I wouldn’t hesitate to shoot anything I normally hunt (bear and deer) at any range with an ELD X. Like any bullet, know what you’re shooting, know what the ideal performance envelope is, and adjust your shot placement accordingly. I’m not going to try and break down a large elk at 10 yards with an ELDX going over 3K fps and wonder why I had less than ideal results. If my target is within a hundred yards I’d say put it through the slats. Outside of that range I wouldn’t worry about hitting heavy bone but I wouldn’t count on an exit with any bullet when hitting heavy bones. Shoulder and heavy leg bone can catch the best monos.
Just an add. I shot a whitetail buck that dressed around a 185 lbs. at about 12 feet with a 6.5 Creedmoor 143 ELDX factory load. He was hot on a doe (literally about 5 feet behind her, fun to watch) and never noticed me. That load went through and though the boiler room punching a tennis ball sized hole in the off side. He spun around and fell over dead. It happened so fast that the doe he was chasing turned around and looked at him dead before she bolted off. I couldn’t have asked for better performance at close range. Sometimes I think I should grow my man bun back and get another 6.5 Creedmoor. 😆.
Last edited by brinky72; 01/06/24.
