Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting .224 centerfire for any elk, Roosevelt’s, the weinie Rocky Mountain elk, cows or bulls!!

Dam Pablo’, hope everything is undameged.

Had a branch puncture the enclosed snowmachine trailer, no damage inside, thankfully !

Have to get that poplar off the 2 machines, take off covers & inspect, but cursory "feel" yesterday think no panel damage.

The arctic cat handlebars are definitely bent, hopefully that's all.

Missed 3 boats, 4 vehicles, camper, tractor, lawn tractor & 3 quads !

Coupla saws be running, most of the weekend, I think.

Guess I'll have plenty of firewood !

Tell Mrs. Deb to have it all done by the weekend so you can fish.🤣

ROTFLMFAO !

Got all next week to work, go fishing this weekend.

You have my permission to do so.

Paul, what was the wind speed and gusts that took down 30 trees ?

That’s a lot of bark on the ground for anyone.

🦫

Fast, big fella !!

Nothing official yet, but I'm calling it a micro burst.

Damage along a narrow width (less than a mile) from Eagle Lake to the highway !

It sure sounds like one.

Chainsaws sharpened ? Start chewing trees !

Hope you discover your damage is minimal.

🦫

Thanks Beav !

Been given the go ahead, by Deb, to fish Saturday morning & get to work after lunch.

Love that lady.

Of course, it could be that she's picking up her new car, Saturday morning !

Lease expires on her 2017 Ford edge, next week. Don't want a new 1 with the sewing machine ecoboost engine.

Decided she wanted a fully loaded Subaru Crosstrek, so hitching a ride with friends, to the City (4 hours away) to pick up at noon.

We do resent that statement......we have plenty of 5 cent deposit cans, for the best you have to offer.........donation for beaver, of course. Inflatables have a short satisfaction shelf life.

I hadn't looked at this Thread for quite a while, and just saw that it's up to 19 pages so I thought I'd get the latest on the .224/elk discussion. WRONG! I just read page 19 and not one mention of a .224 bullet or cartridge or even about elk.

I doubt that I would ever use my .22-250 or .223 Rem for elk, but I have several friends that have used their .22 centerfire rifles for elk for many years, including one who previously posted a lot on this Forum that probably killed more elk with his .220 Swift than most posters here have killed with any cartridge.

Here's the bull one of my friends shot a couple of years ago with his .22-250...

Friend of my buddy in Billings, has a grandma who lives on the Reservation... she's only ever owned one rifle, a 22.250...

She's about 4 ft 10 and weighs about 80 to 85 pounds... her husband has been gone a long time, but she still pretty much lves off of elk for meat, which she prefers over venison...and being an Indian on the reservation, she can get away with taking 3 or 4 a year.. when she is getting low on meat, she tells her grandkids, to get ready for her to call them over to take care of the one she just shot...

They are pretty much close enough she just head shoots them out one of the windows she can use for a rest...

I'd do it if I had to, but not having to, I'd chose something bigger in caliber...

But I am glad that it is legal for gals like Grandma here...

in today's world there are just too many hunters and too many 'college boys" made up regulations....and too much for licenses, and especially fines...

My grandfather who was born in 1907, I wonder if he ever bought ANY game license, and he lived on more game meat than store bought.....
He passed in 1968, but I do know he shot game out of season when he was getting low on meat...venison...

He ate a lot of squirrel and rabbit... no one really cared that much about those....

this is in Southern West Va...

I remember showing up at elk camp with a 7mm Remington Magnum, 175 grain Nosler Partitions...

And being told that I didn't have enough gun! A single 175 did just fine.

Fellow I know fed himself for a few years with his 30-30, right out the window of his place. He lived in an orchard and the elk gathered there. I never asked him if he had a license or tag, kinda doubt it.

No desire to try to shoot an elk with a 223 though.

Regards, Guy

In a perfect world there are many small caliber cartridges that will kill an elk. I will bet that even a 22 long rifle (undoubtedly the favorite of many here) will get the job done. If one has perfect conditions, presentation and the right shooter, its a slam dunk. But in reality that does not always happen and when it fails it's a lost animal. Many here have already posted that they have seen lots of elk lost too much larger and more powerful cartridges,. Thats true, but exponentially more elk hunters use a more powerful cartridge, hence lost game. Its' going to happen sooner or later. I have done it and so have my partners, but that still does not make the .243 a great elk cartridge. It's not, it is adequate in some instances but inadequate in far more. I once lost a deer shot at point blank range with a 45 caliber pistol, both shots hit well, but the buck managed to get up enough adrenaline and get away from me. Poor tracking conditions, hindered the recovery. If I had shot the same animal with my 45-70, (which I also had with me), it would have been DRT. I have a limited sampling of over 200 elk killed by myself and three others of my partners in 4 states and over 50 years. All with a 30;06 or greater. My best recollection is that 7 or 8 have been lost. Not because of bad shooting, but primarily because of conditions, which limited the retrieval.

Last edited by elkmen1; 06/03/21.