Under good conditions your caliber and bullet choice will work. Under questionable conditions you are pushing it. If the animal is quartering or the range is pushing it you could end up with a wounded elk and a long track or lost elk. Bigger caliber and heaver bullet. My brother guides elk hunters out of Cody, he uses a 35 Whalen with a 250 gr. nosler part. That is his choice of an elk gun. Until you have wounded an elk and not retrieved it in time to salvage the meat you can't understand how important it is to hunt with the best combination of caliber and bullet weight. I made this mistake.
