Not nearly as many as some folks here having to travel to hunt them but 5 bulls & 15 cows all on public land. 1 with a 30-06, most with a 7mm Rm the last several with the 300 Weatherby. The 600 yard run I reference was hit exactly where I aimed behind the front shoulder with an older Nosler Ballistic tip. Palm sized entry wound shrapnel through the lungs. But I’ve seen lung hit elk go over 100 yards more than a few times. Including elk shot with a 300 of some kind.
So this made me contemplate the longest run I can remember on any elk. It was a bull that I shot through and through at about 45 yards, just behind the humerus, as a central double lung hit. I didn't hit the heart or any of the blood vessels at the top of the heart. I also did not break a rib, so there was no additional bone shrapnel. That was a 7mm RM, 175 grain Nosler Partition. That bull ran about a quarter mile - 440 yards more or less - and was going full tilt when he hit a tree, broke a tine off, and finally came to rest. The fastest human time for a 440 yard dash is 44.5 seconds; an elk can probably at least double that. So a 600 yard run could be accomplished in well under a minute. A dead elk can easily live that long.
I will note that most elk shot with that rifle and load have taken few steps if any. Those were mostly hits that involved secondary projectiles in the form of bone shards, and often took the vessels at the top of the heart in addition to double lung damage. All had entry and exit wounds. I have never recovered one of those bullets. Any caliber and load that is similar ought to perform about the same, given similar hits. Enough have been listed in this thread to get the idea.
But, a point was made that you might not want an elk to run 600 yards, or even 440, especially if you have grizzly bears present. A longer tracking job may allow the "competition" to join in with the tracking. So it is a valid point that you don't want to use a combination that may not be as effective as quickly as some others. That bull of mine covered that distance a lot faster than I did tracking. There was no snow. Over that whole distance I found some running tracks in pine needles and one spot of blood the size of my little fingernail. Despite the entrance and exit wounds, he left no real blood trail. I was lucky to find him quickly. Even with a very effective combination, sometimes things don't go according to hopes or plans. Thus, I subscribe to the thought that you should use a caliber and load that is adequate when things are
not perfect. And also, I try to put the bullet where it will do the most damage to vitals. Field conditions seldom allow bench precision.
