As a new elk hunter, I really appreciate this thread! thanks all for the great info.
I wish I had this thread when I first started elk hunting 25+ years ago. If I did, I wouldn't have shown up with a 9.5lb 338 WM shooting 250's as fast as I could make them go - and thinking I may be undergunned.........
TFF…. I don’t think you’re alone in suffering the mindset of youth, I certainly suffered the same ailment as you in my younger years. I do believe that we cared enough about the animals we hunted to use enough gun and that was a contributing factor in our choice of cannons in the early years. As we progress through the process of maturing in our outdoor endeavors our philosophies often change too. When I was younger I wanted enough gun to anchor the bull in its tracks and I would NEVER have considered using a .243 or similar but through the years one understands the dynamic forces involved in killing and our past experiences might convey more patience which might allow us the luxury of waiting for a good presentation before squeezing the trigger….something (patience) that most youngsters don’t possess.
Nowadays with modern bullets and great factory ammo available there are endless choices of cartridges that are at least satisfactory for elk hunting. I think personally I would likely choose a 6.5 Creedmoore as my baseline minimum for an elk rifle BUT if all I had was a 22-250 or a 243 that was accurate and the distance was reasonable I would not hesitate to take the shot in proper conditions and I have no doubt that I’d be eating fresh elk backstraps that night.
Good luck.
