The minimum cartridge I would want to use on elk in Wyoming would be a 7x57 or a 7-08. I have seen elk killed with 243 rifles but I have seen elk that got away after being hit with them also. Same with the 25-06. Since I don't have to use the minimum I would use I would take a 270, 7MM RM, 30-06, 300 Win mag, 338 Win mag or a 35 Whelen. I have killed elk with these rifles and would feel comfortable using them again. Were I to hunt Roosevelt elk in western Washington state my minimum would be a light 358 Winchester pushing 250 grain bullets. I guess a 338 Federal would be just as good. My choices are based on personal experience in those two states.
On more than one occasion, I've dug 100gr .243 caliber Nosler Partitions out of Wyoming elk I killed with lager guns, such as the preferred cartridges you describe above. It's not all that difficult to tell who's really hunted Wyoming elk in wild country....
Just curious, did you dig them out of the ass, or lungs?
Out of the ass end. That's why you need something big enough to make it to the lungs from the ass end or hard rear quartering shots.
Last edited by antelope_sniper; 12/22/18.
You didn't use logic or reason to get into this opinion, I cannot use logic or reason to get you out of it.
You cannot over estimate the unimportance of nearly everything. John Maxwell
