Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting What - Rifle,Scope, Caliber, Bullet Are You Taking For Elk?

Not this year but next year if I may still play: a custom .284 with a long box and a new paint job with a Z3 Swarovski 3-10x. I've used R17 under a 140-gr TTSX successfully for a long while but am going to work out the Fed 140-gr TB a bit and see if it plays nice.

My magnums have gone into that good night.

George, you ever messed with the 145 LRX?

Just got back, took my M70 custom 7mm rem mag and shot a decent 6x6 with it. Load was 145 Barnes LRX at 3200 fps. 380 yds, first shot broke the shoulder and second shot put him down by knicking the spine. The processor skinned him so I didn't get to examine the bullets, but he didn't go anywhere so I was happy.

What - Rifle,Scope, Caliber, Bullet Are You Taking For Elk?

Winchester Model 70 in .30-06

Nosler Accubond 180 grain

Leupold 3-9 X 40

I have an either sex tag for New Mexico

No I haven't; that would be another interesting bullet.

Vapodog: Good luck there in New Mexico - that is one western state I have not Hunted anything in!
I have several friends who trek from Montana down to New Mexico to Hunt Elk virtually every year.
They have had excellent luck and love the terrain and numbers of animals (no big Wolf populations!).
New Mexico is on my "bucket list".
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I fly out tomorrow for the first leg of my trip to Montana for an elk/deer hunt. I'm taking a 700 in 7 SAUM with a Leupold 6x42 LRD, firing 162 A-Max bullets. I've used this rifle a good bit over the last couple of seasons and it's a no-nonsense combination that has proven to be very effective.

The above combo performed great at first light opening morning. Dropped a raghorn bull in its tracks at a little over 200 yards.The max load of H4831 really lights up the dawn!

Late to the thread - because I just decided for my MT elk hunt next week.

Kimber Montana 84L 270 Win
Leup VX-3i 3.5-10x40 CDS in Talley lightweight lows
150 Partition fueled by Re 26

Kimber Montana 84M 308
Burris E1 3-9x40 in Talley lightweight lows
180 Horn Interlock

The 308 will also be going deer/bear hunting in PA in late November and a few Tennessee hunts in November. Might even end up in Alabama in January.

That's an awesome combo for sure...

I'm sold on it! A 127LRX from my 6.5-06 provided similar performance on my last bull (avatar), but
the 200 gr gives me a little more peace of mind. It also put 5 into 1 inch at 100 yds sighting in for the hunt.

406SBC: Best of luck to you while you are here in Montana!
The weather looks good for the opener coming up this weekend.
Again the 160 grain Nosler Partitions out of my 7m/m Remington Magnum seem about perfect for the open spaces I Hunt so often.
Just had a "yard Deer" eating birdseed out of my bird feeder then he walked over and drank his fill out of my birdbath.
Hustled out the Nikon and tried to get pics of him (a nifty 3x3 Muley that is just butter fat and rather bold) drinking at 20 feet distant - didn't get the camera in gear until he was 60 feet away and polishing his horns on one of my shrubs.
Enjoy your time in the Big Sky.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

As I have for the last several years, I use a NULA 28 in 7x61 Sharpe & Hart, 26" barrel, Leupold 2.5X-8X. Two weeks ago, I used a 150 Barnes TSX BT and H4350 to take a northeastern New Mexico 6x6 bull, but have also used the 160 Partition and H4831 on other bulls. Loads are pretty much equal in performance.

7X61 COOL! One of my early mentors shot that caliber.. Saw one 8 years or so ago built in the 60’s style it had only a 24” barrel.. The guy had the dies and some brass but could never get him to bring it to the shop.. Had to leave so missed out..

Lotech & WyoCoyoteHunter: Many years ago I was Hunting Mule Deer high on a mountain range west of Cody, Wyoming. The sun was just rising and at my back when I crested a hogback and peered over it.
Ahead of me was a long herd of Elk feeding on the short grass and illuminated by the bright sun.
I was kind of stuck there because I wanted to Hunt a draw on the far side of them.
So I stood there and waited - soon I noticed a glistening piece of brass just ahead of me on the ground - I picked it up and it was THE one and only piece of 7x61 Sharpe and Hart brass I have ever found afield.
I looked around for more but found none.
I imagined that an Elk Hunter years before had shot an Elk from that very spot I was standing.
Lotech keep up the good work with that classic cartridge!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

VarmintGuy- After fifty+ years of handloading, fiddling with rifles, and hunting, I recently bought my first 7mm Remington Magnum, a Remington 700 Sendero with a 26" barrel. I've shot it very little so far. Seems to be accurate enough, but I thought the Remington round would show a ballistic advantage over the 7x61. It may eventually, but so far that hasn't happened. It appears that the 7x61 is really quite an efficient cartridge, more so than I had previously thought.

Lotech: That is indeed an interesting observation.
My current Remington 700 Classic in 7m/m Remington Magnum is not "easy" on brass!
How about the 7x61?
I have begun a search for that 7x61 brass I found so many years ago to check if it had a manufacturers designation - haven't found it yet.
It was beautifully patina'ed and not bent up at all (IIRC).
I have owned several Remington 700 Senderos and they all shot/shoot quite well.
I just last week did my sight-in verification with my 700 Sendero in 270 Winchester, and it shot like it always does - very well!
Now to get that big Whitetail in the crosshairs of my Leupold 6.5x20 variable with it.
I am going to go read up some on the 7x61 Sharpe & Hart right now.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

VarmintGuy- I size 7x61 like I do all other belted brass (and maybe a lot of non-belted stuff as well, now that I think about it): just enough to provide minimal resistance when chambering. After about six or so loadings, it will require a die adjustment so that the shoulder is very slightly set back and that needn't be done again. I'll discard the brass after maybe ten loadings, but, frankly, I've yet to find a case worn out. Norma is all I use as they are the only manufacturers of 7x61 brass, though some people form cases from 7mm Rem. Mag.

Norma has not provided loaded ammo in a long time, but I spoke with a rep several years ago and he said it would be easy to do if there is ever a demand again.
I can't see that happening. The Remington cartridge is much too popular.

Cool infor guys.. My mentor was a Camp Perry shooter.... He was the best shot I have ever known in my 70 years.. He died far too young.. Very talented shooter and stock maker.. I was thinking of him early time morn before I got up.. He would be over 90 today, wondered if he would still the shooting the 7x61.. In the 60’s he killed 3 deer at 800 yards with his bull gun.. He had an military range finder. It was about 4 feet long as I remember.. He ranged the deer and killed all three for a group of hunters who needed meat.. The old days...

Nice pair for a traveling hunter...

I see you decided to stick with the 270.