First let me say I have no objection as to what legal minimum you use up through whatever you wish to use. I have never had to shoot further than 225 yards to kill elk and have shot inside of 125 yards. Have used 338 Win Mag (250gr Hawk SP at 2,650 fps) 444 Marlin (280gr older CorBon SPX at 2,250 fps) and 308 Win (165gr NPT at 2,775 fps). Most of my bull elk were encountered in heavy timber and dead fall in late season Nov. Colorado hunts. The 308 Win works very well out to 300-350 yards and I would classify it as the greater precision weapon over the other two and many others based on accuracy, recoil, barrel length, rifle weight as well as getting predictable bullet performance up close and far away. The 300 Win Mag is less predictable, especially at close range with the speed it travels, but then again it’s all about the bullet. Many will sing the praises of a mono bullet for the 300, but then again passing a mono through an elk at short range doesn’t always work better than a 308 Win with even a cup and core or bonded core bullet. In a way the 308 Win is more predictable and versatile with bullet designs than the 300 Win Mag. Shooting a 308 Win with mono will do about the same thing as the Win 300 at 250 yards or so. To each his own, I suppose if I was always shooting at 400 yards and beyond the 300 Win Mag would make more sense, but that has not been my experience. Only one man’s experience and opinion.
