Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting effectiveness of smaller calibers on north american game

I might as well add my two cents in here also. I haven't read through the entire post, though most of it.
Like others have said, shot placement is most important, with a bullet designed for the job being done.

For the original question about small calibers being used. I think it all comes down to what one is comfortable with. And I don't mean just comfortable shooting, I mean what you are comfortable shooting a big game animal with.
I personally am not comfortable shooting game animals with small calibers. It even felt weird to me to carry a 6mm last fall whitetail hunting. Oh, it would have killed just fine, but I am not comfortable with it.
For big game I prefer a 140 grain bullet and on up. I really prefer the heavies though. I like the Speer 200 gr out of my 30-06 even for deer, 200 gr Sierra in my 300 WBY, and my favorite elk rifle is my stubby little 350 Rem mag with a 220-225 grain bullet.
Where I hunt it is heavily hunted public land, where a lot of years the only legal elk I see is the one I shoot. Shot angles are not always perfect, I have shot through heavy brush and limbs many times. This is where I like the heavier bullets. From my experience, even a 165 or 180 grain bullet will not go through brush without deflection. The 200-250 grain bullets will stay right on path and put the animal down.

Again, just my opinion. Each person will have his/her own idea of what will and can work for them.