ok, since I started this I'll give an update. Besides, sitting home with a nasty cold & was told I should do something because I'm acting like a crabby old bastard...… Very un-scientifically added up the responses, not numbers of elk nor numbers of rifles, just the cartridges. Also, each respondent only gets counted for one even if they have shot elk with several different rifles in the same caliber. i.e., I have killed elk with three different .270 Win rifles, but only count one .270 response. Also, not throwing in the onesie-twosie stuff, lots & lots of that. That said, here are the most popular so far.
The top spot goes to the .270 Winchester? How can that be? I see many threads on these hunting forums where the "experts" posting there say that you need more that a .270 to kill elk.