The 243 loaded with 95g partitions is my choice for cow elk, never an issue.
I shot two large bulls in Az with a 7 mag loaded with the old style ballistic tip at 3200 fps, range was about 100 yards-150 on a dead run. The shots hit dead center of the animal, height and length. They were dead at the shot. One of them never kicked, the other kicked twice...go figure.
