I have hunted elk for about thirty years now; not every year but intermittently. I started in the late 80's just before I got enamored of the 340 Wby due to a Ross Seyfried article on it in Guns and Ammo IIRC in the early nineties. In a couple of years a Rem 700 I had went through a couple interactions from a 270 to 7mm Rem Mag to 338 and finally to the 340.

My first couple of elk hunts were without punching tags and then I started to kill bills, about 11 and several cows to this point. While the majority were killed with the 340, I killed one with a 45-70; another with a 45 Colt and one with a 30-06.

I really came to appreciate not only the 340 as a cartridge but equally so the oft retooled 700 in a Brown Prec Classic stock that I believed mitigated recoil very well and that I could shoot. There is no doubt the 340 with 250-grain bullets, 225-gr NP's, and later the Barnes 210-gr TSX when placed well left no doubt as to effect. It's a masterful cartridge for large, soft-skinned big game but needs first to be mastered itself. Even at only 8.5 lbs scoped it began to get heavy.

Last year I hunted the Wind River Range with a 300 Wby and didn't get a shot. It seemed too heavy to me also.

Now, I'm in the paring down stage and while I have an elk hunt planned for 2018, I expect it will be my last... but who knows. Anyway, I will be carrying a 6.25 lb (scoped) 284 (sort of a short 270) with 140-ft TTSX's or some weight AB's or NP's. Which ever way, I have no reservations about its capability on a bull.

Now if I could just get somebody to carry some of my other stuff for me..


Last edited by George_De_Vries_3rd; 05/06/17. Reason: Icon