I appreciate all the replies.

Some time ago, I asked about the caliber rifles everyone was using and the distance they covered in a day. Between that thread and this one, I've learned the following (which was my goal): As mentioned above, elk aren't shot from one zip code to another and I don't need a 416 Rigby to kill an elk.

I'm from East of the Mississippi, and some hunters from the East sure have some funny notions about what it takes to kill a large animal. It reminds me of someone's sig line on the fire; Joe Average is over head stamped, over scoped and under bulleted......that about sums it up.

I've got a BIL that hunts Saskatchewan regularly and the outfitter recommends a 300Win Mag and up. I asked him if the deer preyed on humans and wore body armor up North. ;-)

24HCF in its entirety, is solely responsible for why my children do not have college funds, my mortgage isn't paid-off and why I will never retire early enough to enjoy the remainder of my life.