I badly want someone to take their kid out and have them shoot a monster elk with a savage axis in 25-06 or something, just to make the point that our obsessing over $5000 rifles and magnums for a damn elk is as ridiculous as it seems.
A lot of elk have been killed by the smaller caliber and or lesser powered cartridges…..but, a lot of elk have been wounded and lost to the same cartridges.
A larger bore, more powerful cartridge certainly doesn’t guarantee an elk in the freezer….. but, a little insurance with said cartridge using a quality bullet (not designed for deer) is a big plus!
My wife killed her first elk with a borrowed .243 Win……never used it again. Even as an inexperienced hunter/shooter she realized that it was a marginal cartridge! She had nothing to prove…..but wants elk in the freezer and hates to see or hear of elk being lost after wounded!
A lesser cartridge, for those that live in elk country, and are accomplished shooters, willing to pass on “marginal” shots, and have many opportunities to bag an elk….are not really handicapped by the lesser cartridge. But, for the hunter that may only have one opportunity in their lifetime to make an elk hunt, a larger, more powerful, flatter shooting cartridge would be a good investment……provided they are not scared of the addition recoil!
For those that have no issues with wounding/losing elk ……..continue using lesser cartridges to try to prove something! Hell, why stop at the .243’s, 25’s, and low power 30’s…..start hunting with a 22 LR and really show how good you are! memtb
