Okay, I'll get straight to the point - my 14 and a half year old whacked herself two nice elk with a pinned and welded SUITCASE 14.5" .

I found the SUITCASE rifle, put it together, lashed on a S&B 3-12 (same scope the Marines bought a large buy of) and sighted it in.  I managed to shoot a .30" or so 5 shot group and went WOW.  Broke it down and headed off to Colorado with it.

Met Daughter and Mrs. L in Colorado after 20 hours of me driving the stuff up (next year I'm taking volunteers).   Put SUITCASE rifle together on cabin eatin' table that night.

1st day, daughter has a cow in the scope but doddled.  I say later  "Why did you let that one go ?  There are not that many opportunities to fill the freezer up here."  She replied she didn't know she was cleared hot to shoot.  Fair enough.

Next morning, again a long climb for us non-highlanders.  Peeked over ridge and BINGO !!  Daughter has keen eyes and spots 2 cows afar.  Scramble to set up, get her SUITCASE rifle onto a Manfrotto tripod ... into a sitting position.  Range it to be ...

462 yards,  

punch data into Kestrel, and it spits out the number.  Daughter says "Is it okay to shoot ?"  Daughter knows the shot is to the top of the heart. Brad of Trout Creek Ranch starts to speak a long sentence starting with the word "Okay, blah, blah, blah" - daughter hears "Okay" - BAM !! Rifle goes off !!  I hear the whap of the bullet.  She mutters to herself - "It's still standing" - BAM !! Rifle goes off again. She shot it once in the heart and once again through the lungs. Elk pitches over and she turns to me and pumps her fist.  

5  minutes later.

Keen-eyed daughter spots bull coming down hill more to the right.   Scramble to reposition in that direction.  Morning sun is about to blind us coming over the peak.  No time to spare.   Range it  and whoa, that's a fair piece of real estate between us and that 5x5.  

652 yards !!

IIRC, Kestrel said 5.6 mils, but I'm hard of hearing and short on memory.  Anyhow, before I could get out "Don't jerk the trig ..." BAM !! Rifle goes off !!  Bull turns and ducks behind cover.  Daughter says she can see him and that he's still standing. BAM !! Rifle goes off again.  Up underneath us several more elk come crashing through right under our nose.  That distracts the adults, but daughter says she saw bull pitch down behind tree.   Gather kit, and start to hike out.  Sure enough, bull was right where she said it was and we got a pic of the bullet-punched heart.  Forgot to ask processor if she hit second shot or not. No blood behind the diaphram of either animal.

Good shootin' and a chip off the ol' block.

Took her orange off for some of the pics  -  note her lucky t-shirt  -  ALWAYS LETHAL by UnderArmor  





















" Both ladies have bagged their bulls "

That's McKenna Carnahan standing (in pink) on my daughter's left.  McKenna is Brad and Brenda Carnahan's Top Shot and Top Shelf  daughter.  

Very cool! Time spent with the kids is always a time well spent! Those SB scopes sure are gold medals!

Outstanding.

You have a reason to be proud!

That girl Those girls can shoot.

I thought only men had bad listining skilz.    Nice story and pics!

Good stuff Mark, thanks for sharing!  Nice shootin to you daughter!


How do I get on the volunteer list for the next run....

Now that's some damn shootin'!  I'd be proud that's for sure.  Sounds like when my fiancé killed her first deer.   I was like, "take a deep breath and sq....(BAMMM!)". Deer dropped like a sack o' taters.

Awesome.  What load?

Good shooting your freezer will be full now !  Any info on the tripod setup ? Hell maybe some info on the suit case gun ?

Edit to add I see Manfrotto tripod

The tripod setup looks like a Manfrotto 055CXPRO3 with a Manfrotto 322RC2  and an LT666. I have the same setup for Nikon Cameras and my OBR as well as my Stealth. Its freaking rock solid and is light as hell to move around.

Looks like a nice setup .

I wished I lived in a area that I could do those kind a things with my 3 girls.

Good job dad

Awesome shooting! Doesn't it feel great to take the kids hunting?!

JIm

Great story and awesome pics, Mark, thanks for sharing! Congrats to both your girls on their bulls and their shooting skills!

I'd give anything to be able to go hunting with my father one last time

Here's a pic of that hound as a pup.

Job well done. There will be ample meat at the LaRue homestead this winter. Sounds like she listens like my other half. Two years ago a nice buck came out of the wood line, I say," Do you want me to shoot that one?" The last word wasn't all the way out of my mouth when I hear the round go off and see the buck drop in his tracks.

Is that a German Wire-haired Pointer?

Very cool. Your pup looks great too all grown up

That's sweet, ya'll enjoy the backstrap!  What kind of ammo?

Only one thing better than a successful hunt ...




... When it's your kid that is successful.

From another thread ...

Cool

Ha ha yeah that is what I thought too.   Somewhere in there is a lesson about communicating when the adrenaline starts.

^this

Nice pics, nice critters, nice job on the hunt.  I only have three other things to say:

Elk backstrap on the grill.
Elk steak on the grill.
Elk roast in the (big) crockpot.

Drool.

Sign me up to volunteer !!

I use RRS L-Plates on my cameras & a universal plate on my spotting scope and a Arca-Swiss style screw clamp on my ball heads. I wish LT offered something like the LT666 that the other side had a milled dovetail that would interface with my mounting system. I know I could cobble something together with a universal camera plate and one of LT's clamps, but it wouldn't be as good as one milled out of a solid block. I have the older version of that tripod, a Manfrotto 3021BPRO, though it's not as light as the carbon fiber ones.

 

So I guess when she starts dating you can skip the whole "cleaning your guns" routine and just show them these pictures and say: "652 yards, think about that before making her cry."

Very cool story.

In other news, Mark's moose hunting expedition didn't turn out quite as he expected.

rofl

Thats a Griffon if I recall correctly.

I can see that. If it is a griffon they come from the same lineage as GWP's.  I have a GWP (german wirehaired pointer) is why I inquired.  We thought she would be closer to the look of his pup but she turned out to be a slick-coat...  Great dogs!

^ ^ ^
By the eternal !!  You have far fewer things to pick out of that coat !!

True, she still loves the muddy swamps tho, and will go anywhere to get a duck...  The whole group of breeds are amazing and great for families!  Beautiful pup LT!

Also, congrats on your daughters elk and sorry for hijacking your thread.

345

I once made a 250 yard shot on a muzzle loader. It looked like it went down hard, but got up and ran when I was about 150 yards away. I had to chase it nearly half a mile through snow.



Good on you for being able to carry it 600 yards out. I decided after spending 10 hours carrying that thing back to the truck, that I'm never taking a long shot again on an elk, period end of story. For the first three days I was so sore I could hardly move.


 

I've got a GWP myself. A field and slough machine. Best dog I could have ever asked for. Tips the scales of 90lbs of solid German muscle

My daughter was 7 in the avatar pic. She made it on the news that night when they happened to be at the range that day. It was her first time to shoot her pink Crickett. She's just turned 8 and can shoot out the eyes of the zombie pig target at 60 feet.

Congrats to you, your wife, and especially your daughter.

Maybe with any luck she can practice one day with a LaRue Tactical. Insert praying smillie here.

Way to go.  That put a smile on my face.

Impressive!  Very cool...

Having elk tonight.  

Bumped into this.

Can you imagine the carnage if the "crazy ex-girlfriend" meme chick could shoot 652 yards...

Congrats ML and galls! Looks like some good eatin. With shooters like that, you're going to have to pull a CNC out for more freezers.

From "Overly Attached Girlfriend" to "Under 1/2 MOA Girlfriend!"

I've heard many amazing tellings of late, and this one is amongst the top...you are a blessed man.  

Remember when Forest Gump's pal started listing all the recipes for shrimp?

Change it to elk. You have a lot of eating to do.

Was gonna say I had elk stew just last night, but by the time I got to it,  it was elk-flavored vegetable soup.

That is fucking kickass.

I have yet to draw elk tag or even get a fucking deer.

Top notch.

Very very cool

Awesome story!!

Congrats to your daughter and a very proud Dad. My fondest memories of growing up are the times I went hunting and shooting with my Dad! Those are memories that will stay with her forever!