Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Cartridge choice for first time female hunter

Both my Daughters started out with the .270..You can find ammo anywhere for it and it is lethal on Elk with your good aim with little recoil.I prefer the 130 Nosler and 140 Trophy Bonded but my wife prefers her 8MM Mauser over the .270..Women...

Jayco

270 winnie, 140 accubonds.

Well, I'll add to the chorus for 7mm-08. I'd split the difference and use 15-gn Partitions and in fact I killed a half-dozen deer with that load, though no elk.

I do think a .308 would be superior to a 7mm-08 for an elk-only woman's rifle, though.

-jeff

7-08 is my choice....for my wife and myself. I have a 30-06 but love shooting the 7-08. Had a 284 and should have never sold it....but I did. Now I'm working on a 7-08 project and had the wife out shooting on Saturday when we were out bear hunting.

With 140 NP's loaded factory, its fun as hell for me to shoot all day long, and fun for her to shoot as well. She can handle recoil up to 30-06 no prob....and enjoyed the 284, but that 7-08 works great. I'll have no doubts carrying it for myself and her for everything in Alberta...

7-08, 140s. BMT

7-08

+1

What advantage could a .277 bore with it's lower bc and smaller diameter possiable have over a .284 bore.Plus he already has two .284 bores tp choose from.....

I've hunted elk and deer every year since I was 15 with one rifle, a 270 Win. Thats quite a few hunts. (my daughter turns 20 this year to give you an idea)
I had no trouble mastering the 270 when I was 15 so I would recommend you look at that caliber. I know there are many good choices, but since my experience is limited to one thats all I can speak to. I do know this, it kills even big elk with great efficiency.
BTW, glad to see another young lady taking to the field. I hope she enjoys it and it gets in her blood like it did mine.

270 is hard to beat for a woman

Ever consider the 260 Remington? It's a little more powerful than the classic 6.5 X 55mm Swede and still really light on the shoulder.

7-08 is good since elk are in the quotation..

I personally prefer the 7x57 over the 7-08 as it will handload better and handle heavier bullets. The factory 7x57, Rem 175 gr. corelokt is an outstanding elk killer and at very modest recoil. That old long for caliber slug just puts elk down for the count, it penetrates like the dickens. I have used it on much larger game than elk and was perfectly satisfied with its performance.

My favorite CALIBER fer wimmins an' chilrin is .257. My favorite CARTRIDGE fer those peoples is 308 Winchester, 2nd only to 7.62 NATO.

MY Lady is kinda new to rifles so I got her a 270 and let her shoot plenty 130 grainers at about 1500 FPS then slowly moved up asshe wanted more power. She is real comfie with 130's in about the 26 or 2700 FPS range or there abouts. If you reload I would recomend that approach, with any caliber. Not a bad idea to have a pad on the gun either.

260 Remington with 140 grain Nosler Partitions in a Remington Model 7

I'd go with the .280,my wife is a small girl but with an R3 pad she has no trouble with the recoil.If she draws an elk tag she'll be using the .280 with 160gr. Accubonds because she's comfortable shooting that rifle.She's already got 2 one shot kills on whitetails.Monashee

My wife shoots a 7x57 home made Mauser with 160 grain Nosler Partitions. Doesn't make her flinch or hurt and drops everything if hit halfway right.