Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Deer & Occasional Elk Rifle

Before all the answers, why don't you ask how many elk have you killed and under what conditions????
My choice would be a 7mm Mag. or one of the .30 cal. mags.. Also more than 4 dozen..

30-06 hits with authority I agree

For Me? A .300 Win or 30-06 would be My cartridge and a boring Leupold VX3-HD 3-10x40 my optic mounted in some Talley lightweights....As far as the particular rifle goes I like Kimber and Winchester best for the CRF but if you are good with push feed a Tikka T3x Superlite is mighty hard to beat in a .300 Win.....Good hunting...Hb

Keep it simple.
6.5, 308, 270, 30/06.
You don’t need a magnum for elk. IMO only time you need magnum is you plan on shooting 600+ yards.. Elk are not bullet proof. If you can bury 130-180 grain bullet in the boiler room under 500/600 yards you are good to go. Aim small, miss small.
Anyways get a tikka, slap a Leupold 3.5-10 with CDS in Talley or dnz and be done.

My dedicated "elk" rifle is smaller than a lot of the easterner/southern's "deer" rifles.

Just say'n.

I can't tell you what you should do, but the reality is that small eastern deer at short ranges is an unconstrained problem unless a) you need a really short rifle for woods use or b) there's a straight wall requirement. Literally anything that will work for elk in terms of rifle and load will work otherwise. So I'd select an elk rifle and shoot deer with it most of the time.

Since a good chunk of elk territory is also bear territory, I like at least a 7mm and arguably a 30 or larger. Nothing wrong with hunting elk with a 6.5mm other than it being a less than ideal bear gun. The .25 and .27 bores are basically crap unless fast twisted and then bullets are still limited. Since I think .30 has the best elk bullet right now (200gr Terminal Ascent) I have one .300 WSM with a 24" barrel, and then a .375 WSM with a 20" barrel that uses the 300gr A-Frame. I'd probably use the .375 on eastern woods whitetails since it would waste less meat. Both are scoped with NSX 2.5-10s which again would be huge overkill in most of the east but on 2.5x would work just fine.

Ha! My main Whitetail rifle is chambered in a more powerful cartridge than many "Western" hunters but what can I say? I am a Magnum rifle whore and I can not lie!..😂......Hb

6.5 CM, 7-08, 308…

WCH I agree with you for MYSELF. However it seems many are scared of the 7 mag or 300 mag.

If I knew years ago what I've learned in the last several years I could have SAVED myself $$$$$$$.
IMO the 7 RM is a perfect compromise between recoil and trajectory.
Flat trajectory makes hitting your target , a small spot on the side of large animals, easier farther out.

The Grand Ole 06 does reasonably well but not as flat.

Jerry

I live in the SE and get in an elk hunt most years. I’d have no problems going the 06 or 7 mag route if I were in your shoes.

Here I shoot 257 Roberts, 270, 7/08, 280AI and 300 mag (we have huge ag fields here…long shots are the norm there).

Pulling out tomorrow for NM elk…..my 338 is packed. This is a bull hunt. If I were shooting cows, I’d take my deer rifle.

Your deer rifle is your elk rifle. Use something low recoiling.

I live in the same state as the OP. We have our own Elk herd and there is a possibility of drawing a tag, but over the counter tags for whitetail are every year's business. Under these parameters, I figure there are a few different roads to travel.

First, if money is tight and you have to make do with one Centerfire rifle, then go with the 270/308/30-06. Factory ammo is cheap and (Normally) readily available.

Second, play money is available, so pick what you want. I may choose to shoot deer with a 6.5 Creedmoor and then when I draw a tag for elk, exercise my option for an "elk" rifle. The world is my oyster. Unfortunately, the dim witted biologists at KYDFW believe that my 6.5 Creedmoor is insufficient for elk, so I have to go 270 or bigger. Instant excuse for the spouse. Now pick what you want.

Third... Buy a 270 WCF and shoot 130 grainers at deer and 150 grainers at Elk.

Fourth....I gag....Buy a 30-06. Now buy Federal Premium ammunition loaded with 180 grain Partitions. Shoot all the deer you see. Keep a sharp knife...Then pop any elk you have a tag for....keep a sharp knife...If you feel froggy, buy a bear tag....should he or she show, shoot with confidence.

Not that I would ever do this…but brother in law bought a Featherweight in .30-06, put it in a McMillan (not required), buys 165 Partitions, found the load it likes, and uses it on everything from punching paper, gongs, pigs, antelope, deer, elk.

I mean, how boring is that? If I were to do it, .30-06 or .270 would be my choices.

My younger brother is not exactly a rifle loony. Matter of fact, he is far from it. About a year ago, he told me he wanted to buy one good rifle chambered for a cartridge that would take deer to moose. I sold him a Christensen Arms Ridgeline, chambered for 30-06. He bought up 100 rounds of 165 grain partitions in federal premium guise, and 100 rounds of remington core lokts in the same weight. We mounted a Leupold vx5 in 3-15x and now he is off to the races. Hopefully, his stamp for his can will come in soon and the world is his oyster.

OP, I'm going to jump on the boring bandwagon and recommend the 30-06 with a 3-9 ish scope. The 3-9 Burris FFII with ballistic reticle is a deal, a solid scope (I have 2 or 3), but about the minimum in quality I care for. Next up I would recommend the VX3-HD 3.5-10, and after that the VX5-HD 2-10.

If you need something more exotic, a Kimber in 280AI would be sweet.

Today's premium bullets really make our choices easier. TTSX, a-frames, etc.

What is your budget? That will narrow things down.

I'd buy a used elk rifle at the level your budget allows (in 7STW of course!). Or, you could buy a 25-06 for normal use and a 30-06 barrel (make sure headspace is in spec) and screw it on for the occasional elk hunt. A barrel vice and action wrench are cheap, as are 30-06 takeoff barrels.

Killed most of my elk with a .270, a couple with an 06 and a .50 Cal ML. Carried a .30-40 Krag and .300 H&H on a cow hunts but never closed the deal. This year I'm hunting an either sex tag with a .308 Win.

Think if I opened the safe and grabbed anything except a 22 rimfire it would work. Terrain and weather would make the decision otherwise.

this and maybe .280 Ackley, the 6.5 is not on my list...