Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting .30-30

Has anyone here successfully harvested an elk using a .30-30? If so, I would like to read about it. Thanks.

M336 30-30, Federal 170 grain Partition round, scope on 1.5x. Ambushed the cow at less than 40 yards as other hunters pushed them into the dark woods. 1st shot in the boiler, 2nd on the opposite side as she did a 180 to get outta dodge.

Then played hell the rest of the day until night getting her outta there...

That setup is my 1st choice when I know I'm going to be in the dark woods, nasty stuff.

Thanks for the story. How far did she run after being shot?

Somewhere's around 60 - 75 yards. Definitely at least 50 yards, but that's because her adrenaline was up from being pushed in from the clear cut. They didn't come into range moving like a freight train, mind you, but they were coming in at a pretty good clip 'cause they had reason to.

Funny thing is, when I stood up, the cows closest to me could of flicked water off their backs on me they seemed so close. But I couldn't shoot them for fear of a pass through hitting another. So I let fly a round right in front of the cow closest to me, to shoot the lead cow who was starting to angle away from me. Of course this took all of about 1.5 milliseconds for me to figure out.

The rest kept right on going past me in spite of the shot, but the cow for some reason turned and headed back past me, otherwise I wouldn't have gotten another one in her. It was all commotion for about 5 seconds.

The 1st shot killed her, but I follow the rule: "if its up and movin' then keep on shootin'"

Here we go again! There was a thread a few years back on the same subject.

Will a .30 WCF kill elk? Of course. Get close and and stick em in the lungs. Use a 170gr Nosler Partition for best results.

Now I'll let Muleskinner educate you as to why your a numb skulled, unethical, elk wasting SOB for even posing the question.

Cheers

Well,I have a friend in McCall Idaho that would love to here those words about the 30-30.He kills one almost every year with a Marlin 30-30 and loves to fight!!

The fact is,a 30-30 does just fine on Elk,if you are a hunter.I have killed one with the 30-30 and others like the 25-35/32 special and 45-70 and saw three downed with the 35 remington.They work great if you do your job within there ranges.

From ballistic gellatin..The 170 grain Nosler on the left and the 170 grain Fusion on the right.The fusion penetrated 26" and the Nosler 24"!

There was no problem asking your question about the 30-30.This is an Elk hunting forum and not everyone has been on it for years.It will work just fine if you do your part!!!

Jayco

No problem at all on the post. I beleive a .30 WCF will kill elk without a hitch used within it's effective range. I'm a big fan of the M94 myself and carry one afield every year. I was just thinking back to Muleskinners objections of a few years ago.

First elk I saw hanging on a wall was taken with a .30-30.
First elk I saw on the ground was taken with a .30-30.

Use a 170g bullet and it will deliver 1500fpe or so out to 100 yards, 1100fpe at 200 yards. Put it in the lungs and fire up the BBQ.

Your reply was a little "harsh" for the guy with three post that posted it,don't you think?If a new Elk hunter can't ask a question like this without knowing what was posted three years ago,then it is up to us old Elk hunters to just show our battle wounds and brag??????????????


I have no idea what Muleskinners results were but I do love the post about failing bullets on Elk like the Nosler and Barnes.New posters deserve our opinions and experiences.

Jayco

Wasn't trying to be "harsh" just thinking about the all dust kicked up during the last go round.

Welcome to the campfire Moss.

Really...The internet can be a nasty place..Just find my very first post(topic) on this 24hr forum.Just word something wrong and the wrath of khan comes down on you as a new guy.

I'm still here but I have a soft spot for new guys from my experiences.

No problem here....

Jayco

Welcome to the campfire Wallaby

Sean what a pleast surprise! Seems to me you were in on "the last go round" aswell. When you gonna get down here so we can pick our hunts?

Probably told this before, but in the late 80's knew an old outfitter here in Montans. His only rifle for decades was an iron-sighted Savage 99 .30-30. He had lost track of how many elk he had killed with it, not to mention deer. He outfitted in the Bob Marshall for many years and killed 5 grizzlies with it, no problem, but then I don' think he shot anything more than 200 yards away.

The last autumn of his life (80th) he drove his horse trailer up a draw on the Rocky Mountain Front, saddled up his horse in a blizzard, then rose up the mountain a ways until he saw a 6-point bull, and killed it with with one shot.

JB

Tis amazing what ability and try will do for a fella as opposed to equipment...no doubt he used the lowly factory ammo (ah gasp!)he bought at Big R in Great Falls and or in Choteau as well.

I have a ton of respect for those fellas that can do this kind of stuff.

Mark D

What probably made him so successful is that he didn't "know" any better.

I look back at the equipment I used as a kid and compare it to what I use now. Its kinda funny, cause back then all that hand me down "cheap" stuff worked without a hitch. Due to the fact I didn't know any better. My how things have changed.

Use whatever you are most comfortable with, and enjoy yourself.

Joseph

in 1974 I went deer hunting with my 30-30. I thought it was the best firearm in the world. in 1978 I bought a Model 600 in 308 and the 30-30 was sold and forgotten as I moved up the power scale. Last year I was looking for a caribou rifle for my wife and came accross a Stevens 325 (Like a Savage 340) in 30-30 for about 125 US and bought it. Replaced the mainspring, put a sourdough front site on it and spent the summer playing with it next to my 358 Norma. Funny thing happened

I could only shoot the 7 pound Norma every few days because of the shoulder bruising. The 30-30 I shot all the time with it's open sights. Got so that I couldn't miss off hand out to 200 yards. See that pop can?...Blamo. The 125 grain Sierra spitzers at 2500ft/sec were good but I liked the 170 Hornady FN,s at 2100 better.

Shot a lot of wet newsprint with the 358 Norma testing bullets and tested the 30-30 at the same time. The 170 grain bullets were dead consistent from every maker tested. They all expanded out to at least 150 yards and hung together. They penetrated as well as 250 grainers out of the 358N and never core separated. They didn't blow the huge hole that the 4000ft pound Norma did but they seemed entirely adequate.

In fact my wife will never get the Stevens...it is now my carry gun and I happily take it meat hunting/canoeing/hiking in bear season and in the woods cutting wood during moose season, might get lucky. I love it. My wife has a Rem 600 in 6mm for her caribou gun...I traded her for the Stevens.

Would I take my 30-30 it elk hunting? If I was a local doing some meat hunting sure. If I was trophy hunting once in a life time though I'd take the Norma out of storage. If all I had was a 30-30 though I'd take it and excercise some discretion in range and angles. Pretty fine firarm in 1895 and even better now IMO.

Here is a link to a 30-30 on caribou post I started some time ago. I know caribou aren't as tough as Elk but there is some data and a lot of opinion in my old thread.

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/965632/page/0/fpart/1

Guess it's time to trot out the old guy in the green pickup story again. Have posted this about two or three times before but it bears repeating. And yes, this actually happened.

About 1977 I was going to Utah State U. One early fall day several folks were at a range alongside US 89 south of Logan, Utah, sighting in our rifles before hunting season. We were all making those final 1/2" adjustments to the point of impact on our high powered scoped rifles, me with my .25-06 #1 and a Redfield scope. You know, fire three froma solid rest, tweak the scope two clicks, fire three more, one more click windage and so forth.

A beat up old green pickup pulled up and a "grizzled old timer" straight out of Central Casting gets out. The pickup probably dated from the late '50's or so, the old guy had stereotypical grey stubble, sweat stained hat and clothes, etc. He took a big cardboard box to the 100 yard line, looked big enough to hold a stove or maybe big console TV. No aiming point, just the box. When he got back to the firing line he fired three shots - offhand - from a Model 94 .30-30 about as equally grizzled as he was.

When we went to check targets he had about a 12" triangle of a group square in the middle of the box. "Lookee there, Martha", he said to the lady in the pickup cab, "still shoots where she did last year."

With that he got in the truck and drove off.

As I drove home I passed a ranch house with that same green pickup parked out front. On the barn were nailed more deer and elk antlers than I had time to count driving by. Basically the front of the barn was covered with them.

Now, just circumstantial evidence, maybe he was just visiting someone, but I tend to believe that that old timer had shot all those deer and elk with that same .30-30.

It ain't the arrow, it's the Indian.