Personally, I wouldn't hunt elk with a 25-06 for any reason.

To be sure, lots of elk have been taken with 25-06s and the like, but then years ago Vern O'Brian used to build rifles in 17 Mach IV, hunt and kill Alaskan brown bear with them, then write articles about his experiences. Eskimos have hunted polar bears with 222s, W.D.M. Bell used to hunt elephants with a 7mm Mauser, older timers used to hunt grizzlies with 44-40s, etc.

You can find plenty of stories of small calibers being used to kill truckloads of big game -- enough such stories to prove just about any point you'd care to make -- much like BULL-istic arguments that guys come up with to build a case for any cartridge you can think of. Tweek the numbers enough, and you can surely prove your point, whatever it might be!

I don't like hunting big, tough animals such as elk with what I call "cocktail time" cartridges. I like to use cartridges that work well under the worst of conditions, not just under the best of conditions. What works for Texas whitetails and varmints is generally NOT well-suited for elk under all conditions, and after many, many elk seasons, I have yet to find a cooperative elk or a predictable set of elk hunting circumstances. So I like to hit 'em with plenty of gun and plenty of well-constructed bullet.

My personal threshold elk cartridge is the 270 Win. with tough 150 gr. bullets, and I think the 30-06 with strong 180s is a more sensible minimum still. And as you go upt from there, performance gets better yet, assuming good shot placement.

Read J.Y. Jones' great book, "Ask the Elk Guides" for further discussion...........

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"The placing of the bullet is everything. The most powerful weapon made will not make up for lack of skill in marksmanship."

Colonel Townsend Whelen