I used to shoot elk at long range in my mispent cowboy youth, but over the years, I have seen so many wounded at long range and I have also shot low and broke legs at long range, fortunatly I recovered all but one but that one combined with what I had seen in the past changed my long range shooting practices. I quit doing it...
What I have seen is a good shot at the long ranges (450 and over) will seldom miss an elk or deer, but he will miss the kill zone and more often than most will admit, they always seem to have selective memory on that count...Mostly they will shoot low and break one or both legs or the wind will stick one in the guts...
Today I never shoot past 300 yards, I like to do my hunting before I do my shooting, and I can usually get a 100 or so yards closer to an elk at that range with a little planning..and I get a clean kill.
I also mostly hunt the black timber as in Idaho the good bulls hole up in the nasty thick places after day one, and don't come out until dark thrity. Here is where the .338 and 300 gr. Woodleighs shine.
Mostly today I use my 300 H&H, or .338 as it kills them better than my 30-06, but I am not condeming the 06, it is still my all time favorite caliber and I would not have any problem hunting elk with it..I have just used it so much its boring I suppose, but it always worked well enough.
