Doodlebugger45
New member
I hadn't thought about this until my business partner told me this story about elk hunting this fall. Good to keep in mind.
My buddy went elk hunting this fall with his brother-in-law on my buddy's ranch near here. Like a lot of hunters, the brother-in-law carried a revolver in addition to his rifle. Some guys do that in case they need a follow-up kill shot when they walk up to their elk.
So, brother-in-law makes a pretty good shot on a good bull elk with his .270 Win. The elk goes down after about 5 steps. My buddy and brother-in-law walk up to the elk about 100 yards away and the elk is still kicking. Brother-in-law happens to be carrying a .357 or a .38 (I don't remember which) in a holster on his belt. As they walk up to the elk, he pulls out his pistol, intending to use it for a kill shot behind the head rather than his .270. My buddy hollers at him "NOOOO!!!" and barely stops him from shooting. He tells brother-in-law to use the rifle or his knife instead. BIL shoots the elk with his rifle as instructed.
Before the BIL could even ask why he was so insistent on doing it that way, well from out of the trees walks the game warden who had seen the whole episode. Game warden was grinning and said "yep, that was close there, I almost had you". The thing is that a .357 is not legal for hunting big game here. For handguns the legal minimum is a cartridge that fires a bullet at least .35" in diameter AND has an energy of at least 500 ft lb AT 100 YDS.
Yeah, it's a silly rule. But yep, the game warden was entirely ready to give him a stiff fine for dispatching the elk with an illegal firearm. It pays to think about those things.
My buddy went elk hunting this fall with his brother-in-law on my buddy's ranch near here. Like a lot of hunters, the brother-in-law carried a revolver in addition to his rifle. Some guys do that in case they need a follow-up kill shot when they walk up to their elk.
So, brother-in-law makes a pretty good shot on a good bull elk with his .270 Win. The elk goes down after about 5 steps. My buddy and brother-in-law walk up to the elk about 100 yards away and the elk is still kicking. Brother-in-law happens to be carrying a .357 or a .38 (I don't remember which) in a holster on his belt. As they walk up to the elk, he pulls out his pistol, intending to use it for a kill shot behind the head rather than his .270. My buddy hollers at him "NOOOO!!!" and barely stops him from shooting. He tells brother-in-law to use the rifle or his knife instead. BIL shoots the elk with his rifle as instructed.
Before the BIL could even ask why he was so insistent on doing it that way, well from out of the trees walks the game warden who had seen the whole episode. Game warden was grinning and said "yep, that was close there, I almost had you". The thing is that a .357 is not legal for hunting big game here. For handguns the legal minimum is a cartridge that fires a bullet at least .35" in diameter AND has an energy of at least 500 ft lb AT 100 YDS.
Yeah, it's a silly rule. But yep, the game warden was entirely ready to give him a stiff fine for dispatching the elk with an illegal firearm. It pays to think about those things.