Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting 25-06 for elk

Carlsbad, think i would take the 300 myself. i generally apply for 34 or 36- dont know much about 16,how is it?

16 is awesome. Down in the SW. Gila NF and any of the units are good a,b,c,d and e. All units would be west of T or C. It's a B to get a tag though. 350 isn't out of the question. There ain't one behind every tree, but they are there.

Whereabouts are 34, 36?

southeast NM,around Ruidoso. IMO i think a better reputation than the Gila.Probably harder to draw but 350 is probably more likely, unfortunately no tag this year.

No draw for me either. Now I just have to decide if I want to pony up for a landowner tag. It's not easy pulling the trigger on a land owner, especially in these times.

Is that over by Lincoln National or am I way off?

Yes lincoln, both border the indian res

i wont pony up becausei did draw barbary sheep, antelope,oryx and ibex
so im extremely content

You are going to be a busy boy. Good to be you right now. I know you have some great goats over that way.

A question.

I killed two elk last year. It was as much just luck of the draw as skill, I make no claim of being a great elk hunter! :-)

The first was a cow at about 300 yards in Colorado. I waited till she turned broadside. The bullet hit her "elbow" joint first then went through the chest; she dropped, thrashed, and died. This was a big animal:



Then I killed a bull in Oregon. This one was at a trot about 150 yards away. I didn't think to lead him, and so hit a little further back than I meant to. The wound below, is the exit wound. The entrance was further forward, and lower, than that. It trashed the back 1/3 of the onside lung, and then barely "broke" the very rear lobe of the offside lung.



So here's the question, and it's an honest one as I'm a noob at this whole killing of elk thing. Would a 25-06 have been equally effective in both cases? Remember, the cow was at 300 yards and the bullet hit a heavy joint first. The bull was mainly hit in the one lung; a smaller bullet maybe wouldn't have broken that other lung? Dunno. Curious what ya'll think.

With TSX's and the ability to shoot, yes....

what were you shooting and what bullets?

what stick were you using? did a good job.

Rem7, Hello! I grew up in Socorro. I am jealous of you for all your NM hunting.

I was shooting a Kimber Montana in .325 WSM with 200-gn Accubonds at 2900+ fps.

I know most will not believe this schit but im gonna post anyway.
two years ago i was hunting barbary sheep,first shot was in high wind and i missed at 425 and proceeded to miss until my .300 was empty. i stuck a single down the chamber and at this time he was (oh schit here we go) 600 yds. HIT EM dead behind the left shoulder with a 180 accubond-it exited out of the center of the right shoulder. no kidding the luckiest shot of my life! call me troll or liar but its a fact.

ok i'm ready-lemme have it!

oh, by the way jeff i think the elk would still be dead in both instances but was gonna say the 25 may not have exited until you said accubond. not familiar with a tsx unless thats the new barnes. prolly would exit also

Jeff O
Nice elk rig right there. A keeper.
Guess you won't be running out of elk meat for a while

No, there's no shortage of meat in the freezer! I gave 1/3 of that cow to my hosts on the ranch (it was a friend of a friend, not something they charged me for, so it seemed right to kick down some meat).

I think we are about 3/4 of the way through that bull now. At first, I was making jerky like crazy because my freezers were so damn full, I needed to make room. If you have kids around, and you want to get rid of some meat fast... make jerky!

Hmmmmm, lots of opinions here. While I've shot deer and pronghorns with my .25-06, I have NOT shot an elk with it YET. I do not think I would be "under-gunned" with it. But I know what bullet I would use. No doubt, the Nosler 120 Partition. Jeff O: You are soooo right about kids and jerky. It seems to go rather fast! I like it with my beer watching NASCAR or uhh, well whatever. Tom

Jeff:Given the choice between a 25/06 and your short-fat 8mm on an elk hunt,I would grab the 325.

Oh yeah

so guys bottom line on this. What bullets of the ones below would break an elks shoulder and still have enough steam to go through both lungs..it has to be 25 caliber... what ones wouldn't do the above deed...they would be slung out of a 25-06 as fast as I can get them to go and still shoot an inch. I want to know this in case an elk was facing me or was broadside and I goofed and put one into the shoulder.

I have 110 grain accubonds
100 grain tipped tsx
120 grain partition
115 grain combined technologies

We've shot them with the 115 CT but at close range and high lung shot. I'd shoot the middle two for what you are talking about.