Interesting thread, and the same old tired arguments every thread like this decomposes into.
This is also my favorite rant, so sit down, crack a beverage, and I'll add my experiences and observations, for what they are worth.
I've lived in western Colorado almost my entire life, and been blessed to hunt elk for the past 38 years. I started guiding at 19 and continued to work as a guide for almost 30 years, 9 as a licensed outfitter.
As has been recounted already, there was a time almost all the locals I knew used an '06, .270, 30-30, or .300 Savage. Throw in a few 30-40 Krag's my dad's .303 and the occasional surplus 8mm and you had most of the bases covered. About the only guys that used magnums back then were the city guys and dudes from states where there were no elk. There were some locals that used magnums, but I only knew one well, and he couldn't hit anything with it anyway.
I really preferred to see my clients show up with a standard rather than a magnum because most of them couldn't shoot one very well resulting in a lot of missed or poorly placed shots. With the old C&C bullets most hunters used, the magnums tended to tear hell out of a game animal, ruining a bunch of meat.
I have to say that the majority of guys I see shooting magnums would be better served with a standard of some sort, because they could shoot it with a much greater degree of accuracy. There are guys that can shoot a magnum with the same degree of accuracy as a 22-250, but they are still very much in the minority.
IMO, the main advantage in of a magnum is range. "Smallish" bore rifles, as this thread is about, are perfectly suitable for elk at normal elk ranges - 200 yards or less, and I would not hesitate to use them at 300, further than the average hunter can accurately shoot at anyway. The magnums, depending on caliber and bullet selection, can be used to kill elk out to 1K plus, but again, you have to place the bullets right - there is no avoiding good bullet placement.
I have been fortunate to shoot a lot of elk, 49 and counting. I started out with an '06 at 15, and quickly developed a flinch that took a lot of shooting with reduced loads to overcome. Over the years my elk rifles got bigger, 7 mags, numerous 30 cal mags, 338, 358 STA, .458 Win mag. They all killed elk just fine, but were mostly unnecessary. For the past 4 years I am back to a .270, .270 WSM, 7-08, and a 7 Rem mag that is mostly used for long range marmots.
Shoot what you want, for the most part it doesn't matter. If you shoot well, you will kill elk. If you don't shoot well, even a magnum can't save you.
Good post Brad.
