Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting 223 for Elk?

Jeezus Gawd...you Whining Kchunts are CLUELESS. Congratulations?!?

Hint.................

Can't say I wouldn't do it even for a once in a year shot, although I've sometimes hunted elk with a .44 Mag carbine and revolver, neither of which is much better.

Elk grazing in a pasture with a short range and legal shot and a .223 in the gun rack? Whole different story than picking a rifle and heading out to where ranges may get long and angles may be less than ideal.

Someone mentioned the 22-250 as an alternative. I have one and used it for a DRT on an antelope a couple years ago. It shoots the same bullets as a 223. However, mine is a slow twist, 1-14. I'm limited to 55 gr bullets for best accuracy. A fast twist would boost the bullet choices considerably. There are slow twist 223's out there, too.

What Ingwe and Beaver10 said, emergency and placement.

bull elk are a big strong animal that don`t die easy ,i know i have horns to prove it, if it is your chance of a life time with one shot at over 100 yards -200 yards or 300 yards do you want to take that shot with a 223 or a bigger cartridge like a 243 - 30-06 or bigger on a big 6x6 bull ? hand me my old Winchester Model 70 pre 64 338 Win Mag. i`ll knock that bull down now !

This whole idea is a dog and pony show with nothing accomplished other than a good chance of wounding a nice animal. Idaho might allow it but I strongly disagree with using one this way. I'm betting that 99% of the hunters who own a 223 also own something more suitable.

If they have any brains that is for sure Rock Chuck!!!

What he said...

In a word, NO. I don't even like them for deer, they can and do work but not for me. Used one for 20 years and shot expert with several. For what they are designed for they are a very good weapon. Elk wasn't something that was on the design board. Elephants have been killed with a 22LR doesn't mean I would choose one.

Lots of guessing on this thread.

Killed a few cow elk with a 223, from 40 to 400 plus yards. No issues. They died just like they had been shot with larger rounds.

As much as people want to imagine there's some big difference in killing power between different cartridges, the reality is that about any sort of halfway decent bullet placed into the vitals is going to kill the animal without drama.

I smell male bovine excrement.

Probably your breath blowing back into your face.

I have nothing to prove. The 223 works fine.

My choice is 300 WM for elk, 223 for coyotes.

Been elk hunting long enough to prefer to hit them fairly hard with a heavy for caliber bullet. But to be clear I have taken many more bulls than cows.

dia,

I know prairie goat very well, and have hunted with him quite a bit around his Montana home. He knows what he's talking about.

They used the 22-250 all over the Townsend area.

My friends on the Rez like the 223.....for many reasons.

Seems to work.

Are you his cheerleader shaking those pom-poms? Or do you have direct experience with hunting Elk with a 223?

I took a long time warming up to shooting a deer with a .223. I picked the 53 grain TSX and did enough testing to assure myself it would probably work OK. When I did it I carefully examined the wound channels while butchering. What I came to was that the wound channels looked more or less like a 30-30 wound channel. Two of the deer had their heart loose in the chest. One of the deer I shot with a .223 didn't bleed a drop until it tipped over. Nothing ran more than about 100 feet.

Would I use one on an elk? I have never had the inclination to shoot an elk, but, I wouldn't hesitate to use a 30-30 did I choose to hunt elk and I wouldn't hesitate to use a .223 in the same conditions. My experience with deer is that the .223 is not the least bit marginal. I killed big deer with it and it went right on through the shoulders, wrecked the contents of the chest and exited. I have had poor or no blood trail with probably every caliber rifle I have killed them with and with arrows. I have had very well hit deer go extraordinary distances and bleed like hell while doing so. IMO trying to predict what happens with a given shot will only teach you that the exceptions to the average can be pretty extreme. I have seen well more than enough deer shot with well placed 30 caliber bullets that would probably have survived. Just because a bullet is well placed does not mean it will follow the intended path through the deer. From what I have seen a 180 grain 30-06 bullet is not more guaranteed to go through Bambi any better than a 53 grain TSX. Even arrows can and do deflect.

being a non`-resident who has to pay way to much for a non-resident elk license if and when i go out west again ,i will be using a very accurate 338 rifle reason i plan on filling my tag one shot up to 500 yards ,probably in some hell hole in the mountains. now a resident using a resident cheap elk license then sure go ahead use a 223 your out there all season so residents can be a little picky when and where to shoot there elk by the road again. that`s why there is difference between what size rifle cartridge you can use ,so if your a non-resident the answer is a simple NO don`t use a 223/556 for elk it cost to much not to fill your non-resident license.

Pete53. You are a whining [bleep]. Hope you never draw another over priced MT tag again. Plenty of people want those tags and don’t biotch about em. Stay in MN with you stick and string

truth bothers you ? non-residents pay the way for all > residents should be paying much more on federal land that we all hunt on ! Montana should send all non-residents thank you cards because without us non-residents Montana DNR would go broke ! you can take that to the bank buddy