Mark,
Sorry not to reply quicker, but have been a little busy today, oddly enough. For one thing, put Eileen on a plane to South Texas early this morning, where she is going to shoot the snot out of whitetails and pigs.
I believe you're right, a lot of stuff about elk rifles has been published by gun writers who haven't shot many. They either didn't "give them time to die" (as our Campfire friend Saddlesore puts it) or hit them wrong, and had already read just enough Elmer Keith to believe in really big cartridges-- but hadn't read enough Elmer Keith to understand that better bullets make a difference in those "raking shots."
But not many realize even a big bull is only 16" or so side-to-side. And not many realize that the "last day bull" at 400 yards can be taken by a good bulet from about any .30 from the '06 up. (I think even our old friend Ray Atkinson will agree with that!)
The .338's are great rounds for big game, and I have shot plenty of animals up to Alaskan moose and African eland with them, but in my adventures on the Campfire have found most advocates of the ".338 minimum" for elk either are hunting in very specialized circumstances, or are outastaters who buy the iron-clad elk myth.
