Jeff
You keep getting farther and farther from what it takes to kill an elk in the field. Sectional density doesn't kill an elk and small differences in wind drift don't either.
What kills elk is somebody that can hit a basketball sized target quickly from field positions with a decent bullet. A reasonably light rifle is a big help as is a rugged scope.
To hit a basketball sized target quickly requires frequent practice and familiarity with the rifle. MOST PEOPLE cannot handle the recoil of a 200 grain bullet at 300 WSM velocities in a light rifle. That is said after years of working the sight in day at rifle ranges, and years of watching big tough guys from back east show up to hunt and not being able to hit a deer or an at 100 yards with their beloved magnums.
I also know there are lots of people here that shoot enough to handle a 300 WSM- I didn't say no one could handle the recoil, I said that most people can't-
I get the drizzling shizits every time an elk rifle discussion starts and people yard out their ballistic charts, wind meters, micrometers to measure group size to the nearest 10/1000 inch. Fer craps sake, elk hunting IS NOT precision riflery except under the most unusual circumstances. I wonder how many people that sort through bullets to trim a 1/16 of an inch off their group size could put three shoots from offhand into an 8 inch circle at 100 yards.
And I have never ever heard of an elk struck by any decent bullet from a 30/06 that got away when a 300 WSM would have killed him with the same placement.
Fred
