Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Is a 30-30 enough for Elk?

The term "undergunned" is a funny thing to me in application since context is crucial.

At one extreme are those of the "it can do the job" pursuasion. There are varying degrees of this of course but the basic premise is that "caliber X" is capable of killing anything that's ever walked "if you do your part" because somebody has done it before. Larry Kelly killed just about everything that walks with a .44 Mag revolver, including elephant. So what are you gonna do, say a .44 revolver can't kill an elephant? Obviously not, but that doesn't mean I consider it something contextually appropriate for that task either.

At the other end are those will will insist that anything less than a .300 magnum is practically inhumane for anything above antelope or, perhaps, smallish whitetail.

So, will a 30-30 kill an elk? Well, of course it will. So will a 25-35. I don't think of either as great elk calibers but it has nothing whatever to do with what they CAN do (which is kill elk severely dead) but what they are very ill suited for, like a 1/4ing shot at 225 yards. If presented the elk (or big deer for that matter) of a lifetime for that shot I don't want to be thinking about what my rifle CAN do. No, you don't need a .378 Wby either but for the shot I've described above I consider the 30-30 pretty darn iffy. (And just to head off another pet peeve of mine that's the best shot you're going to get. None of that "Well, a real hunter would become a wisp of smoke, silently flank the elk using raw masculinity to supress their scent, and take him down with a Vulcan nerve pinch." stuff)

I've got a friend that's never, in his entire life, fired a shot at a deer from over 100yds with the vast majority being 70 or less. That's how he hunts. He's done all of it with 30-30 or .35 lever actions. In the context of how he hunts he simply doesn't need anything else. IF you are content to only be hunting in such a context for elk then you would likely do fine with your 30-30.

I've probably just been very wordy to get to this question. Do you want the shots you can and can't/will and won't to be decided by your ability or your rifle's? I always hunt with way plenty rifle for whatever quarry I'm after under the conditions I'll be hunting. For me and elk that's a .340 Wby. Do I (or anyone) need such a thing to kill an elk? Nah. But there is no situation I will ever find myself while hunting this hemisphere where that caliber doesn't exceed my skill to use it. I like that.

I wish you luck regardless!

I too set my range at 150 yards, had a big 7x7 at 200 broad side, and although I knew I could hit him, I stuck to my limit and let him walk,

ive got a 1908 model 94 thats been in the family since new.all of us boys used it for elk and i still take it for my backup rifle.in 2000 i used my 22-250 to drop a 4 point bull.i head shot it,to answer your question yes the 30-30 is fine as long as you know your and the rifles limitations.i hope to see some pics this next season from ya

I haven't shot an Elk with it yet but my 338mx is very accurate with Leverolution ammo. With that said, I see a 45/70 in my future just because.

I've killed more elk with the 30-30 than 30-06, 25-06 and 7mm rem mag.

the bull in my avatar I took with a 30-30, I too set my range at 150 yards, had a big 7x7 at 200 broad side, and although I knew I could hit him, I stuck to my limit and let him walk, its only antlers. 2 weeks later I took the 5x6 in the picture with me. he never took a step. and I did it with el cheapo factory ammo (before I reloaded). it will kill em dead, just limit your range and you'll be good to go.

Guys like to bring up bow hunting when the talk turns to so called underguned calibers.

Arrows kill differently than bullets. An arrow cuts through the vitals, and the animal bleeds out. You only need enough energy to penetrate through the animal. That really isn't that much.