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...sure are tough, thick hided critters. I got the opportunity to take my first elk in Idaho a couple weeks ago. Shot was at exactly 200 yards with a Tikka 7mm Rem Mag and a 168 grain Nosler Accubond. Double lung shot, broadside, bullet lodged on the inside of the hide on the far side. My buddy shot his elk with a 180 grain Winchester Ballistic Silver tip out of his 300 Win Mag at 75 yards. Same scenario, broadside, double lung, bullet was in the same spot as my elk. I have shot my share of whitetail and back bear here in NH, often resulting in complete pass throughs. I'm glad my buddy and I chose the calibers we did, as both elk we shot were one shot kills. I'msure there are plenty of other bullets in plenty of other calibers that would have done the job, but I discovered on my experience, elk are tough critters.
99 There are only a couple of Idaho rifle bull hunts this early. Did you have a special draw somewhere or were you on one of the early backcountry general hunts like in the Selway maybe? Curious about that myself? I know the backcountry units opened Sept 15th or maybe it was maybe an early season controlled hunt?
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...sure are tough, thick hided critters. I got the opportunity to take my first elk in Idaho a couple weeks ago. Shot was at exactly 200 yards with a Tikka 7mm Rem Mag and a 168 grain Nosler Accubond. Double lung shot, broadside, bullet lodged on the inside of the hide on the far side. My buddy shot his elk with a 180 grain Winchester Ballistic Silver tip out of his 300 Win Mag at 75 yards. Same scenario, broadside, double lung, bullet was in the same spot as my elk. I have shot my share of whitetail and back bear here in NH, often resulting in complete pass throughs. I'm glad my buddy and I chose the calibers we did, as both elk we shot were one shot kills. I'msure there are plenty of other bullets in plenty of other calibers that would have done the job, but I discovered on my experience, elk are tough critters.
99 There are only a couple of Idaho rifle bull hunts this early. Did you have a special draw somewhere or were you on one of the early backcountry general hunts like in the Selway maybe? Curious about that myself? I know the backcountry units opened Sept 15th or maybe it was maybe an early season controlled hunt? I'd also like to know the size of these elk they shot. Elk are not all created equal. BIG difference between a young bull /cow vs a Mature Bull.
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I have a few I'll post later. Here is 295 gr PB. 90 gr of Black Powder, , 50cal, TC Black Diamond. Cow elk, 70yards. Found under hide on off side ![[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]](https://i.imgur.com/IWj49n2.jpg) Leave the poly tip in or pull it out before shooting?
The last time that bear ate a lawyer he had the runs for 33 days!
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Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
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I have a few I'll post later. Here is 295 gr PB. 90 gr of Black Powder, , 50cal, TC Black Diamond. Cow elk, 70yards. Found under hide on off side Leave the poly tip in or pull it out before shooting? I pull the poly tip. Then it is the same as PB hollow point.Then I press a .17 cal air rifle pellet in it to fill the HP now.The one shown did not have it
Last edited by saddlesore; 09/25/21.
If God wanted you to walk and carry things on your back, He would not have invented stirrups and pack saddles
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Joined: Jun 2001
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Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
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I'd also like to know the size of these elk they shot. Elk are not all created equal. BIG difference between a young bull /cow vs a Mature Bull.
I have killed cows,small bulls and big mature 7x8 bulls and never saw much difference of how they died no matter what I hit them with.Elk that have just run up a mountain side and have their adrenaline up,do take little bit more though I would guess.
If God wanted you to walk and carry things on your back, He would not have invented stirrups and pack saddles
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This is why experienced elk hunters are always talking about shot placement and bonded or mono bullets because elk are tough, very tough if you don’t get the boiler room.
You also don’t need a magnum with in normal hunting ranges. But if you can handle it and be a good shot. You do you.
All of them do something better than the 30-06, but none of them do everything as well.
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I’ve never caught a TTSX in large bodied elk using 150 gr 7mm or 168 gr .300 mag. JME
Life Member NRA, RMEF, American Legion, MAGA. Not necessarily in that order.
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I’ve never caught a TTSX in large bodied elk using 150 gr 7mm or 168 gr .300 mag. JME Same here. 168 ttsx out of 06 elk from 25-400 yards. all pass through, even the shoulder shot
All of them do something better than the 30-06, but none of them do everything as well.
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Campfire Ranger
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If you want pass-throughs, shoot a mono bullet.
I have not recovered a Barnes, either the original X, XLC TSX or TTSX, from an animal, yet, and I've been using them since 1992. They will take the abuse of a very close, high velocity impact, and still perform way out yonder.
It is so strange how different people have different experiences. I think I have killed maybe 6 animals with a mono, whether barnes or other. .223 Rem and 62 TSX to .375 H&H and the old 270 Failsafe. I have recovered 3 of them and have not been overly impressed with their performance or reliability, overall.
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Campfire Outfitter
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I've had pass throughs and bullets stopped with my 338 WMs and my brothers' 300 Mags, but last year was the first year hunting with my 26 Nosler. 140 grain Accubond at around 3400 fps hit a spike at 127 yards. Hit high on both shoulder blades, hit a rib going in one side and going out the other, and clipped the bottom of the spine- found the bullet under the skin on the far side. Dropped in his tracks while the rest of the herd ran off... I can't quantify why some pass through and some don't, but it is one of those things I don't worry about unless it becomes a long tracking job...
Bob
Never underestimate your ability to overestimate your ability.
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Campfire Greenhorn
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"I think it's worth going to a deeper penetrating bullet to get the pass through - makes tracking much easier if (when) they run some. And I've seen even double-lung/heart elk run a good bit."
Agreed.
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No surprises here. Guys that primarily hunt elk don't think they're that hard to kill but guys that hunt deer and similar sized big game find that elk are tougher. I'm in the latter group; they seem much tougher to kill than deer or black bear. Brings to mind the post about needing premium bullets for elk. They may not be needed but it seems like a damn good idea especially if you're an out of stater that only gets to hunt elk occasionally.
FWIW I've always had pass throughs with a 338 200gr TBT but haven't found a full bore muzzy bullet that will do the same. Maybe I'm pushing them too fast..
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Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
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If an '06 or 270 gets a bullet all the way through the animal, whether the hide catches it or not, how can a larger caliber do any better? I've shot any number of elk with a 270 using both GS's and Speer Hotcores, 150 gr. I've never seen much difference in retained weight. They all end up under the hide of a dead elk.
Something else to consider. Shock happens when the blood pressure drops very rapidly, leaving the victim nearly comatose. Occasionally a bullet will cut a major blood vessel, causing massive internal bleeding. The resulting drop in BP puts the animal in shock and it will just stand there, dead on it's feet. One time I shot an elk in the lungs. It apparently went into shock as it just stood there looking dumb. I shot it 3 more times before it slowly fell over. All 4 shots were through the lungs and heart which were total mush and the far shoulder was broken but it didn't go down. Shock can cause some strange reactions. You think your bullet didn't do the job while in reality, it did a great job. It's the shock that causes the animal to stand and take shot after shot before going down.
“In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.”
― George Orwell
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If you want pass-throughs, shoot a mono bullet.
I have not recovered a Barnes, either the original X, XLC TSX or TTSX, from an animal, yet, and I've been using them since 1992. They will take the abuse of a very close, high velocity impact, and still perform way out yonder.
It is so strange how different people have different experiences. I think I have killed maybe 6 animals with a mono, whether barnes or other. .223 Rem and 62 TSX to .375 H&H and the old 270 Failsafe. I have recovered 3 of them and have not been overly impressed with their performance or reliability, overall. Agreed on different experiences. I've recovered more Partitions (30-06 and 338 Win Mag) from pronghorn (one each) than I have Scenars (260 Rem = 0). With the latter combination have a much higher sample size.
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Campfire Regular
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I have many 40/50 kills with the 180 NP, out of various 30 calibers, mostly 300WM. I DO NOT want a pass thru, I do my best to shoot them, to break them down, instantally, by breaking both front shoulders. I have seen to many run over a hill into the next canyon, after being hit in the lungs or heart. I want them DRT. I don't want to have to follow them around on 50% side hills and deep canyons where a 100 yard run ends up being a quarter mile down the mountain in the timber. I like the Pt and have good experiences with the AB. My last three elk kills, at 420, 310, and 180, yards, have all been one shot and I saw them hit the ground. This will be my 56th or 57th season, and my first hunt starts on Saturday.
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I have a few I'll post later. Here is 295 gr PB. 90 gr of Black Powder, , 50cal, TC Black Diamond. Cow elk, 70yards. Found under hide on off side Leave the poly tip in or pull it out before shooting? I can always find the poly tip on the ground about 15 yards from where I shot.
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Joined: May 2017
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Campfire Tracker
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If an '06 or 270 gets a bullet all the way through the animal, whether the hide catches it or not, how can a larger caliber do any better? I've shot any number of elk with a 270 using both GS's and Speer Hotcores, 150 gr. I've never seen much difference in retained weight. They all end up under the hide of a dead elk.
Something else to consider. Shock happens when the blood pressure drops very rapidly, leaving the victim nearly comatose. Occasionally a bullet will cut a major blood vessel, causing massive internal bleeding. The resulting drop in BP puts the animal in shock and it will just stand there, dead on it's feet. One time I shot an elk in the lungs. It apparently went into shock as it just stood there looking dumb. I shot it 3 more times before it slowly fell over. All 4 shots were through the lungs and heart which were total mush and the far shoulder was broken but it didn't go down. Shock can cause some strange reactions. You think your bullet didn't do the job while in reality, it did a great job. It's the shock that causes the animal to stand and take shot after shot before going down. I had a similar experience with a .35 Whelen shooting 225 gr Trophy Bonded Bear Claws at a broadside bull at a hundred yards. Hit him 3 times in rapid succession and he fell over as I squeezed off the third shot. All 3 entry wounds were just behind the crease of the shoulder no more than 2 inches apart. Innards were jello and he was dead on his feet and didn’t know it. IDGAS, if they are still standing, I’m still shooting….
Life Member NRA, RMEF, American Legion, MAGA. Not necessarily in that order.
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Campfire Ranger
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Saddlesore - did you find the 180 partitions more likely to exit? ANY Partition is more likely to exit, especially so on a broadside lung shot. And if that was how elk usually presented themselves there are a number of bullets that will do the job. But I’ve shot more elk quartering away than broadside, and a bullet with moderate expansion and deep penetration is the bullet for elk. Like a Partition or TTSX. I have a pair of 243’s that have accounted for 14 elk, all with 100g Partitions. When it comes to elk, it’s about the bullet, not the cartridge.
Casey
Not being married to any particular political party sure makes it a lot easier to look at the world more objectively...
Having said that, MAGA.
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One thing I have observed between myself, family, friends, and guiding, an exit hole tends to make an elk more obviously sick immediately after being hit.
Casey
Not being married to any particular political party sure makes it a lot easier to look at the world more objectively...
Having said that, MAGA.
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Things don't go the way you want much of the time when elk hunting.
In open country I'd be fine with a single hole and huge internal damage. In thick steep country, two holes leaking is best if you don't drop them.
I've been using Woodleigh Weld Cores out of my .338WM for years. I think they're better than Partitions. Absolutely better than Barnes from what I've seen. Which admittedly isn't a bunch compared to some.
“You never need fear a man, no matter what his size. When danger threatens, call on me, and I will equalize.”
Samuel Colt.
�Common sense is genius dressed up in work clothes.� - Ralph Waldo Emerson
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