone. I still use these for sighting in.

My guess is that your bullet was the Solid Base Boat Tail. Your pictures look like it may have a boat tail although I cant tell for certain the moose was far enough away that the bullet didn't disintegrate. But the extreme mushrooming(pretty as it is) prevented greater penetration.

I still have all of the examples mentioned. I will send pic in due course."


Under a magnifying glass I did determine that the bullet in question was a boat tail. That was distorted due to impact, but some of the angle, and the ring where it goes full diameter are still present. I will post the pictures Dad sends if anyone is interested.

So it turns out that I had several of these in my kit when we went up North. Thought they were Partitions, as that's all I have had on hand for a great many years now. Good thing Dad still has one hell of a memory well into his eighties!! Don't know if I would have ever figured it out without him!

Thankfully the few I have of these were loaded with a different manufacturer's primer, and the color is different from all the rest I have on hand. Carefully set aside now, they will be used for what they were designed for, placing neat little holes in paper!

Had that been what I thought it was, the moose would not have moved another inch.
Lesson Learned!!

Mystery Solved! :thumbup:

Cheers,
Nog
"Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end."
paulaboutform
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Re: A Kechika River Adventure

Post by paulaboutform »

Whew....that's like getting out a giant sneeze! :idea: Thanks for the update Matt. :thumbup:

Paul
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Re: A Kechika River Adventure

Post by paulaboutform »

:eusa-think: .....good thing you didn't try dumping a big, black monster bruin and keeping him out of the trees with the ballistic tips. :eusa-naughty: :wtf:

Paul
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Re: A Kechika River Adventure

Post by Cardinalsfanforever »

Thank You, I really enjoyed the read. Felt like I was part of it.
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Re: A Kechika River Adventure

Post by otisbrazwell »

IronNoggin wrote:
Sat Oct 06, 2018 2:19 pm
After the previous day's efforts, I found myself a little worn out. And so it was that I found myself stirring from slumber, only to discover I had slept in some. As I laid there wondering what the rest of the trip might bring, I heard the far off moaning of a cow moose. Hmmm... Did I imagine that? Nope, there it is again!!

Scrambling I was soon in my heavy camo to brace against the morning chill, rifle in hand, and was preparing to head out in the direction of those calls.

Kid's pretty good came a hushed whisper across the campsite.
Huh?
Yeah, that's him that got you going. Any bull hears that he may well respond.
Only ever remember hearing anyone better, and that was an ancient Cree in Northern Saskatchewan decades ago...


Just then the call came again, and DAMN! He is GOOD!
Always prided myself on my efforts to call moose, and have been downright successful doing that over the years.
But this was magical. Better than I had ever been, and still had me yearning to run out there with a ready rifle!

When my Buddy returned to camp, we all congratulated him on his calling.
He blushed with hidden pride, and accepted the comments in a reluctant manner.
Little did we know just what the effect of those calls would have on our next couple of days...

We spent much of the day again watching the animals on Terminus, and their response to the snow that had accumulated.
Most had dropped down a fair bit, but the Big Goat, and the better of the young rams still held court on the highest of country.

Towards late afternoon, we decided to head over to a huge set of moose meadows we knew of which were not much more than a couple miles away. Again we loaded up the little jet rig for a possible extended stay, and again off we went to explore.
As we got to the channel that leads to the meadows, a HUGE Bull Moose appeared - feeding along the side of the channel about 200 yards out...

We immediately landed, and a spotting scope was set up FAST. Moose have to have 3 up front, ten around, or be a spike/fork in order to be legal in that zone. A shift in the breeze suddenly carried our scent his way, and the reaction was immediate! As he turned the spotter murmured I count 12 one side! All I needed!! As the bull raced dead away, I lined up on the back of his neck just below the base of his skull. A little over 250 yards now, bullet would be still climbing from my ancient 300 Weatherby, so I adjusted slightly down the spine. BOOM! The rifle bucked almost unexpectedly against my shoulder, only to come down back on target to see him shake his huge head violently, and race into the timber!!
WTH? 180 partition didn't simply dump him at that range??

We backed off for an hour and a half, collected the tracking dog and his leash, and went in for a boo. The bull had run 100 yards uphill, then laid down. Two drops of blood was all. And he had departed well before we entered the picture. The next few hours were spent behind the dog as he worked out the exit trail. At 3/4 of a mile, darkness dropped over us like a suddenly dropped wet blanket, and we had to return to the boat and make our way back to camp with the aid of headlamps. The moose had not laid down again. At camp the other Ladz jokingly accused me of shootin' for the horns, suggesting I may have put one into an antler. No damn way, I KNOW where that hit...

It was a tough night of little sleep for me. I kept going over the shot in my mind, wondering just what the hell had gone wrong. Before daybreak I was up drinking coffee in the morning's chill, waiting for the rest of my crew to rise and accompany me for an extended tracking effort. Picking up the trail where we had left it the night before, we began to decipher where it lead from there. Into a bunch of deadfall that literally took hours to struggle through. He knew we were in pursuit. And he had not laid down yet again. At another 3/4 of a mile, our crew was drenched in sweat, and more than a little disappointed. Back to camp to rethink and regroup was my suggestion. It was well taken, and it wasn't until early afternoon we made a late breakfast back in camp.

While we were chowing down, the dog suddenly began his I SEE SOMETHING YOU SHOULD LOOK AT whine!
My Alberta Buddy & I glanced over, and saw a monster of a bull moose slightly upstream of the camp, knee deep and swallowing great amounts of water from the river! Nobody Panic (worse thing to say as invariably everyone does each time you say it) and a mad scramble ensued. I nodded towards our Young Gun and smiled at the tall Albertan. Yep.
Danny, get your rifle on him I said, having already centered my scope on the 200 yard distant bull. I count 12 one side came the comment from the man behind the rapidly deployed spotting scope!

My Friend, shoot that bugger right in the heart were my words that followed.
Ka-BOOM!
The bull simply collapsed like a cheap lawn chair, nose first, right into the river!
WOAH! :clap:

Another mad scramble to get the small jet rig launched, as the current pushed the bull towards our shore.
Minutes later a couple ropes were secured, and we managed to push the bugger right to the beach, less than 75 yards from camp!
Did I say BIG?
Check out the size compared to the jet rig!!

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There was absolutely no way the four of us could ever drag or push the weight up onto that beach!
So, drawing straws and two men donned the boots.
Quartering the high side kept the meat clean & dry...

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After which we were able to roll him up onto the beach to finish processing him:

Image

While doing so, we came across a bullet hole in the back of his neck, just below the base of his skull.
And a little digging produced a perfectly mushroomed 30 caliber Nosler Partition.
How that did not drop him on the spot I will never know.
He is only the second of dozens of animals that rifle has taken not to literally drop in their tracks.

Image

We also found another bullet track, one that both entered and exited.
Along it's path, it found the exact item I had requested:

Image

We all were grinning at recovering the big boy, and at the mountain of meat he provided us!
No more MRE's!!!

Image

dude you should be writing for a magazine :thumbup: ...300 weatherby belted magnum thats my elk rifle last elk was @ 463 yrds broad side heart shot. that bulls huge and for him to take lead like that be drinking water next day is amazing some times 300 weatherby zips right through (partition) with out mushrooming that was the case with my elk he did drop were he was standing. i love that heavey rifle. man the dog,boats,spike camp,mountains i want to be there :eusa-clap: thanks!!!!!!!!!!1
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Re: A Kechika River Adventure

Post by Riflemanz »

Very cool adventure! I love the heart pic!
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Re: A Kechika River Adventure

Post by jody5252 »

:eusa-clap: :eusa-clap: Awesome read! Thank you for sharing, what most of us only get to dream about... I was on the edge of my seat. :shock: May God bless you with more adventures, such as these!
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maple
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Re: A Kechika River Adventure

Post by maple »

What can I say Matt......

I hunted moose in Newfoundland this year, chased deer in the Quebec Laurentians, wandered my own deer woods for meat, and congratulated my son on his 12 point harvest. But your exploits humble me....you are a far better outdoorsman than I am, and I'm happy for that. And you're only 58{?}. Many years younger than I, with many more to enjoy. You have had experiences I never will, so thanks for sharing.

Go get 'em buddy.
Don't look at the antlers!! And don't look him in the eye!!

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IronNoggin
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Re: A Kechika River Adventure

Post by IronNoggin »

maple wrote:
Thu Nov 22, 2018 9:37 pm
..... I hunted moose in Newfoundland this year, chased deer in the Quebec Laurentians, wandered my own deer woods for meat, and congratulated my son on his 12 point harvest. But your exploits humble me....you are a far better outdoorsman than I am, and I'm happy for that. And you're only 58{?}. Many years younger than I, with many more to enjoy. You have had experiences I never will, so thanks for sharing.
I am most certainly NOT "a far better outdoorsman" than you or anyone else Sir!
All a matter of right time, right place, and methinks most would do as good or better than I given the proper circumstances!
I simply live in an area, and have the right Buddies to put hunts like this one together.

It very much sounds like you had some most excellent adventures yourself this year, and I would bet most would love to hear about them! :wink:

I'll be sixty in the spring. Even typing that feels very strange.
I don't feel 60, and certainly never thought I would make that milestone what with the lifestyle I've lived.
Feeling it some days though, and that hunt pushed me far beyond what I thought I was still capable of.
Opened my eyes up some, and I plan on doing a little more prep on the body for future efforts.
I really hope there are a few more hunts to enjoy, and tales to write about them!

I am happy you liked my story.
I really enjoy creating them, both on the ground, and in the posts when I get home.
Makes it even more enjoyable to know that some appreciate those efforts! :thumbup:

I hope you continue to enjoy many hunts into the future yourself!! :thumbup:

Cheers & Regards!
Matt
"Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end."
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Re: A Kechika River Adventure

Post by Patcon »

Nog,
I love the stories and the pictures!!!
Charles
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