Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Minimum caliber to hunt elk??...

Varies by state, some don’t have a minimum, Whatda guys think?

The smallest caliber I have used to kill an elk was a 7mmRM with 175gr partition. All the kills with this load were clean but none were over 150yds. I prefer my 8mmRM for elk hunting now. It has more power with the TSX or Partition for longer shots.

I don’t think minimums are important, plenty of folks wound elk with large calibers. On the small side for me 3 elk with a 243 and have no complaints terminal performance or how long it took to die.

Whatever legal caliber lets you sleep at night after the shot. I don’t own a .270 Win so I guess a fast 6.5 with a well constructed bullet or a 7mm.

Ive seen 243 and 25-06 and 300 BO and am less than impressed.

Ive had experiance with various 7mm 30cal big 338 cartridges, 416, and 45-70 with excellent results. I recently aquired an 270 win and hope to try it sometime. Ive notnused the 270 win yet but hope some 150gr bullets can do the job

Idaho allows you to use any centerfire on any big game. That doesn't mean it's smart, just legal.

Friends have taken a couple with the 243. I've taken a decent number with a 270, both with 130 and 150 grain bullets, even core-lokts. I know a 270 can put them down quick. I haven't taken one with a 6.5. I have no doubt they would work fine. If I have the option I'd prefer at least a 270 but a 243 can get it done. Put a decent bullet in the right place with most any common cartridge and it will do the job. Grizzlies have become much more common in elk country and if I have an unpleasant encounter with one, I'd prefer something bigger than a 243. Whatever I have on hand I'd prefer to have a good bullet for that situation.

I like it...6 fish on in just an hour....

Wyoming requires a 24 caliber of larger. I have seen several elk killed with 243s and all but 2 were good fast kills. The 2 that were not were #1 a bad hit and #2 shot with a bullet that came completely apart. BUT>>>>I have had poor results with several 7MM Mags and 300 Mags when used with bullet that come apart too. I made a good kill on a 5X5 bull a few years back with my 8X57 and the 170 grain SSTs didn't hold up well, but I did drop the bull simply because I got good placements of those bullets. The 8X57 will do anything the 30-06 will do, but I found the 170 Gr SST to be too prone to break up for good deep penetration's. So the shell is not as important as the bullet it's firing.

I do not damn the 243s as "too small". I do think the smaller you go the better you bullet should be and the kill angles are going to be more critical.


So what is the minimum?
That depends on how good a shot you are and what bullet you use, but even though I lean towards larger calibers I have 50+ years of experience of elk killing, and I know from what I have seen a good 243 with a good bullet ,shot well works just fine.

I categorize elk kills in 2 ways. Those I have killed and those I have seen killed when guiding or helping other.

In category #1 the 2 calibers I have seen the most instant or near instant drops from are the smallest one I have used, (the 270s) and one of the largest (the 375H&H) The 270 Winchester has dropped every elk I ever shot with 1 round and not one of them has strayed up after impact for more then about 3 seconds and probably 85% have fallen instantly or within 1-1-1/2 seconds. And my 375H&H is the other "magic-wand" that seems to drop them faster then almost all others except my 270s.

Now in-between I have used 7X57, three different 7mm Mags 300 Savage, 30-06s, 308s, several 300 mags, an 8X57, 338-06s, 338 Win mag, 9.3X74R and then over the 375H&H bore size I have used the 45-70, 458 Win and 416 Taylor as well as 44 mag handguns and 454 Casull handgun, and also 58 and 62 caliber muzzleloaders and 1 with a wood arrow shot from a wood and glass long bow.

So I have used many different guns and a lot of different bullets. But one of the "least powerful" was my 270 Winchester yet it's been super effective for me, far more so then the three 7 Mags and all my 300 Mags when I look at the averages. Many times my big 7s and my 300s did the job with bang-flops but not as often as my 270s did. So for reasons I don't actually understand and for reasons I can't explain, the "little" 270 seems to drop them as well and anything else and quite a bit better then many of the more powerful ones I used. Why? I can't say for sure but what I can say is what I have seen for over 50 years.

I probably averaged 2 elk a year for 50+ years with a few years killing as many as 7 and in a few years getting none. Many years I hunted in 2 states and a few years I hunted in 3. One year I hunted in 4. But 2 per season or maybe a but more (2-1/2?) is about my average.

However in those years I guided I would see 20-35 killed each season. So I have seen what works and what doesn't, and most times the bad results are #1 poor hits and #2 poor bullets, but in 50+ years and seeing many many many killed I have come to the conclusion the actual shell used is not near as important as most people seem to think it is. I would guess that there is a bottom, but the 243 is not below it. So far the smallest center fire rounds I have seen elk killed with is the 243 Winchester. No one I know has ever tried it with a 22-250 or a 223 but I bet if you used proper bullets those would work too.

The 270 bore size is the smallest diameter I ever killed elk with, but I have seen it done very well with 26s (6.5X55s, 260s 6.5 CMs and 264 Win Mag) 25s (25-06s and 257 Roberts) and 24s (243s)

If I ever wanted to use my 25-06 I would go with Partitions, A-Frames or Barnes TSX bullets, but loaded with such projectiles I would feel no fear about hunting elk with that gun. I just have not because I always took something else, but that's not to say I would not trust it to do the job for me. My daughter and both my grand sons have killed elk with a 257 Roberts I made form her about 40 years ago and all have been good clean kills. Just for my own comfort I would bottom out at the 243, but I would not say a good GMX or TSX bullet from my 5.56 AR15 would not work too. I just have no intention of doing it myself. I think I could, but I like my other guns too much and as an old man, I like what I like and I don't know how many more hunts I have left in me so I take the guns I enjoy the most when I go out after anything.

Basically it is recommended to have 1500 ft/lbs of energy at range this is what you are going to find in most of the hunting Regs Books in the western states
What does this really mean

Looking at a 30-06 using 180 gr Partitions you are holding 1500 out to just under 450 Yards

Looking at a .338 Win using 210 gr Partitions you are good out just past 500 yards

Looking at a 270 Win using 150 gr Partitions you are good out just past 350 yards

Looking at a .243 I couldn't find info at anything over 100grs and the partitions were dropping under 1500 ft/lbs at just over 100 yards

Now to be honest it is always more about placement than power, but you do still have to have the power to break through Hair Hide and Bone to hit vitals



Elk are tough and they can eat up ground when they run, personally I like the Win Mags .338 and .300

I used the stats on the Nosler Partitions because they are considered the gold standard to compare other bullets too especially for Elk personally I shoot Barnes TSX or TTSX and they have never failed me.. I however started hunting Elk with Nosler Partitions :p

Anything less than a magnum would be irresponsible.....

You talking mature bulls or cows? Obviously two different ballgames.

That's true. 70 grainers for cows, 88 grainers for bulls.....

Are we talking women and children, or grown manly men?

In state, or NR guided hunt?

How big of a “margin of error” are you wanting?

Are you wanting to “knock ‘em down good”, or just kill them?

Probably the most important question is, do you plan on using a premium bullet?

Don’t forget about whether it’s a once in a lifetime or if you get to hunt elk every year.

Dam, how’d I miss that one.

Thanks.

Love this one.

Yeah, us unethical resident bastards that get to hunt elk every year...

My aunt hunted everything including elk with a .257 Bob. Living in the Big Empty there was no one around to point out to her she was under gunned.

Now me, well, I'm not so sure about all that so last year I played it safe and shot a cow elk with a 26 CM.

Just to be sure...

You hunt grain-fed elk? I bet they're tender.