Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting 165gr HPBT Sierra in an '06?

Wyo , I' like you i will die before i shoot up all the bullets i have

Nosler seconds, mostly Partition but a few BT.






All three




Both




Both



All three




And there's more, but you get the idea.


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Good job Pharm. Those spike only hunts seem like they would suck.

Not spike only, it just worked out that way. We were happy as hell with what we got. Tough to go 3 for 3 in Oregon. For us, anyway.

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180 Partitions outshoot Gamekings, Pro Hunters and Ballistic Tips in my .300 WM. Think it may have something to do with the base obturating and sealing the bore.

Pretty much seems like a consensus that the 165HPBT kills a lot, big stuff too. I have often though of giving it a go but that BC, which prolly wouldn't matter in a million years, keeps me away.

The bullet choice isn't all that important, particularly at .30-06 velocities. Super accuracy is even less important. Put a bullet in the lungs and the elk will go down shortly.

More important is your ability to shoot well out to your maximum range. I strongly recommend a laser range finder as distances in the mountains can be very deceiving.

My own choice of bullets, for many years, was Speer Grand Slams for my 7mm RM. Not very aerodynamic but accurate enough and they were hammers. These days I prefer North Fork SS, Barnes TTSX and Nosler AccuBonds for all my rifles. Two cows have gone straight down with a .30-06 and 165g North Forks, another with a 150g AccuBond.

If all I had was a C&C bullet, though, I'd use it and worry about other things. Others have suggested Partitions and they are never wrong if you rifle likes them. This year I'll be using Federal's 165g Trophy Bonded Tip in a .30-06 simply because Dad gave me a box of them with the rifle.

Find a load your rifle likes, learn to shoot it well at distance (up to 400-600 yards, whatever is possible) and go hunt. Spend time getting as familiar with the area as you can - including through Google Earth, topo and land ownership maps, whatever you can. Get in shape, too.

Tough for me too buddy. I totally hear you...I don't have to tell you about 3% success rate units ..:



I never think to take pics out in the field. Just haven't been one to do it and have to remind myself to take a pic or 2 (sometimes in weird spots like in the back of this truck) because azzwhipes here try to make themselves feel better with call outs sometimes. They think since you post pics of targets, you don't know how to shoot a live animal. I've killed so much chidt that when I was younger, I had to take time away from the killing fields. 7 years in fact...Just don't tell anyone ...

With all due respect, hunters who get their elk out whole can K my A.

Only because of jealousy. I'm not smart enough to get one out whole, I gotta pack them out on my back. I live for the day that I can see my bull hanging whole from the meat pole.

Waaaay too much work!




Good on ya!


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We drug his azz out on that slick tarp tied around his neck (see pic) . Good thing he wasn't huge!!!

I was part of the team who got this toad out whole. Those guys who hunt the Coast range don't go anywhere without a half-mile of rope.





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Nice critters Pharm'.

Holy chit!! I guess he's a toad . I've hunted the coast once with a buddy from Tillamook. Those guys have some big azzed drum winches in the backs of their pu's. A couple thousand feet of rope comes in handy down there

That's one heck of a Blacktail...

I will stick with Nosler Ballistic Tip 180's as long as they keep making them. I like the harder hit and stability in wind. Just my opinion but my elk kill at 407 and deer at 466 tell me all I need to know with my 06 which is a rem model six pump.

Matches my thoughts very closely. For a handloader, even the most expensive bullets are cheap compared to the total cost of a hunt. In years when I've filled two elk tags and a deer tag the difference in cost between the premiums I use and standard C&C bullets wouldn't buy me a cheap glass of wine with my dinner out. These days I prefer 165g-168g North Fork SS, Nosler AccuBond and Barnes TTSX for my .30-06 rifles and don't give cost a second thought.

I also live in elk county and have gone home empty-handed a few times after letting one walk away. That would be much harder to do it I was a non-resident for whom the hunt might be a rare or even a once-in-a-lifetime event. Moreover I worry more about what happens when things go south than when they go as planned. If shooting a wounded elk that presents only a THS, I want a bullet that will penetrate - i.e. a somewhat slower heavy-for-caliber bullet or one that is stoutly constructed to retain its mass. If an elk is wounded and gets away because the bullet wasn't up to the task, how much did you really save?

If buying factory .30-06 ammo for elk I'd probably go with a 180g if choosing a standard C&C bullet.

Love my Partitions and Trophy Bonded Bear Claws...I'm one of those guys from the SE who, unfortunately, does not live out there. I get a week here, week there, and I'm not taking any chances.

Best of luck with your choice.

Maybe the reason that a lot of posters didn't come back with experience using the 165 gr BTHP is they already figured out it wasn't an appropriate bullet for elk hunting. Will it kill elk? Sure will. Catch a heavy shoulder bone though and the results are probably not going to be satisfying. Catch an elk in the timber at 25 yards, ditto.

Shoot an elk at 300 yards thru the lungs and you will be happy.

My friend Dober has killed quite a few elk with the 165 BTHP in the 30-06. He loves the bullet.

Me, I've only seen recovered ones, and they looked good to me.

wyoelk - This is not directed at you, but since you provided a list, here are some additions and my thoughts on the others.

Grand Slams. I've never been able to get the accuracy I can get with other bullets but 3-shot groups of .9" were common. Good enough in the accuracy department and the 160g 7mms I used for 20+ years never disappointed. Recovered my first one the last year I used them. That one destroyed both shoulder joints of a 5x5 bull and was against the off-side hide.

Nosler Partitions. Took Fed Premium 160g 7mm RM ammo as backup ammo for years. Still have a box around but have never used them on game. Accuracy was better than the Grand Slams, not as good as some others. Still more than good enough. Used by various hunting people I've hunted with over the years with only good results. I load the 170g RN for my .30-30 but have no on-game experience with them.

Ballistic Tip. Very accurate. I buy them from SPS when I can and use them as practice bullets in place of AccuBonds.

SSTs. Very accurate. These also get used for practice bullets in place of AccuBonds.

AccuBond. Very accurate. One cow shot with a .30-06/150g instantly went straight down. Another, hit with a .338WM/225g in the process bones above the spine, kept walking. A second shot to the ribs would have done the job but she was still standing and so got another that enlarged the hole in the ribs and dropped her. Can't blame the first shot results on anything but me rushing the shot from an awkward position. Last year's cow was hit with the same load at 487 yards. She made it 58 yards before falling over. 110g AccuBonds have been very effective on antelope.

X. Very accurate. Sucked on antelope. Very inconsistent on coyotes but killed every one. Never found the entrance or exit on one coyote, blew a softball sized hole in the backbone of another. Refused to use them after the experience on that unfortunate antelope.

E-Tip. Too much like the X to suit me.

TSX. Very accurate in every rifle I tried them in. Couldn't get past my experience with X so never used them on game.

MRX. Very accurate and effective on elk and deer. No longer available so I use the TTSX.

TTSX. Ditto the MRX but cheaper, available and even more accurate. More straight-down DRT's than not.

North Fork SS. Very accurate and effective. If I could only use one bullet this would be the one.

North Fork FP. Used in my .45-70. Most consistently consistent load I've ever developed with E.S. under 10fps common and under 5fps on occasion. Sent some of my handloads to Mike Brady for pressure testing and even he was impressed with their consistency. Have only taken two animals with this load, a 6x6 bull @ 213yds and a mulie buck at 197 yds. The bull went straight down, the buck made it a few yards but was leaking like a water bucket with a couple of .45 caliber holes in it. Lots of red snow.

Trophy Bonded. Very accurate and effective. Haven't used them myself but my hunting buddy has.

Scirocco II. Very accurate. Only use them in my 6.5-06AI and need more on-game experience with them.

A-Frame. Very accurate. Only use them in my .257 Roberts (120g) during deer/elk season and have no on-game experience with them. That said I've seen what larger A-Frames can do and have no doubts about how they will perform.

Cup and Core bullets. Other than the BT and SST listed above and those I use in my lever guns and .22 centerfires, I don't have much use for them except as practice bullets. My first elk with a 162g BTSP Interlock convinced me to use sturdier bullets in my 7mm RM and I haven't looked back when selecting hunting bullets for my bolt guns.

That said, I may use Federal Premium .30-06/165g GameKing for elk this year. When Dad gave me his .30-06 Ruger American he gave me one box of 165g Trophy Bonded Tip and five boxes of the 165g GameKing. Although I think the Trophy Bonded Tip may be the single best bullet on the market per my wants in bullet design, I won't use them unless they shoot very close to the Game Kings that I'll be practicing with. Or I may just develop new loads altogether, save the Trophy Bonded and use the GameKings for practice. I do wish Federal would offer the Trophy Bonded Tip as components.

At the end of the day I'm just glad we live in a time and place where we have so many choices and are free to choose what we want to use in spite of the fact that a .308 Win and a C&C bullet would have doomed every animal I've ever taken just as surely as what I chose to use instead.

Here's the buck mentioned in my previous post, taken with a my .45-70 and a North Fork 350g FP. Shot was quartering away at 197 lasered yards. Not a big boy but it put meat in the freezer and that is what I wanted. Took the 6x6 bull the day before or the day after and that filled the freezer.