Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting What do you consider minimum cartridge for elk?

I can't look at it as if I am looking for the smallest round that will kill elk. I like to look at it as the round that will work best in the situation I am going to be hunting elk. A rifle that works pretty good overall is the 30-06. In the thick or at shots up to 500 yards a 30-06 works pretty good with tough pointed bullets. Last time I hunted elk in Wyoming it was out in the Red Desert and I had two rifles, my long shot rifle which was a 300 win mag and my carrying around rifle which was a 30-06. In Washington state I hunted with a Ruger RSI in 308 loaded with 200 grain Nosler Partitions. If the elk is going to be standing next to a pile of hay bales 100 yards away I would still use at least a 7-08. I could use a 243 but I wouldn't.