From near as I can tell from the several elk I've shot with the 405 and the witnessed 375 ouchnouch kills, the only noticable difference is the sound of the bullet hitting home, other wise it's about the sameolsame ol , elk either locks up and stands there , falls over, or walks/runs off a ways and then dies.
The cow elk that had a 270 gr from a 375 complete pass thru the rib cage on a quartering away angle was a huge dissappointment, not only did she wander on another 200 yds, there was not 1 drop of blood on her hair or on the ground. Had she not of been out in the open the entire time we may not of recovered her.
The 45-80 with a 550 gr paper patch was the most dramatic non CNS stop I've ever seen. That little raghorn got hit at 204 yds and he just folded up into a sleeping position in midstride , hit the ground on his side and never moved even as much as a twitch.
With all that said if a big bore of one flavor or another gives you more self confidence then by all means have right at it. However if you feel more secure by using your tried and true nonmagnum rifle then go right to it, they all work and work well, but the bullet has to go where it supposed to. After all in or around 1904 there was a series of articles in Field and Forest about which was the better elk cartridge the 30-30 or the 30-40. The only thing that has really changed much is the numbers on the cartridge.
