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

79inpa,

The only one listed I would use is the 100 grainer.

I think I posted here, but don't know. Anyway a 100 grain .257 TSX entered the left ham of a five point bull and was stopped by the skin in front of the right shoulder. Shot was from fifty yards.

Of the three bullets you've listed, I'd follow the old maxim:

"Load partitions and go hunting."

100gr TTSX
.
.
120gr PT
.
.
.
.
110gr AB
.
115gr CT

In that order

!20 Partition, or 115TSX would do the job, if you do yours. Tom

I agree with Jordan, I think the 100g TTSX and 120g NP are closer though. I think you could pick either bullet and be just fine. I personally wouldnt trust the 115g CT with elk.

I loaded 100g GS Customs bullets for my elk hunt with the .25-06, unfort, I wasnt able to test them.

Ummm, make that a 120 Partition, not a !20. Opps! Tom

How's that, kyreloader? I edited the post just for you

I have two good friends that are very experienced elk hunters. They hunt with land owner permits. They both kill good elk every year. One shoots a wondeful, state or the art, 300RUM. He probably has $7000.00 invested in his custom built rifle. The rifle, the scope and the 165gn cartridge have been fine tuned and calibrated to shoot very accurately. He runs the most expensive equipment made. He can also shoot very well. He took classes and practices a lot. The other friend shoots a 700 ADL that he has owned for about 25 years. It is a 25-06. He mounted a 3x9 Leupold on it about twenty years ago. He told me that he has a couple of old boxes of Hornady 117gn cartridges that he uses to kill his elk. However he (the 25-06 guy) doesn't like to take shots at anything over about four hundered yards. I have only killed 2 elk so I don't know much abour elk hunting but my friends really know what they are doing. So, I guess a 25-06 would be just fine for elk. The key is, like every other firearm, you must be able to shoot it well.

I have been trying to decide what rifle to take on my first Elk hunt and this thread is exactly what I was looking for. I have read through the whole thread and wish I could say it's cleared everything up for me but I'm still as undecided as I was when I started.

I will be headed to CO next month for my first ever elk hunt. I have a friend who has been scouting the area a lot and will be showing me the ropes. He will be hunting as well so it's not exactly like I'll have a guide. Some of the area we will be hunting is wide open and others are thick timber. The weather will most likely dictate where we do most of our hunting.

I have been shooting a .25-06 for years and love that rifle. It's more accurate than I can shoot it and I have total confidence in my shot placement with it. I hadn't really even considered it seriously until I read the CO reg's that say it's a legal caliber for elk.

I am taking a Marlin 1895G in .45-70 for hunting in timber but my longer range gun is still undecided. As stated I love my .25-06 but I can borrow a .30-06 if I need to. If the .30-06 were my own rifle and I had worked up loads in it, it would be my hands down choice.

Still trying to figure this out.

Thanks to everyone who has offered up opinions here.

SDS

Go wear the target boards out at the range, and do a final push on conditioning between now and then.

With the right load the rifle will do the job, the rest is up to you to get the shot.

SDS-honestly, you should just use your 25 and forget about the rest. It sounds like you're very intimate with it and it'll do you just fine in the open and or in the timber.

As much as I like the Marlin Guide rifles I'd only carry one on a day where I just didn't care if I really hammered an elk. Too often you'll just have the wrong rifle in your hand at the wrong time. And you may or may not be able to get it done out in the open country with the rig.

But with the 25 you'll be able to get it done no matter where you are.

I'd say pile up some elk and then get to carrying something for giggles.

IMO, anyone who feels that the 25/06 isn't a good choice for elk is seriously under expererienced in the art of killing elk.

Dober

Great thread and article by MD. SDS, If I knew that rifle for the last couple decades and shoot it well, that's what I would go with. A borrowed rifle is unknown and you just never know what can happen..Good luck next month.

FWIW, my favorite gun writer growing up was Bob Milek. He was a big advocate of the 25's especially the 257 bob and 25-06.

I'll be carrying my .25-06 for cow elk on the 30th. It's loaded with 100gr TSX bullets. I'm not worried about it one bit.

The 120gn HPBT Hornady was designed by Joyce Hornady specifically for elk. I have met 2 hunters that use it exclusively and succesfully on elk. As it was their only rifles, they seemed please with the results with no desier to go heavier.

When I showed them my gun rack, they smiled and said, "take the .25/06". I never did, but I would.

JW

The last time I hunted elk in Colorado the landowner who was a 3rd generation rancher had a 25-06 for his elk rifle.
I asked him what most hunters used and he said 7mm Magnum and 300 Magnum's.
He also said that if you hit them right it doesn't matter what caliber you use, and if you don't hit them right it doesn't matter what caliber you used either!
whelennut

That right there made more sense than just about everything else I've read or thought about on this topic.

Thanks guys,
SDS

I just got back from a hunt in Wyoming. I was after pronghorn but the elk season started in that area as well and several guides on the ranch I hunted had comments on elk rifles.

In general the consensus was that most visiting hunters are over-gunned so can't shoot very well. They much prefer hunters who show show up with a .270 or something like it, even a .243 if the hunter can shoot it, rather than a .300 magnum.

They were also not crazy about heavy bullets, because they increase recoil which doesn't help shooting. In fact they would rather see hunters bring 140-150 grain ammo in any 7mm or .30 caliber than anything heavier, because the recoil is lighter, the lighter bullets shoot flatter at normal ranges, and seem to kill elk plenty well, and quicker than heavier bullets.

In fact the outfitter and his longest-employed guide are heartily sick of hunters showing up with brand-new .300 magnums. Of course, the reason the hunters do is that their local gun dealer back in Pennsylvania told them that elk are really, really tough and require a magnum rifle--just like some they happen to have for sale.

I know this isn't what a lot of people want to hear, and also know that some will disagree. But these guys guide 20-25 elk hunters a year, and the outfitter has been guiding on the same ranch for over 40 years, and his top guide for almost 20. They have seen a LOT of elk taken over the years.

Hard to beat the voice of experience.

Looks like I'll be packing my .25-06 then.

Thanks everyone.
SDS

one of you referenced a 120 grain hollowpoint boattail by hornady. I only know of a hollowpoint flatbase by hornady in the 120 grain weight. Is it a flatbase or a boattail.?