Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Elk hunting out west

For me its not about magnum versus non magnum its what rifle I most comfortable with . As of now its my model 70 in a 325 wsm, I have a lot of confidence with that rifle and feel what ever I put the crosshairs on will die a quick death. If your comfortable shooting a 243 then by all mans use a 243 if your comfortable using a 340 magnum use it.

Thanks Ingwe,
I do not plan on red lining mine. So I will definitely start low and let the rifle tell me where it wants to be.

Just striving for something "a little" more than an 06, with some nostalgia thrown in.

I have hunted in the "West" 5 or 6 times. It isn't that hard to do when you live only 50 miles from the Atlantic. I would probably fit right in with the OP's magnum question. My most often used traveling rifle has turned out to be a Ruger 77 in 300 Winchester mag.

In hunting new areas of the country, I seldom ever knew what type of terrain or cover I would be hunting or a typical range that the game would be encountered. It has almost never matched the description that was provided by the Outfitter selling the hunt and I want to be prepared for what ever I get into. My elk was shot at a range of 435 yards. I had no idea I would be taking a shot that far off and to me it was a long shot. I was comfortable with it and had practiced at 400 yards in preparation for the hunt. I was told to expect something in the neighborhood of a 200 to 250 yard shot. The 300 Winchester magnum was up for it. My 308 probably would have been too. I was comfortable with the 300 Winchester.

On a hunt a couple of years ago to Texas, I had no information on the typical range to expect for a shot at a white tail. This hunt I carried a 6.5/06. I first saw the buck at 175 yards. He was walking towards me and I shot him at about 80 yards. I was ready for a 400 yard shot, but got one I could have made with my 35 Remington with no problem.

A bear was shot with the 300 Winchester at 15 yards. He died right where he was shot. I was not disappointed. Mule deer at 140 yards, Pronghorn at 295 yards, a fallow deer at 35 yards, axis deer at 75 yards and a caribou at close to 400 yards.

Most of my hunts have been the "once in a lifetime hunt". I knew I wouldn't get to shoot an elk, bear, pronghorn, caribou, or mule deer but once. I wanted to go with a rifle that I knew would get the job done, whatever that turned out to be.

I probably hauled a rifle all over the place that was heavier than it should have been and chambered for a cartridge that was more powerful than I needed, but I felt ready for any shot I might get and it worked every time.

Magnumitis seems to be buzz word for compensation to practice and learn your rifle. If all you do prior is shoot whitetail under 100 yards, you're never going to be able to make a 400 yard shot with a plain duplex reticle.

If you get out and practice at various distance out to 1000 yards,you're going to learn your rifle. Pretty soon, that 400 yard shot will become a chip shot.

Practice, practice, practice....and know your ballistics.

My perfect elk rifle is my Kimber Montana in 325wsm. Lots of power for those instances when you need it, really light package to hike all over the steep hillsides and ridges I frequent in October, and legitimate accuracy with good bullets.

I also have a heavy 7mm Rem Mag for fun range time long range shooting and the occasional hunt, and then I have 3 different 7-08 rifles. One Browning A bolt II that really belongs to my oldest boy as an award for his Eagle Scout, but has taken elk to 360 yards, one Winchester Model 70 Westerner that used to be a .243 Win and now wears a Shillen barrel chamber in 7-08, that my youngest son has adopted recently for his Eagle Scout award, and so I picked up a Tikka T3 in 7-08 for me. 😀

No matter what you have, use it a lot and have fun.

"Practice" is a panacea for any rifle cartridge, including magnums.No more difficult than with a smaller cartridge, if you go about it intelligently.

And it surely is no trick to kill an elk at 400 yards with a standard duplex reticle if you know how to do it, which is no big trick either....just practice.

I never met any magnum shooter with any real experience who believed that you get sloppy and indifferent about bullet placement with a magnum cartridge. But they do allow you to move heavy for caliber bullets at the same or faster velocities as smaller cartridges do with lighter bullets,and that has advantages sometimes.

No doubt there are some wild eyed people out there who believe you can slop bullets from magnums into the edges of elk vitals with good results. I can only guess they have not shot many elk,nor seen many killed.

It is about personal ethics. Yes I can kill an elk with a well placed bullet out of my 308. But what if the shot is not well placed. Trauma from a Higher velocity bullet with more weight. Increases the likely hood of a quick kill. So yes, More energy is better for Elk.

I'd think that, regardless of caliber, if a shot is not well placed; you're in for a treasure hunt, without a map.

I came across the pics from this hunt.

You dont need a magnum to kill elk but I dont see a reason to not carry a more potent caliber if you could shoot it well, at least in open country. In the timber, especially west of the cascades, its more important for me to carry something thats light enough to carry in my hands rather than slung.

My last bull was taken with my 7STW, shooting 160 Partitions.

Wasn't a very long shot, only about 125 yards.

Truthfully, a 280, 7/08 etc... would have done just as well in that instance.

Tony

I won't say either way but I don't think magnumitus is an Eastern thing

I have killed only 3 elk.......300% more than most people I know and work with but.....

My first was with a .270 with 140 grn Accubonds at 2900 fps

My second was with a 30-06 with 150 grn Accubonds at just under 2900 fps

My last was with a 30-06 with 180 grn Accubonds at 2700 fps

...because everything out west looks so phuqqing far away.

all you need is a 30-06 or 308 Win........

and know how to use it..........

TikkaNut,

I usually run a T3 Lite Stainless .308, and it has been stellar on elk so far.

That said, in the interest of full disclosure, I actually used a T3 in .300 W on this years cow. Ends up it was only a 300 yard shot, but the area we have been hunting has lots of opportunities to really stretch the range.

I'll be slumming my 270 and 30-30 this fall on my first trip to Colorado after elk. I like "boring" "old" cartridges and they are what I hunt with 90% of the time for whitetail down here so I'm comfortable with them.

What is it Stick says, "bullets matter more than head stamps" something like that anyway.

The least important thing about your elk hunt is typically the caliber, but it's one that gets a lot of emphasis and questions.

Shot placement and good bullets are more important, but the most important things about your elk hunt typically include how to find them, and how to get them off the mountain.

Of my three elk:

First : 200 yards, 300win, 165 Grand Slam, didn't go far

Second : 450+ yards, 300Rum, 180 Scirocco, stoned him

Third : 125 yards, 7STW, 160 Partition,dropped him in his tracks

In all three places, there were possibilities of very long shots, hence the boomers.

I'd say it was a tossup between the STW and 300Rum on effectiveness. Although it wasn't much of a test of the STW......

Tony

My wife (born and raised in SW Wyoming) has somewhat limited experience with different calibers when elk hunting. She started (successfully) with a .243 Win.,then moved up to a .270 Win.(again quite successful), and took her first moose with a .264 Win. When we thought that we might get to hunt Alaska and Africa, we moved her up to a .338 Win. While she doesn't enjoy shooting it from the bench,it is her only hunting rifle!! She is very comfortable and confident with it. She's taken,antelope,deer,elk,moose,and black bear with it. Could she have been as successful with a lesser caliber? Certainly yes,but again it goes back to comfort and confidence!! memtb