Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting The 300 Wby Mag for elk- is there anything better?

You do seem pretty emotional about the .300 Weatherby. About the first clue someone has their feels hurt is when reading comprehension goes right out the window.

I wrote this:


You felt this:


When "Lots of better options" feels the same as "all you need" it gets hard to have a fun discussion without somebody getting butthurt.



Kroo88,

But that really is the point. Almost everyone who claims there isn't "anything better" than the .300 Weatherby is using longer range as the justification.

The interesting thing is that the self imposed range limits for most of the .300 Weatherby fans are shooter limitations, not killing power limitations. That is a bit of food for thought.

If a guy with a .300 Weatherby says he can only shoot well enough to reliably hit elk vitals at 500yds what happens if we give him a rifle with more downrange "power" and more recoil? Could he shoot ethically further or should he actually reduce the range he is willing to shoot?

All things being equal would he be able to extend his ethical range by using a cartridge that delivers less, but still plenty, downrange power but also was significantly easier to shoot from field positions?



Brad,

Sort of and maybe.

We put 10 elk on the ground (all with the rifle in the pic) the weekend before Christmas. 8 out of 10 were 1 shot kills (600yds- 180yds), one cow kept her feet long enough to get a 2nd and one took 3 because of behind the diaphragm placement on the first.

I don't know if a suppressed G2 .308 Win is "better" than anything for thinning cow herds but it sure is the best I have ever seen, in that application.

You work for Winchester? Sounds like the hype they tried to sell us on with the 325 WSM....

What is wrong with the 325WSM? With 200g AB it is pretty much the ballistic twin of a .30-06 shooting 180g AB if both are launched at the same MV with 6" MPBR zeros. At 2800fps:

.30-06/180g AB = 240 yd zero, 282yd MPBR; 500yds = -38.8", 1999fps, 1596fpe
.325WSM/200g AB = 328 yd zero, 279 yd MPBR; 500yds = -40.5", 1907fps, 1614fpe

A lot of same-same there

Just for fun I calculated the numbers for my less-than-max 22", 2742fps .338WM 225g AB load:

.338WM/225g AB = 237 yd zero, 279 yd MPBR; 500yds = -39.6", 2007fps, 21012fps

And I ran a .30-06 with a 165g AB at 2900fps, too:
.30-06/165g AB = 247 yd zero, 290yd MPBR; 500yds = -35.7", 2031fps, 1511fpe

And finally, a .30-06 with a 150g AB at 3000fps:
.30-06/150g AB = 252yd zero, 197yd MPBR; 500yds = -33.7", 2039fps, 1385fpe

I didn't include 10mph drift figures but there isn't much different there, either. At 500 yards:
.338WM/225g AB = 16.3"
.30-06/180g AB = 17.5"
.30-06/165g AB = 17.9"
.30-06/150g AB = 18.9"
.325WSM/200g AB = 19.9"

I would happily use any of those loads at 500 yards (and do use the .338WM/225g and .30-06 with 150g and 165g loads).

For all you new elk hunters, yes, it really is that complicated!

Yes,I remember growing up in PA in the 50's hunting in Clinton County of guys doing LR shooting. The ones I knew sported a .308 Norma Mag. We hunted out of Renovo. As I remember there were matches in a town east of there.

For all you new elk hunters, yes, it really is that complicated!

I'm not trying to make you comply with any rules.

But there are other methods of hunting elk where your guns don't work so well. That's all.

John B -

Those are some pretty awesome bulls.

I dare say, though, that if you didn't have four-footed transportation you might quickly decide that a 10 pound rifle is unnecessarily heavy.

A gentleman's hunt on horse or mules is on my bucket list but for the last 30+ years I've carried my pack and rifle on my back, often doing 6-8 miles a day in and back. For me, lighter rifles are much preferred.

John boy,

What you don't realize is that there are a few people here that do hunt elk and do have great success.

Shooting specialized guns under controlled circumstances doesn't put you in the rank and file category and certainly doesn't make a better hunter.

I can think of a number of scenarios where a 300 roy of normal sporting weight and shooting bullets of good construction would be a waaay better choice than an 11 lb 264 with a longish barrel.....one being you hunt an area with lots of grizz

far as that goes , put the 300 in a heavyweight gun with a fat tacticool stock and 30 inch barrel , its not gonna kick all bad either....

Gosh darn john.Some day I'm going to convince you to trim up those mules so they don't look like gang of hippies,

bellydeep,

Well we are all victims of our experience. Having shot elk from up close in black timber to pretty far in the wide open I really don't know what mean by "methods of hunting elk" and why my gun would not work well?

Care to expound?

Spray Tan isn't here to talk about the 300 Weatherby. He's here to show us he can fold himself in half and suck his own COCK.



Happy New Year,
Dave

bellydeep,

Well we are all victims of our experience. Having shot elk from up close in black timber to pretty far in the wide open I really don't know what mean by "methods of hunting elk" and why my gun would not work well?

Care to expound?



Well I would like a .300 Weatherby even less in a light weight rifle.

The idea that owning all the mules, tack, trailers & trucks plus training, care and feeding that it takes to hunt deep in the wilderness is a "gentleman's hunt" put a smile on my face.

If you ever get the chance to go on your "bucket list" hunt make sure you get all the fun. Don't let the wrangler or guide saddle, feed, picket, or load your mount or the 2 pack animals it takes as minimum to do a wilderness "gentleman's hunt".



Well I am somewhat surprised at the lack of real elk hunting examples where the virtues of the .300 Weatherby made a real definable difference in the outcome.





While I would agree my rifles are pretty special I wonder what you mean by "controlled circumstances"?

Every bull I have posted in this thread was killed on public ground. To try and diminish my hunting as if I was killing bulls in a pen is a schitty way to try and bolster a losing argument and here's your GFY for the effort.

Why don't you post your last 4 (.300 Weatherby) bulls taken in uncontrolled circumstances, preferably public ground and wilderness.



Grizz? Never heard of her. Sounds scary.

This sign-



is about 1/2 mile from here.



"fat tacticool stock and 30 inch barrel" makes me laugh. Hyperbole much??



They are pretty unkempt.

Well I would like a .300 Weatherby even less in a light weight rifle.

The idea that owning all the mules, tack, trailers & trucks plus training, care and feeding that it takes to hunt deep in the wilderness is a "gentleman's hunt" put a smile on my face.

If you ever get the chance to go on your "bucket list" hunt make sure you get all the fun. Don't let the wrangler or guide saddle, feed, picket, or load your mount or the 2 pack animals it takes as minimum to do a wilderness "gentleman's hunt".