It looks like this may well be a well dead thread - but hey I'll try.
I am in the process of deciding on a caliber to hunt elk on Afognak Island in Alaska - and the big choice is between .260 Rem and 308 win. Afognak Elk are Roosevelt Elk and larger than Rocky Mountain elk, and the ones from Afognak Island are even abnormally large for Roosevelt elk. I've see bull elk from Afognak that weighed 1400 pounds - even shot one myself that weighed around 1300 pounds.
Anyway, I have done a lot of elk hunting and all of my elk have been shot with a 300 win mag. But the thing weighs a ton and I don't think I shoot it all that well. And it's not just me. In fact I looked at our group elk hunt statistics and over the years we've shot 15 elk. Non magnum rounds (.308, 270 and 30-06) are 8 for 8. No one has ever failed to kill an elk on our hunts when using a non-magnum. And 4 different people have shot elk with a non-magnum.
With the magnum rounds (300 win mag, 338 win - and also 4 different shooters) the success rate is WAY lower - like 7 out of 15 tries. And only one of those was a wounded animal that got away (A shoulder shot at 50 yards!). All the rest of the failed elk were complete misses or branches etc. And in my defense I was 5 for 5 with elk with the 300 win mag before I had 3 bad shots in a row. And this is why I am dropping the 300 WM.
Anyhow, I own a 270 win and 308 win and 260 rem (in addition to the 300 WM) and am thinking of taking the 260 into the field this year. But it just seems so small. But hard to argue with stats too.
My big worry is long shots. Sometimes on Afognak Island you just can't get any closer when the bulls are out in the middle of a big alpine bowl. Another consideration is weight and compactness. My old 300 WM is a beast. And I am sick of carrying it thru the brush, and up the mountains. On Afognak we generally carry our camp on our backs for 60 miles or so (in 2012 we GPS'd our route as 65 miles). So light and compact means a great deal.
Anyhow, I looked at the ballistics and noted that the 260 seems to carry the punch a bit further downrange than the 308 (I use 140g bullets Sierra Gameking in the 260 and 180g Federal soft point in the 308). Also the 260 has a far higher sectional density. So the 260 is what I am going to go with for elk out to 300 yards - thoughts?
Finally, I will add that I've shot almost 40 sitka blacktail deer, mountain goats, and one reindeer with my 260. I know it well and it seems to drop animals quite decisively out to 400 yards. I like the rifle -only I guess I still don't quite trust it for elk! And finally my 270 has a very long barrel and no ballistic reticule - so I'd prefer to use the short action 308 or 260.
Patrick
