Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Elk and the .223.Why not?

AI you gotta be kidding he asked about elk not elephants, AI too much gun...

Some guy Elmer Something once took an elk with a 32 WCF (32-20) Colt SAA if I remember correctly...

Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should?

Main reason not to is that it increases your odds of taking a beautiful creature and making it suffer a long slow death when you could have used something appropriate and reduced it to possession and fed your family and friends with it for a good part of a year. Yes a .223 can kill an elk if everything goes right. So can a .22 long rifle. But why take that chance? Just to show off? Bragging rights? It doesn't seem wise or ethical to me, legalities aside.

Not gonna get caught in this web of gack, but will say I have not taken or used a 223 on elk.

I will say that for some reason or another I'm quite certain that under certain circumstances the 22/250 and the Swift have done elk for us quite handily. Place it in the arm pit and they can't go far sans pumper or lungs. Or so I'm told....grin

That's it, so don't try to debate on this.

Dober

my sentiments exactly!

I wanna see someone take a week to 10 days off from work,pay for tags, transportation,and the million other DIY expenses;or shell out a few grand (today in some cases 5 figures),on an outfitted hunt,and depend on a 223 on an elk hunt.

Such tricks are fine to talk about, or for someone who lives in elk country, sees them constantly, and wants to pull off a stunt that won't impress anyone with any experience,except maybe himself.

I think any post promoting these micro-calibers for elk should be required to state how many wounded elk have escaped. Seems that that detail is always left out.

not sure if its a case of a typo or two or just lack of experience...huh, go figure ?

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/6087470/1

I wouldn't choose a 223 for killing elk, but I do believe a 223 loaded up with something like 75gr Swift, 70gr TSX would be at least as good or better than stuff used in days gone by.

Had to be a lot of elk killed with old round ball charcoal burners, 44-40s, etc.

Still are.

It's all about understanding the limitations, and working within them.

That's right MM, and sooner or later all rounds reach their limits and usually as we all know the shooter reaches the limits well b4 the rounds do...

On a side note but sort of the same take timber hunting. I'm very comfy using smaller rounds in the timber (meaning sub magums or big bores) reason being I'll take the shot if alls right. If'n it's not I'll not drop the hammer. Some I know will drop the hammer at the sight of elk, not really knowing where they're gonna place the slug. The old get a slug into an elk and hope to sort it out.

In the timber I'm in predator mode, and know I'll get one shot. If I take it, the critters gonna hit the turf. If I can't get that shot then I don't drop the hammer.

Just my way.

Dober

I guess my question would be Why shoot an elk with a .223?
My progression through guns growing up was first a pellet/BB gun to learn with and shoot squirrels and targets with, then a 22LR to replace the BB gun and about the same time a 20 Ga shotgun for bird/rabbit hunting. Then when I was old enough for big game I moved onto a 30-30 then a 30-06. I didn't own a .223 until later on when I bought it as a dedicated varmint gun. I'm thinking this is a typical progression with most hunters and I'm thinking most who own a .223 or similar varmint rifle also have a real big game rifle in their battery so why bother using a varmint rifle on elk when you most likely have a rifle better suited for the task at hand.

I've never shot an elk but have killed a bunch of deer with .490 round balls and a .223. The .223 consistently inflicts more damage upon a deers innards than the .490 balls.

Once again on penetration and those that know what it is supposed to mean in ballistic Gel in different calibers..

There can't be anyone here that can say the 30-30 is not an Elk gun within it's limitations of yardage for effectiveness.

Out of the AR-15...223/5.56

Cartridge : Barnes 62gr Triple-Shock (handloaded).223

Firearm : Gas-operated rifle with 16" barrel length and 1/9 inch rifling twist.

Block calibration : All depths corrected (From 9.5cm @ 578 ft/sec (primary block) and 8.3cm @ 585 ft/sec (stopper block))

Penetration = 17.4"
Average expanded diameter = 0.408"
Impact velocity = 2752 ft/sec

The 30-30 Winchester with 20" barrel....

Cartridge : 160 grain Hornady Evolution bullet (part # 82730).

Firearm : Lever-actuated rifle with 20" barrel length.

Calibration : All depths corrected (From 9.8cm @ 616ft/sec)

Bullet impacted at 2216 � 0.500 ft/sec

Penetration was 17.5"

Jayco

If all you have is a .223 I would say check your game laws, load it properly and properly place your shots. Theoretically it should kill an elk under IDEAL conditions. However, with other rifles to choose from in a battery of larger more powerful cartridges which is usually the case it would be one of the last ones I would choose.

Then there are Polar Bears with the AR-15...

While Herbert waited at one end of the island, Cadzow, on foot, went into the brush tracking the bear.

Suddenly, the bear came out from under a brush pile about 10 yards away. It charged straight at Cadzow, who was carrying an AR-15, a rifle similar to the U.S. Army�s M-16.

The encounter was so close, Cadzow said, he didn�t have time to lift and sight the rifle.

�I shot from the hip, seven or eight times,� he said. �If I had gotten it to my shoulder, it (bear) would have been on top of me. It happened so quick, by the time it was down, it was about 10 feet from my feet.�

Or a charging Black Bear.

The officers tried scaring the bear toward a nonresidential area by yelling at it and throwing sticks at it, Weiser said. He said the entire incident lasted about an hour.

The bear eventually turned around, but came directly toward the officers. One of them fired a single shot with an AR-15 rifle, killing the bear, Weiser said.

I should be wolf hunting instead of playing on the net..Thanx gas prices..

Jayco

I am actually pretty comfortable with an AR in Grizzly country. I would not shoot an elk in the shoulder and expect good results.

Bear noggins and elk shoulders are very different and ballistic gel ain't either.

FWIW, I was on a caribou hunt years ago in the NWT. The Eskimo guide I hunted with had with him an old Remington 700 in .222. There wasn't one bit of bluing on the steel or varnish left on the stock. It had a 4X Leupold with tapered crosshair. He told me that he had killed over 30 Polar Bears and that many grizzly bears with it along with thousands of caribou, moose and muskox....I had no doubt he was telling me the truth. He was a hell of an outdoorsman and ran a skinning knife better than anyone I've ever seen.