Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Elk Rifle and Your Hunting Style...

Thought we could get discussion going with this topic since most of us have recently closed out our elk hunts.

With our hunts still recent in our minds. What is your elk hunting style and does your rifle match the way you prefer to hunt elk?

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Be prepared to defend your rifle. Grins

My methods of hunting are spot and stalk, still hunt and wait on travel corridors so the majority of shots for all big game are under 200 yds. Three of the last 4 elk were with a 30-06. After a spot and stalk the longest shot was ranged by partner at 175. This year was a muzzleloader (50 cal) at 130yds while watching a travel corridor. I spend a bunch of range time shooting at distance for practice but hunt much closer.

Not that I am an expert on elk hunting, having killed a grand total of 2 over the last 2 years.

My moving thru the timber rifle is a 338-06.

My sit and glass across a canyon rifle is a 7 WSM.

Both accounted for an elk at their intended purpose.

I guess I am happy in that regard.

For spot and stalk/run and gun, I use a 300 WBY with 26" barrel and a Swaro Z5. It has been great on bulls from bayonet range to 450 yards. It is my go to setup for all around elk hunting.

As a companion setup, I have a model 70 FWT in 300 WSM with the barrel cut back to 23" in an edge stock with a Swaro Z3. It is more backpack friendly and great for bugling hunts and timber.

Primarily when younger, I hunted dense timber moving slow,stopping often .Now at my age,it is mostly sit and watch.I hunt muzzle loader , 50 cal, because I like the warmer weather, but my primary rifle is a Pre-64 Winchester, Model 70 30-06 using 180 gr Partitions in open country and 220 gr RN in close areas.Went the 7mag route for a few years and found it didn't kill the many deader. More than few have fallen to the .06

Still hunt AM and mostly hunt isolated parks in the PM. My huckleberry is a 1968 Sako 338 with the original Bofors steel barrel, cerekoted in satin black. I put it in a McMillian “Sako” stock molded in GAP camo. She carries a Schmidt & Bender 3x12x50 and shoots just under a half inch at 100 yards with 225 grain North Forks and suits my style of hunting to a T.

Have been primarily using a Pre 64 chambered in 8x68S shooting 200 grain Partitions.
I like to get up high with the mules, spot and stalk or ambush.

My Elk rifle is also my sheep, goat and deer rifle.
Bighorn sheep are always #1 on my list.
These days I carry a Browning BLR takedown, .270 win. It is great horseback and when I don't need it , it is put away easily in two or three pieces.( quick detach scout scope) .
Heck, I can even bore sight the thing. I don't hunt the longer ranges, Bull elk must be 6 point, rams full curl.
It sometimes takes great scrutiny up close to evaluate. 400 yards is a long ,long shot.

If hunting elk in the timber I often use rifles the average hunter may think of as "perfect" for the job. But when hunting planes elk I am one that uses "timber rifles' at least half the time, just because I like them and I like to HUNT and sneak up on them.
So my "best" rifle for hunting in the open areas is probably my 300 Magnum, but to be open and honest, I usually only get it out after about 3/4 of the season is over, and then only if I have not killed my elk by them (which many times I do)
Even in the open sage and grass lands I hunt elk with iron sighted rifle many times and if the rifle has a scope, about 8 times in 10, I still hunt with cartridges that most hunters today think of as 'close range cartridges.
Iron sighted rifles I use both in timber and in the open are some of the following: A 303 British with 180 grain bullets, two 300 Savages with a 180 grain bullet, a 30-06 lever action with a 220 grain, Another 30-06,M1Garand loaded with 165 grain bullets and sometimes 220 grain bullets, an iron sighted 9.3X57 with a 286 grain. Even my 62 caliber flintlock or 44 magnum and 454 Casull handguns are used for hunting open country elk by me. Admittedly, not always successfully, but sometimes ------ and I really feel a lot better about kills I made after successful stalks and a shots of 150 yards or less then I ever felt about those kills I made as a younger man out past 700 yards.

My scope sighted "elk rifles" are my 2 "flat shooters " my 270 Winchester and my 300H&H, and my "not-so-flat shooters" that I hunt elk with are two 308s with 180 grain bullets, a 8X57 with 200 grain bullets, a scoped 9.3X57 with 250 grain bullets or sometimes 286 grain bullets, a 9.3X74R with 286 grain bullets, a 9.3X62 also with 286 grain bullets, and a 375H&H with 270 grain bullets. in the list of scoped elk rifles the one that would be voted "the best" by most hunters in American is actually the one I have killed the fewest elk with. The 300 H&H. My first elk was shot by me when I was very young, I think about 9 years old, with a 300 Savage M-99. That was 54 years ago. The caliber I have personally killed the most elk with, (all from one rifle) is the 375H&H and the caliber that is closest in "dead elk count" for me is the 270 Winchester, but from 4 different rifles. What I find odd is that of all the rifles I have ever used to kill elk the smallest (the 270s ) and the largest, (the 375H&H) are the only 2 I have never seen a bad result from and have shown be the fastest kills, bang-flops, as we call them today. The 375 would probably not surprise anyone, but the 270 is supposed to be the "low end" of power, yet I have seen more instant kills with that caliber on elk then any other but for the 375H&H. I can't explain that by science, but that's what my experience has shown me. There has to be a reason but I am just not sure what it is.

I love to HUNT and so I don't take the rifle that is easiest to make hits with at long range. I often (VERY often) use a rifle that makes me get within 300 yards of the elk, and most times I get much closer.
Any archer will understand the love of the hunt. I hunt with rifles and handguns the same way I hunt with a bow and arrow. I like to get close.

But I am not so dedicated that I will not "cheat' when the season gets short and I have not been successful. I have used the 300 Mags and my 270s to kill them too. I just don't start any season with the "flat shooters" and scopes. That makes the season far too short, and unless there is a pressing reason to get meat in the freezer and get back to work, I like to have my time in the field.

So when giving advice to those that come out to Wyoming to hunt elk I will often tell them to bring the rifle they can shoot best with, and in most cases that is a rifle that is coped and shoots pretty flat. If elk hunting is an "event" and not just part of normal life you should take advantage of what gear you can (as long as that is a real advantage and not something you may think is an advantage which actually is a hindrance.....which today are MANY) But knowing how to stalk and truly hunt if by FAR a larger advantage then a super flat fast rifle with some moon-viewing scope. It's always 98% the hunter and 2% the tool.

I normally hunt by watching trails and field edges, at first and last light. If hunting in the thick bush I still hunt slowly and often use a cow call. I always carry shooting sticks if walking in open country. If I find a distant elk, I stalk closer or call them in. I never take a shot farther than 200 meters. Most of my elk have been taken at half that distance or less. Many elk, perhaps most, have been shot just at the limit of legal light. I usually use a Sako AV in .35 Whelen loaded with good 250 grain bullets and equipped with a Zeiss 3-9x50mm scope. I set it on 4x or 5x and leave it there. Duplex reticle, no illumination or turrets or unnecessary stuff. The scope allows a good view under dim light conditions. The cartridge will reliably kill an elk with a minimum of tracking, and strong heavy bullets like the discontinued 250 gr. Speer Grand Slam usually produces an exit wound to help with tracking if necessary. If the bullet isn't bonded or partition or all copper or otherwise "premium" it MUST be heavy for caliber. I have no use for "ELD" long range bullets, in fact I don't mind round nose profile. I believe I've taken 24 elk in 26 years. The .35 Whelen rifle has accounted for about half of them. I've also used a .270, 7x57, 7x64, .308, 30-06, 8x75IS, .356, 9.3x62, .375 H&H, and .450-400 Nitro Express 3". I lost one wounded elk. ( gut shot) Can't remember missing any that got away. A few times I had to make up for a poor first shot with another quick effective shot.
I don't have to defend my choices, because I know they all work very well for me here in Saskatchewan. Your situation may be different. For me the key thing is to be able to shoot quickly without fussing, know where to aim, hit what I aim at, and use a bullet that penetrates without breaking up while expanding to about double original diameter. I like exit holes but they are not necessary.

Well, I guess first off I have to admit I'm a terrible elk hunter But I try never the less! For my rifle I always grab my KS Mtn rifle in .280. All the elk I have ever killed have been with that rifle so no reason to change now.

I think my main problem with hunting elk is I'm just not a patient person which I think can be helpful when hunting elk. Since I'm not patient I try to make up for that by covering as much ground as possible, which probably isn't always a good idea. But I keep doing it anyway and so far have OK luck with it. Just seems whenever I head out in the morning I just know elk are over that next hill, or in that next canyon I can't see into or maybe over that next hill after that Its just getting tougher as I get older and the mountains keep getting steeper and the canyons deeper!!

I’m usually hunting big areas that are 5-7 year old clear cuts lined by dense timber. I will have either a 300 RUM or 300 Wby next to me.
My biggest strength for elk hunting has been scouting before opening day. I usually have a good feel where the animals will be at first light...I guess wrong sometimes, getting surprised by the elk either not there or they moved in a different direction from where I set up.

Next strength, and it’s one that can be purchased, is quality alpha glass. I’m good at finding elk bodies moving in the cuts or on the edges of the timber ahead of shooting light.

Knowing where to search with my glass has paid dividends for me a lot...I can see elk bodies usually before someone else, should I find myself in a competitive hunting situation, which is rare, but it does happen.

Just having that edge of locating the elk first gives me an advantage. I will laze the elk with my RF, hit my turret, and go straight to my scope to watch the elk until I can see horns.

I’ve already gotten a good range from my bins/rf and if I pick up an elk above or below where I had lazed in my scope, it’s easy for me to adjust off my reticle for the shot.

Now, I’m just looking for the right set of horns...Then press.

I’m a 30 cal mag lover for my elk country...I’ve shot 30 cals for over half my hunting life, and adding quality brakes to them have made a big difference in getting off a second follow up shot quickly, if I feel it’s prudent.

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I have used a 7mm Mashburn Super for about 6 years now with either a 160 at 3200 or a 175 at 3050. Before that and usually in the same gun case is a M70 338 Win Mag with 210 Sciroccos. Last year I added a 300 RUM to the mix. I hunt the thick areas of Idaho, the wide open areas of Western Wyoming to the triple canopy pines of the Bighorns, along with Mt Emily in eastern Oregon. Those three get shot to 600 yards so I feel pretty comfortable in the field with that as a max range. Mostly I’d guess my elk have averaged around 200-250 yards with some at 25 yards and some at the far side of 400. I know a bunch of others will work and I have to say I like the 300 RUM but haven’t taken an elk with it yet. All three are light enough to carry and settle down over my pack.

We have a mix of 270’s, 300 Wby, 300 Wins, 30/06, 338, 7 Mags and those seem to do what we need. The common ground is our group practices with the guns during the summer so we aren’t guessing too much after we know the range.

Great topic!

Beav, which bullets do you use in your Wby and RUM?

I enjoy glassing bulls on a faraway ridge heading into deep timber at first light , then spend the morning hiking to the location and slipping through the timber with binocs until I find them bedded. Old school gloss Rem 700 .270 Win shooting 160 partitions. Ancient 3-9 Leupold, always on 3.

B,
I shoot the same bullet in both, 180g Nosler Accubond. I was a devout Barnes TSX bullet lover for many years. I still feel they’re a great bullet for hitting heavy animals. I just happened upon a new rifle that wouldn’t shoot the TSX worth a damn.

I started looking for an alternative, and landed on NAB. What I noticed right away on elk, was I didn’t need a second follow up shot as often as I did with the TSX bullet.

Over time, I started switching over to Accubonds. I feel the NAB’s can cause a smidge more collateral damage from the additional bloodshot, especially on the chest sheeting then the TSX bullet.

Both bullets are lethal. Accubonds just seem to shoot accurately out of any of my rifles. 😎

No defense of my rifle. It was made for elk hunting. From the cartridge (338wm) to the model (pre 64 model 70). All in a light accurate, well balanced crf. It doesnt get any better. Sorry.

Mostly spot and stalk, fairly open country with patches of timber some scattered trees too. Nothing flat. 300 win mag 25” barrel 6x36 leupold 200 NPs.

It could get better....If I was shooting it. Grins 😜😎

Ralphie, you’ve done very well with 300 Win. Congrats, again on a good season. 😎