I consider myself a good shot and practice often.
But in the past elk have have taken me lots of ammo to put down. My first was in Idaho where I proceeded to shoot a rag bull 6 times at about 30 yards. I actually had time to reload while the bull was standing there with his head down. Turns out the 180s from the 30-06 were blowing up and not penetrating the vitals. A few years later I shot a spike at 200 yards. First shot anchored him, then I missed several times, end up shooting 8 times. Last elk took 1.
I typically carry a magazine full, plus 10 in the ammo wallet.
