Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting 165 grain Nosler Partition, .30 cal., on Elk, Your thoughts?

capt: I have seen bull elk drop on the spot,run,walk a short ways,and do all sorts of un[redictable things hit with 30/06's and 300 mags using 165,180,and 200 gr Nosler Partitions.Which of these three a guy uses has very little to do with how fast the elk hits the deck,and seems to depend more on where he is hit...it is hard to generalize.Just the way elk are sometimes.

There does seem to be a difference in the penetration capabilities of the three bullets and the 200 gr will out penetrate the lighter bullets, generally.

One pal of mine did not lead a running spike enough at about 75 yards in the quakies....hit it in the pelvis broad side and busted the hips with 165 NPT from a 30/06...the bullet exited and the elk skidded on its' nose...was dead when he got there.I suspect the femoral artery was ruptured.

I have also seen the 165 go from the base of an elks neck(quartering away),travel the length of the neck and blow out the side of its head at about 500 yards.....the 165 seems to have enough mustard and tough enough construction for any rational shot at any elk.Deer and black bear barely slow the things down when fired from a 30/06 and they are hell on wheels on big mule deer and whitetails as well....even more so when fired from a 300 mag at 3200 fps+ but I prefer 180's from the magnums....that said we have used them on everything from elk down from the magnum 30's as well.