Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting 270 for Elk

And for some reason the 160r Partition has been super accurate in any 270 I have ever tried it in. Including a 270Wy mag. It is the best bullet for Caribouon up to and including Moose for the 270Dees IMHO.

That bullet shoots really good from my 270 Win. Shot a couple of black bears with them but would love to launch one into a moose or elk, I bet they wouldn't bounce off a grizzly either



What kind of speed do you get out of the 270 Wby with that bullet? I really like the 270 Win but wouldn't mind adding a 270 Bee one day.

Quite a few gun writers and the industry fanned the flames of the necessity for a "big gun" for elk back in the 70's. This really never subsided unless you harvest a number of elk and see the earlier claims were over blown. It's natural that people like to defend their personal choice.
It still comes down to using whatever you have confidence in.

Ok, start fighting again...................

But, if you've never actually killed an elk yet are willing to take a strong position...?

Not all opinions are equal, and that's a fact.

I've come full circle with the 270 and elk.

I used a 270 on my first half dozen elk and it worked fine, but I got bit by the magnum-craze in the early 1990's and bought a 300 Win Mag. Used the 300 Win for the next 10 years or so and it worked fine for elk.

I realized I wasn't shooting the 300 nearly as much and enjoying the recoil less and less. I switched back to the 270 about 10 years ago and have been packing it ever since.

Thinking back over things, I really can't remember where the 300 was a deal changer or where elk died any quicker than when I shot them with a 270.

MCMXI,

I'll match your "good friend who's been a professional guide for 30 years, who is paid to speak all over the country and who won't use anything smaller than a .300 Win Mag for elk" with an elk outfitter from Colorado. At the time I got to know him 10-12 years ago, he's been guiding and outfitting elk hunters for 30 years, and Colorado has more elk than any other state.

He and his guides liked to exchange info on what rifles and bullets their clients used, and the results, and since those clients took around 30 elk a year, I thought this might be statistically valid info. So I asked him what cartridge he thought was a good minimum for elk, and he said, "Two-fifty-seven."

I asked, "Roberts or Weatherby?"

He said, "Either one!"

Mule Deer, what do you think?

I note something I have seen now for about 40 years.
I bet you may have noted the same thing I have.

Funny but those that demand that the only proper elk rifles are magnum sized are almost never same hunters that live in elk country, have hunted them for their whole lives, and seen many dozens or even hundreds of elk killed.

Your thoughts and memories are welcome. Please share.

My bet is that you have similar experience.

I like my magnums and I have killed a LOT of elk with them.
But I have also killed a lot with 270s.
I can't see ANY difference in how fast they fell or died from the 270s I have used, or the 300 magnums, or even my 338 Win Mag.

As i said, I like my big rifles too, but I am not going to try to make others believe they are the only proper guns for elk.

He and his guides liked to exchange info on what rifles and bullets their clients used, and the results, and since those clients took around 30 elk a year, I thought this might be statistically valid info. So I asked him what cartridge he thought was a good minimum for elk, and he said, "Two-fifty-seven."

I asked, "Roberts or Weatherby?"

He said, "Either one!"

Although the 257 Roberts is my favorite cartridge I always thought it was a little on the light side for elk. Maybe I'm wrong.

I've killed elk with rounds ranging from the 6mm Rem to .375 H&H, including a .270...and I can say without a doubt that a 150 speer hot-cor out of a .270 Win will straight up knock an elk's dick in the dirt.

I do dearly love my .340 Wby and how it puts elk down with authority with good bullets, but it also kicks the living $hit out of me.

A good guide is going to get his hunters in close and hold for the best shot. He's not going to let them take high risk shots. With a good setup, about any rifle will do the job.

Truth. I've heard it said if you are the smartest person in the room you are in the wrong room. I seek out folks like Brad, BobinNH, and others who have been there and done that when I need info. I'm eating elk steaks this year.

I've heard it said that if you think you're the smartest person in the room and back that up by listing your college degrees, chances are you're not.

I guess I will just keep rolling the Dice with my 30-06 and 165gr Accubonds..

Thread more entertaining than Fox News.
Brad - your new camo line is already getting rave reviews
Lastly, JOC is smiling, and Elmer is rolling!

Rock Chuck,

So that's what good guides do!

I've guided and been guided, and been around plenty of guided hunters. Most guides do try to get within sure range, but some clients don't want to get close, partly due to the recent long-range trend. When I talked to that Colorado elk outfitter, one of his recent elk clients told the guide he was good out to 600 yards. First, the guy completely missed one elk at a little under 500, then wounded another at around 400, which they had to chase around for a while and shoot some more. That was with a 7mm Remington Magnum.

Then there are the clients who can't shoot worth a damn even at 100 yards. About 15 years ago I went on a multi-species horseback hunt in British Columbia, and one of the other guys in camp couldn't keep shots from his brand-new .300 Winchester Magnum in a 1-foot circle at 100 yards, from a benchrest. He'd bought the .300 rather than bring his long-time hunting rifle, a .280, because he was hunting elk and moose and thought the .280 wouldn't be enough. His guide was not happy with the benchrest results, so tried get the client as close as possible to a moose, elk and caribou, but the clients still took around 20 shots to kill the three animals.

Then there are the clients who shoot fine at the scope-checking target but get excited in the field. A long-time brown bear guide in Alaska was very happy when one of his clients shot the scope-check, but the guy absolutely fell apart when they stalked within "sure" range of a big bear. He wounded it and the guide had to go into the brush and shoot the charging bear--and no, he did not allow the client to accompany him. But the same guide has had a number of clients make clean kills on big bears with .270's, 7mm Remington Magnums and .30-06's. He's happy to take them, because they usually shoot well.

His experience, and that of other long-time guides and outfitters I've known, plus my own guiding experience, is that clients almost never wound animals by being under-gunned, whether they're hunting deer, elk, moose or brown bears. Instead over 90% of the time the problem is being over-gunned to the point of flinching. This apparently never happens to Campfire members, but the consensus is that somewhere around the .300 magnum level the majority of guided clients start flinching. One close outfitter friend, who's been guiding mule deer hunters in eastern Montana for over 40 years, says only 20% of his clients who bring a .300 magnum of some sort can cleanly kill deer at 200 yards.

Oh, and the Colorado elk outfitter said one guy who brought a .257 Weatherby Magnum made a clean kill at 400 yards. That outfitter's also had far more problems with guys shooting magnum cartridges from .300 up than people who brought rifles chambered for cartridges like the .270 Winchester.

My general experience is that outfitters who have a "cartridge" minimum generally don't know much about bullets. Among my acquaintances (I can't really call them friends) is a Colorado couple who've been guiding elk hunters on private land for over 30 years. Their minimum is the 7mm Remington Magnum, apparently because that's what both husband and wife shoot. They won't allow .270's in their camp. If you try to discuss bullets with them, they start talking bullet weights rather than brands.

Have encountered the same thing in Texas a number of times, where aoudad and nilgai outfitters strongly suggest a minimum of .300 magnum, or even .338's or .375's. Yet on a nilgai hunt some years ago, when the .270 WSM was brand-new, a party of 15 hunters used 140-grain Fail Safes to take 15 bulls and 15 cows. By the end of the hunt the guides and outfitter were declaring the .270 WSM one of the best nilgai cartridges they'd ever seen. Some this was due to good shooting, some to the bullets, and some to the guides--but when 30 nilgai are taken, some of the shots aren't going to be on unalarmed animals standing perfectly broadside inside 200 yards. And neither are all shots when guiding clients to 30 elk a year in Colorado.

.270 works fine on elk. The issue with .270 is that if you have more than one guy in camp with them, you gotta be careful to keep them apart... different tents, etc. Otherwise they are like a Gay Amplifier.

Much, much safer to just run a .280 or a 6.5 if a guy wants to run bullets in that weight range.

Now..... two WOMEN in elk camp running .270's.... that can get HOT......

Especially man licker actions, with a beaver tail forestock.

You Idaho boys know what I'm talking about. My BiL lives and hunts in Idaho and he said even the F&W regs mention it.

Moat guides I have been around aren't gun nuts or even shoot a whole bunch.