So, what's it based on, that's the question I want numbnuts to answer. Because it'll be entertaining as hell.
Okay, please don’t shoot the messenger! What follows is my, often-paraphrased and/or summarized, version of Boddington’s explanation in the subject chapter. Please do not accuse me of promoting or agreeing with any of them, as I am just summarizing them.
Elk are really tough.
Everything from bows, muzzleloaders, handguns, and powerful rifles can and have cleanly taken elk.
Handgun and bow hunters intentionally are limiting their range of effective fire.
There are only a few presentations that work for arrows.
.24 and .25 caliber rifles have reduced effective ranges versus larger bores because, other than a head or neck shot, the only other one that reliably will work, due to the reduced energy produced by these rifles, is a double-lung shot that often doesn’t present itself.
If you're going to accept that limitation, might as well avail yourself of the better-timed archery and ML seasons.
“Does this mean that these cartridges should not be carried into the elk woods? Not necessarily. Truly expert marksmen … can indeed make them work miracles. This is especially true if they live in elk country” because they “can wait for the proper opportunity to present itself ...”
“[I]f the object is to get a nice elk—and especially if the hunter lives far from elk country and has a limited amount of time to hunt—then it seems to me that the sensible approach is to have the most adequate tool available…”
He once saw a big bull take eight “good hits” from an 8mm RM before going down. A .375 H&H likely would have done no better, but his memory of the incident informs his rifle choices.
“How much energy is actually needed is impossible to define, and there is probably no exact figure since so much depends on shot placement bullet construction, and even the mental state of the elk.”
Boddington prefers a 2,000 ft-lb minimum at impact for elk, “but, if I had to choose, I would take bullet weight over energy every day.”
A 175gr 7mm RM is his personal minimum for elk.
Then, he starts to go through the merits of a bunch of specific cartridges.
Then, he said that those who shoot the .340 Wby are the truest and most-honorable sons of God.
Okay, I made up that last part, but it’s true.
That chapter was written in 2000. In his 2005 writings on the subject, he makes some of the same points, but omits any mention of a KE lower limit.
