Trajectory closely follows that of the .30-06 with 180 grainers, but with a lot more terminal power (cape buffalo capable levels), however it seems to me that you're sacrificing in the area of a heavier rifle with more felt recoil. Most who regularly use .30-06/.308 class calibers don't seem to believe more power than that is needed to bring down even the toughest bull elk (even with non-ideal shot angles). Have you had experience that contradicts this?
![[Linked Image]](http://www.grumpysperformance.com/blood1.jpg)
In my experience almost any caliber from 257 roberts up to 458 win can deliver a mortal wound, the questions not so much
"can you kill an elk with your rifle" as it is "can you reasonably expect to kill an elk shooting from any reasonable range and with the elk not standing at an ideal broad side angle and still have him drop close to the point where he stood at bullet impact."
when I started elk hunting nearly all the hunters in our group used a 30/06 and 180-220grain bullets, those rifles KILLED just fine, but even with good shot placement the elk seldom dropped on bullet impact, most ran, some stood, most dropped inside 70-80 yards
when I swapped to a 340 wby and occasionally a 375 H&H they didn,t kill elk any deader, but there sure was a noticeable difference in the elks reaction when hit, it was obvious it hit harder,some still ran, some stood,then dropped, most dropped, and most fell inside 30-40 yards
from a pragmatic view either caliber resulted in a one shot kill, and a 30/06 had less recoil, cost less and was easier to carry, but there was little doubt in my experience that the larger calibers got the elks full attention much better, and dressing them out showed the larger heavier bullets tended to be more consistent in performance, penetrated deeper and broke bones more effectively
