Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Am I Overthinking My Elk Rifle?

The Model7 with a fixed 4X leupold will weigh just over #7. My caliber of chose in that weight rifle would be 7-08. Recoil should be pretty tolerable too.

1. Ditch the BAR and get something lighter.

2. If the scope doesn't have a drop compensating reticle, get one that does.

3. Practice out as far as you can. Even if you don't end up taking a 400-500 yard shot it will help you improve your shoooting at shorter ranges, too.

4. Practice a lot.

5. Get in shape.

6. Study the area you plan to hunt. know where the elk are likely to be and where they are likely to go. Maps, Google earth, people familiar with the area, anything you can find.

Bingo . I have a BAR II which i have owned for about 6 months chambered in that gay 270 Winchester with a Leupold VX-R mounted on it. Heck of a nice gun and I have owned about a dozen of these in either 7mm 30-06 or 300 win mag. This is the lightest one and shoots factory ammo as well as any bolt gun.....well maybe not like a Tikka T3

I think you are over thinking it for sure. In all the years elk hunting ( which are a lot) I have run across a lot of NR hunters here in Colorado and they mostly bring what they hunt deer with in MN, PA,OH, everywhere and they all kill elk when the opportunity is there.

It makes more of a difference of how good a hunter they are vs what kind of rifle they carry. A lot of them from MN,WS and PA carry the Remington Semis, usually in.06 or .270,as they are use to hunting in heavy cover where shots are fast and close. Some carry levers ,even in 30-30. I every once in awhile hunt with Marlin 94 in 44 mag.

The horror stories I hear of missed elk, are usually with hunters who show up with a new rifle that they have no experience with or someone told them nothing but a big magnum will kill elk and they quickly get recoil shy.

Bring what you have, spend your money on good accessories, but not necessarily every high tech gadget on the market. Spend your time on researching the area you plan to hunt

Get in shape, but that doesn't mean you have to run 10 miles a day carrying 50 lb pack .Juts reasonably good muscle tone and cardio workouts

Good advice here.

If I was to rank items of most importance, I'd likely start with being in shape. You can have the best elk spot on the planet with a gazillion 400" elk but if can't get to them, you might as well stick near camp. Next would be learning to hunt elk. I considered starting with this one but have taken people to great spots but they couldn't make it to where we needed to go. Third is attitude. As Mark D used to say "show up with a PMA - positive mental attitude." Long hikes, steep slopes, few elk sitings will have the Craft-Matic calling your name after a couple days. Fourth is equipment in general. The gun is not rocket science but the thing we all obsess over. I'm guilty as anybody. A lightweight 30-06 is God's gift of an elk rifle. The Kimber Montana is pretty dang close to perfection in that respect.

If you like the BAR, then by all means take it. A friendly word of advice - them hills is steep and oxygen is in short supply. I've heard people say to lose an extra couple of pounds instead of switching rifles. Suggest you do both.

My first elk hunt saw me buying a new M700 BDL in 338 WM. It weighed 9 lbs but I was going to be ready for the 'tough shot' and have the horsepower to make it happen. Did manage to see elk and a bull but the thing that I recall most was how heavy that rifle felt after hiking around at 10,000 feet for a couple of days.

After having killed a few elk now, the 30-06 should be the standard from which all other rifles are judged - at least for my style of hunting which is mobile and getting to far away nooks and cranny's. Plunking a 180 Nosler at 2750-2800 into an elks lungs at 400 yards will yield a dead elk. A 180 Nosler at 2800 drops something like 16-17" at 400 yards. Basic top of back hold. 400 yards is still a long way.

You gotta get to the elk, you have to find the elk, and you got to be able to hit them when you see them. Not really many ways to shortcut the first two and a bunch of ways will get you the last.

Good luck.

I much prefer a bolt action to other actions.. If you like an 06, pick the bolt action of your choice..

I think many over think their choice of rifles for hunting; myself included. There is nothing wrong with the BAR or the Savage 99. Bring both. Use the savage as a back-up or hunting dark timber.

If you want something lighter, there are several good choices out there. A Kimber Montana in standard chambering would be hard to beat.

You mean something else will????? The magnum crowd aint gonna take that lightly.

Thanks for all the responses guys.

I'm not familiar with the terrain we were supposed to hunt as I was a "tag-along" but was told to be ready for up to 250 yard shots. I'd like to think I could move in closer than 250 yards but thats coming from my eastern hunting perspective. Seems a 308 bolt would be just the ticket for a lighter weight rifle.

I had spent time and effort getting into shape and shooting and will continue to do so in hopes of going next year.

I'm in no rush to dump the BAR either. However, I may jump if a deal on the right 308 (or 30-06) bolt gun passes my way.

Cmon...admit you just want to buy a new gun.

I hunted my whole life with a lever action 30-30 with no lost elk. What you think you need, and what you want are different.

That an interesting point.
The BAR as well as any decent firearm can take elk.
Competency with the firearm is a great thing to have.
Know your firearm and your capabilities practice often at different ranges and positions will provide the greatest returns when it comes time to pull the trigger in the field.

It all depends on whether your primary focus is the rifle or the hunting. For most kinds of elk hunting, the number of rifle choices are daunting. Most of them will probably work for 95% of the elk hunting that occurs, provided they shoot where they look and the guy with his finger on the trigger can shoot.

If you want to shoot elk from more than a quarter of a mile away, the choices narrow somewhat. Stretch it out to a half-mile and you have eliminated all but a handful of choices. If you like to prowl thick timber and shoot elk out of their beds, the choices narrow again, but not as much as with the long range shooting.

For me, I want a rifle in which I have confidence, one that I can carry for the kinds of hunting that I do, and a cartridge/bullet combination that will kill quickly and humanely. Any number of rifles commercially available will probably fill the bill. After that is where the "loonyism" kicks in: the choice of bolt vs. lever vs. semi-auto vs. single shot rears its ugly head.

I am a bolt action and single shot kind of guy, but I prefer CRF bolt actions and falling block single shots. I have a few high-dollar customs that I like to shoot and fondle. However, I like my elk rifles to be pretty much impervious to the kinds of abuse that go with the sport. At this point, I have a couple of favorites that work for me and a few more that would work just as well if I actually took them hunting. Being a certified loony, I can imagine having just one elk rifle, but right now that ain't gonna happen anytime soon.

Want and need...there's allot of truth in both your statements and applies to much in life as well

Actually thought about using my 1952 300 Savage 99 but wouldn't want to D&T for a scope. Of course the peeps on it could work but I digress.

Aren't you glad I don't think I "need" a 300winmag or larger?

Interesting you mention this. Prior to deer hunting this year, I took my 300 Savage 99 and BAR 30-06 to the range to not just insure they were both sighted in but to decide which one to take on the deer hunt. Honestly tried to approach the bench with no pre-conceived notions...at least the best I could. Both were sighted in but I intentionally spent additional time just shooting several rounds through each of them. For whatever reason(s), I felt more confident with the 300 Savage. Hence, the rifle that went north with me last week.

I can make the decision a bit easier for you. Do want to sell the Savage 99? I've always NEEDED one of those.

My Tikka .270 was a pleasure to pack in the mountains this year. I mainly carried my 35 Whelen, but when the weather turned south I grabbed the Tikka. I'm in decent shape, but the Tikka was more pleasent to carry than the 700. The Tikka is light, has a great trigger, and is accurate too.

Dude. It's easy, don't overthink it.



In a pinch, you can really turn the flame on with one of these little rifles. I prefer the 99F lightweights with 22" barrels.

This ^^^^

The recommendations crack me up. Not because I disagree but because the "West" covers a lot of ground!

I have several rifles that are ideal for elk hunting in the west, they are not all the same.

Depending on where you are at you may find a short barreled quick pointing rifle is ideal. You may also find a long range stable platform is ideal.

My two most used are a Ruger m77 in .338WM with a 3x9 Leupold and a Rem Model 600 in .308 with a 2.5x scope. One is very light easy to carry and quick to point, the other is quite accurate and easy to shoot at better distances. I also have a .300WM but it hasn't been used as much. It's great for open areas but not my cup of tea where it's thick at all.