I am joining the conversation with another tidbit. I am a lady, all my elk, and that's not all that many, have been taken with a 300 winmag. At first, that's all I had, a long and heavy BAR inherited from my dad, and then a bolt action with a short (12 1/2") LOP that fits me well. Every elk died. One had to be tracked, I bring that up to say that it was not the bullet, or distance, or rifle... that it was me... I hit it badly, a liver hit, and fine big cow that we did recover. I can't blame anything about that but my out of breath hurried shot. I agree with szihn and saddlesore. The hunter, and his choice of bullet for the job, and the limitations of the hunter, are the biggest variables in the equation. I do a lot of hunting with a 7/08 now, and everything has DRT. I have not elk hunted with it, and should I get to go out west again I will take the 300. Having a rifle that fits you, while LOP is not a big factor for a lot of folks, it is a complete necessity for me, and once I got enough $ to get a rifle that I could cut down ( I was NOT chopping up my dad's Belgium Browning, lol) the fit made much more difference than the caliber. I had a great friend, a cultivated lady that had exquisite command of the kings English, she took in the neighboorhood of 30 elk in her career, all shot with a 270, all easily recovered. She was a cool and collected methodical shot, with excellent ability to limit her shots to the ones that she considered optimal. I think she could have hunted with anything!
I ride mules, hunt every chance I can, and even take my husband with me!
