Most of the readers of this forum likely have a number of different centerfire rifles chambered for a variety of different cartridges. And those who have killed some elk have probably used more than a single rifle/cartridge combination over the years. Some will be favorites, but others worked just fine too.

In some cases, an elk hunter favors a particular rifle/action/whatever over most others, and cares a bit less about exactly what cartridge it is chambered for. As long as the hunter has his trusty Remington M700, he doesn't worry too much about whether it is a .25-06 or a .300 Win Mag.

In other cases, that elk hunter has a strong liking for a particular cartridge/bullet/whatever over other choices, and he values having the right chambering/ammo/bullet choice more than he worries about which rifle he grabbed off the rack. As long as this hunter can use his trusted Remington Core-Lokts, he is OK with shooting a Ruger Number One or a Savage bolt action.

Most elk hunters are a mixture of those two ends of the spectrum. The type of elk hunting a hunter does, the conditions under which the elk are likely to be hunted, past experiences, and a variety of other factors will all tend to make a thoughtful elk hunter favor one thing over another.

So the question is this.

As an elk hunter, which do you value the most? The rifle or the ammo?

WyoM70