Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Elk bullets from this fall..

So far our gang has killed four elk..three bulls and one cow..I thought guys might be interested in the bullets used, distance etc.

The first was a cow my gal killed..It was probably about 200 yards..she shot it with a .300Win. and 165 grain Accubond..the bullet hit infront of the shoulder and ranged backward..the cow staggered about thirty yards and stood, the second round hit behind the shoulder and ranged forward..she dropped right there..the second round was not needed, but by putting her down on the spot, dressing was no problem and loading the animal was a fairly easy job..

The first bull was killed about 300 yards with a .300 Win. 165 grain BTBT..the guy was aiming to hit the elk in the neck just infront of the shoulder..the bull was quartering to him..at his shot, the bull swung his head, and the 165 grain BTBT took him in the head for an instant kill..they had to pack this guy out several miles on backpacks..He was a good 6pt.

The second bull was a smaller 6 point taken at about 400 yards..the elk was heading into dark timber when hit with a 150 grain BTBT from a 7mm Wea. Mag..It is a rebarreled 700. Due to range. wind, and moving elk the bullet struck a bit far back just infront of the back quarters..When the elk was spotted standing in the timber a second shot dropped him on the spot..he only moved maybe 50 yards and was obviously sick..

The third bull was a rag bull, killed by my pal's wife..this shot was about 125 yards in fairly open timber. the bullet hit behind the shoulder and was found under the hide on the off shoulder..the bull was quartering slightly away..It was taken with a 7mm sum and 120 grain BTBT..Surprising performance from such a light bullet..

We still have elk tags to fill..if I gather the deals of more elk will add to this later...

I'm guessing btbt is ballistic tip boat tail...?

If it is the ballistic tip, You and dobber could be held responsible for the start of a cult group called ballistic tip for elk...

The wife made good use of a single 175 gr. partition from the 7mm rem mag on a cow last night. She spined'er betwixed the shoulder blades as it quartered toward her. Found the bullet again the hide from the opposite side of the entrance hole. She usually uses the 45-70 lever gun, but with possible longer shots in the low light overcast conditions of the rainy evening, a scoped rifle was used. With the use of a four wheeler, the elk made it out whole, Good times.

If It was not for equipment break-downs and other pending business have'n to be in front of this computer, I would be out there right now.

I'm the last one in my 'gang to not have kilt one yet. I was along when my brother killed his first elk this year, a nice 6x6 with his 7mm rem mag and 175 gr. grand slams, lucky turd. He killed it first light of the morning and me, brother and the ol' man spent the rest of the day packing, Good times.

Good friend and neighbors family have all tagged out on elk except one of them, plus one masher whitetail buck. All shoot factory fodder with a caliber range from .243 to various 300 mags.

God bless elk season.

boomwack, my pals use the Balistic Tip Boat Tails..I have used them some seasons when I had nothing else loaded..For me I like partitions, but the Accubond interested me..the only thing I don't know is exactly what they wt. after killing the elk..We took her elk to a local processer due to the fact it was so warm. Plus these days I let them do the cutting..but it often means the bullets are not recovered..I still have my tag..Since we have one in the freezer, my efforts are not real serious..elk are work, deer are fun..

Put two .338 cal 185 TTSXs through a smallish 6x6. Neither cooperated and stayed in so I could recover them. Blood trail was massive starting about 10' from where it was standing for the first shot. Elk traveled about 45' total, mostly staggering down a steep slope. First shot was roughly broadside with exit through far shoulder blade. Second shot entered near the back of the ribs and exited in front of the opposite front leg.

I recovered one 30 cal 180gr Partition from a big cow that I hit at a little over 100yrds out of a 30-06. First one hit in the chest with no apparent reaction. The second hit low in the chest and raked up toward the spine as she was trying to get up.

I found part of the front core near the exit wounds and the rear half on the surface of one of the sirloins. Bored a neat hole through the sirloin. Problem is that all of the trauma during skinning, boning and my post mortem was in the chest area that I remember . I found the rear half during butchering at home 2 days later. My cow was the only one whose heart and lungs I examined. One lung was completely destroyed and I have never saw a heart from a deer or elk completely blown in two from top to bottom the way this one was.

We also found the remains of a 180gr Scirroco Rem factory power level II fired from a 300RUM shot into another good sized cow at 150yrds or so. This bullet impressed me looking much like a partition but with a little more weight retention.

One of the guys had a 308 using handloaded Hornady 180gr SST. We found the jacket peeled back to the interlok ring with the core nearby from another cow. I think if my memory is correct that one broke a
rear leg bone.

The 180gr SST did not impress me in that being fired from a 308 at probably 2650fps at the muzzle and impacting at aprox. 100yrds I thought it might hold together better, but the elk died regardless.

we just got back from CO for 2nd rifle killing 2 elk both cows, mine was shot with my 200 weatherby pushing a 165 tsx barnes, through the front shoulder and exited infront of the off shoulder, no recovery 190 yrds, 2nd shot was another cow same distance with a 300 rum running a 165 sst behind shoulder, exited as well so no recovered bullets for us Ron

I have never been able to find a bullet on the off side of the elk I shot yet. This year was no exception; the young cow I shot did not stop the two .338 225 gr TTSX bullets from my Ruger RCM. They are in the dirt somewhere in N. Colorado. Probably would have gone through a pickup engine block afterwards, too.

Great hunts you guys.I recovered a 180 Partition, on the first day of the month. One of very few over a span of 50 years. The cow was almost sraight away headed back into the timber. Hit her just forward of the near hind quarter and bullet was lodged in the hide about 6 inches back from her off front shoulder. Retained weight was 125 gr. Again congratulations on some great hunts.

Got my small 5X5 3 weeks ago in Wyoming. Used a 270 Winchester,
close shot of 90 yards. Had reloads with 140gr Accubonds
and Superformance powder. One shoot kill, bullet blew
chest and keep going. Elk ran about 50 yards and dropped.
Had scope on 2X.

My friend shot his first elk (and first animal with a rifle - he is from OH so no rifles there). I put him on a bull about 730 opening morning of 2nd rifle in unit 54 2 weeks ago. Bull was going up hill and we were already on a sharp incline. Quatering away shot, the bullet went in behind the ribs on the animals right side, traveled through the trunk and came out around the neck. Never once touched bone but went through about 4.5-5ft of elk innards. We didn't recover the bullet.

200gr Accubond at 3150fps from a 300 RUM, 235 yards.

I used a 300WSM Win model 70 featherweight, loaded with 200 grn Nosler Partitions. Anchored the bull nicely. I prefer the .338 250 grn, but this year I had to go light due to a bum arm.

Saturday morning I used a 300 Win Mag with 180 PT's to take a bull at 510 yards. The shot was not a good one, but the bullet entered high about a foot behind the near shoulder and came out the front part of the off side ham. The PT just kept right on going. Found him about 300 yards 4 hours later upside down. He bled out internaly, No tracks, no blood.

One of my pals just told me he dropped a big cow in her tracks at 605 yards..measured with a 140 grain Nosler BTBT from his old 7mm Mag. high shoulder shot dropped her on the spot..

To add to the discussion, I have been using 250 grain Swift A-Frames out of my .338 Win Mag on elk for a number of years. This year was typical, with a frontal shot on a bedded big 6x6 bull at 48 paces. Bullet went in slightly left of center and exited just to the right of the base of the tail. The bull never moved from its bed, and simply fell over DRT.

Bullet velocity was not high, just over 2500 FPS. Penetration is enormous however.

This much bullet is not needed to kill any elk, but it gives confidence when hunting amongst the grizzlies as I normally do.

Other people have boxes of bullets recovered from elk. I do not.

This is a good bullet, and it works very well. I have also had good results with 250 gr Nosler Partitions, but I have only used these two bullets on elk. While I would use either bullet, I prefer the A-Frames only because they shoot better in my M70.

Three friends and I went on a guided hunt on a ranch near here in southwest Montana. By an odd coincidence we all used Nosler Partitions. All four bulls were good 6x6's:

1) Rifle 7mm Weatherby Magnum, with the 160-grain factory load at 3200 fps. The bull was just about broadside on the first shot, and almost fell but managed to stagger 30 feet or so before a second angling-away (and unnecessary) shot dropped him. The first bullet went on through, the other was found in the far shoulder after going through the edge of the paunch, both lungs and the right shoulder blade.

2) Rifle .30-06, with the Federal Premium 180-grain factory load. Bull was broadside at 365 yards and the bullet landed 1/3 of the way up the chest in the crease of the shoulder. The bull ran 45 yards and keeled over. The bullet was recovered under the hide of the far shoulder.

3) Rifle .270 Weatherby, with the 150-grain Wby. factory load. The bull was broadside at 238 yards and the bullet landed high in the lungs just under the spine, exiting. The bull dropped, but tried to get up and the hunter shot again, but the elk collapsed before the bullet got there.

4) Rifle .257 Weatherby Magnum, with the 120-grain Wby. factory load. The bull was broadside about yards away in timber, and the bullet went right behind the shoulder. The bull ran downhill until it ran head-on into a fir tree about a foot in diameter, obviously dead on its feet.

What was the range of the shot with the 7mm Weatherby?

Oops, forgot that one: 155 yards.

I feel so under-gunned. Shot a cow 10 days ago with a 150 AccuBond from the meek 300 Savage. 100 yards tight behind both front shoulders and bullet over-penetrated. Impact velocity of about 2450. Didn't need a blood trail as I watched her fall after going just a few yards. Was trying to fill a doe tag in the river bottom and got a cow instead!

LOL if they used TTSXzy bullets they could kill real Elk!

Whttail,

Good deal!

I have actually heard of elk being killed by the .300 Savage, which seems impossible these days but apparently still happens.