Ive never lined up an elk in my sights must less ever shot at one, so take this with grain of salt. Ive noticed with whitetails that i like bullets that hold together, partitions, barnes etc. As a youngun, i was told to aim right behind the shoulder and id hit lungs, heart etc. With cheap old bullets id put em in the boiler room and they would always run off. So i shot a few in the shoulder, the bullets would blow the shoulder apart and deer would run off limping. Bullets would be tore all to pieces. I started shooting premium bullets and putting it high shoulder and they drop in their tracks. Havent recovered a bullet yet and you can almost eat up to the hole. If I ever get the chance to hunt an elk, you can bet your ass Im going with something I know will penetrate. After shooting big bores with big heavy slow bullets, ive realized that you dont need that whiz bang magnum to kill stuff, those big bullets put em in the dirt and dont blow em all to pieces in the process. Im far from an expert and just starting reloading and experimenting. From what ive read, if I was going after an elk, id try a hard cast conical of some sort or one of those barnes sabots.
