VII. Thou shalt learn to shoot as swiftly as the hawk flieth, and thou shalt not fiddle-f*** with thy gear, nor adjust thy scope, nor set up thy bipod, for thou hast not time. - 7th commandment from David Petzal’s 10 Commandments of Elk Hunting.
This is why my .300 Weatherby is zeroed at 250 yards with a quality scope with no turret twisting option. All the elk I have shot at seemed to fall down quickly to avoid being shot again. I have also killed elk with my .308 usually at shorter ranges in timber. Do you need a .300 Magnum? No.... not about need for me. Happy Trails
Not exactly our experience re VII. We have watched elk for hours (at 300 to 600 yards) before taking a shot, on multiple occasions. As a general rule, we've also found that the further away the elk are, the more time you have.
All my scoped rifles are MPBR zeroed for a 6" diameter target. For the bolt rifles it usually works out between 250 yards and a little over 300 yards, depending on the cartridge and specific load used. That generally sets me up for shots to 400 without adjusting anything except holdover. Beyond 400 I use the BDC reticle in my scopes, as only one (my .257 Roberts) has a vertical turret adjustment. The BDC reticles have been adequate for me to hit clay pigeons at 600 with a variety of rifles, including my .257 Roberts, 6.5-06AI, .280 Rem, 7mm RM, multiple .30-06, .300WM and .338WM. Don't always get a hit - and in fact usually get a miss with most of the rifles, but the misses are not by much and hit rates have been as high as 75-80%. The great thing about BDC reticles is, with a little practice at 300-600 yards, they are more than accurate enough for antelope to elk - and they are fast.
That said, I do plan for more turrets in the future, but in combination with BDC reticles as with my Roberts. And like you , I haven't found my .300WM to be necessary for any shot I've ever taken. But the first rifles I grab for elk season tend to be are my 7mm RM, .300WM and .338WM.
Coyote Hunter - NRA Patriot Life, NRA Whittington Center Life, GOA, DAD - and I VOTE!
No, I'm not a Ruger bigot - just an unabashed fan of their revolvers, M77's and #1's.
