30-30’s,32 Win, 38-55’s and even the slow poke 44-40’s put a lot of elk meat on the table. By todays standards where writing a big check and being limited to a week’s hunting I guess you have to adapt and maximize your odds. But lots of locals I hunted with were in good shape, no altitude problems and most importantly understood where elk moved and could track. They also didn’t need a map of which outfitter leased which parcel. Yes animals were wounded which was certainly not uncommon but they were tracked and finished off. If you read much history about meat hunters who supplied the old forts in the prairie or Rockies it was almost rare to put down an animal with one shot ( no scopes) . Buffalo could absorb 2000 grs of bullets or more before bleeding out. Cutting up a bled out elk or deer is a treat. So if 300-400 yards is as close as you can get then that’s no reason to doubt that a good still hunter with good legs and experience can’t do it with less. My late Brother guided and wrangled in Wyoming and Idaho for about fifteen years. He took lots of game starting off with. Win. 64 in 38-55 and a sporterized Enfield 303.
Rick
