Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game .25-06 on Elk

Flinch, the spirit of the original post was around low recoil. There are better options than the .25-06. Period.

Guess it comes down to your mindset for your chosen weapon/stick and then sticking to the limitations of it when that bull of a lifetime or whatever for that matter gives you a poke and hope for your weapon/stick opportunity.

I'm sure a 25 06 with x bullets would be a pretty potent elk slayer. Alot of other moderate cartridges might perhaps be better using heavy for caliber x bullets. You have the no experienced putting in their two cents(:>) to the experienced saying horrible shots with little concern for angle or distance routinely put them down with 100 grain factory fodder and never lose an animal. Thats funny from my end. My guess is that they are not such horrible shots,they know the anatomy, and they consider it.

I've killed elk with 11 different calibers. Including the 25-06. It's a matter of ethics and shot placement. You can be very satisfied with the 25-06 if you follow these two rules. Take an ethical shot and put one in his boiler room. The elk will go down. Use a quality 120 grain bullet if at all possible and enjoy the shooting. The 25-06 is not a kicker and I have found that it shoots very flat. A big bonus. I personally know an old man thats killed over 50 elk with the ol 25.

Though I would agree with some on this board, the ol 270 is a better choice, but if a 25 is all ya got, ya still got a great rifle. IMHO

later days
270 <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

"While there is no doubt that you can kill elk with a 25-06, considering the hunting conditions, and the number of times you might get to go, plus the liklihood of finding a huge trophy elk, I believe it is unwise to use a small cartridge."

Nice to see some fellers with sense. Especially relevant is the "number of times" statement. A feller with patience thet's got all season to kill a bull is a differnt story than a feller with a week to find and kill the trophy of a lifetime. He's the guy thet's gonna take a marginal shot, under marginal conditions, using a marginal cartridge.

I dont really see the difference, what is good for the out of state guy should be good for the local hunter too. We shouldnt try to justify bad shots on elk by using bigger rifles for non resident hunters. IF it s bad shot, pass and wait for a better one if it comes up. Besides, our elk seasons are only a day or two over a week anyway, so a local hunter here doesnt have a huge advantage by hunting all season.



If all i had was a 25-06 i would use it on elk. If a guy shoots one well, and its all he has then use it. I certainly think a 308 is better suited to elk, and if i was buying a rifle for elk hunting, it wouldnt be the 25-06, it would be a 30 caliber or larger. A better low recoil rifle for elk is the 308 winchester.

With no elk experience, my views here aren't worth much, but I have shot my share of elk-sized animals elsewhere . If I was in the woods deer hunting with a 25.06, or 257 Weatherby and happen to run across an elk ( provided of course it was legal for me to dod so) would I attempt the shot? you bet and I would feel pretty comfortable too. Now if I was planning an elk hunt would I choose a 25? absolutely not. An 06' would be a minimum, a 300 even better and a 33 better yet. jorge

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I totally agree with you, Jorge. To me, this thought falls into the same general category as "Never take a knife to a gun fight".





Strength & Honor...



Ron T.

if any elk see's me and a 25-06 drift in they would wish they were on there way to a knife fight, its for real it ain't the arrow its the indian although the 25-06 is one hell of an arrow

I have shot several elk in the last 24 years, and I use an /06 to hunt with. I started out using the 150 gr, found out quickly that it was too small. Then switched to the 165gr, hunted that for years, but the bullets were breaking up under 100 yds so last year switched to the 180s. I have never lost an elk, but a 25/06 would not be my gun of choice. An elk is a very heavy boned animal and there's just too much that can go wrong. All of the bullets I mentioned worked great on deer and antelope. I just can't imagine using a 100 gr bullet on elk. I do know a guy that used a 243 wildcat and 100 gr bullets and I watched him shoot an elk at 300 yds with it one year. It took six shots to do it and one finally got through and killed it. I watched him skin it and seen the bullets just curled up under the skin. I guess my point here is, if you have a choice keep the 25 for deer and smaller, use the bigger stuff for the elk, it's the right thing to do.

One other thing guys, I have shot lots of animals here in Montana. I really don't think of one animal that I heard the shot or even felt the recoil. I was way too invoved in makeing the shot to even pay attention to that. You feel recoil at the range, not in the field, at least that's my expierence.

We constantly hear how recoil is not felt while shooting at game. I believe that's true (unless the shooter wears his scope).

However, the fact that you don't feel the recoil for that one game shot does not mean that you did not flinch. A flinch is almost totally subconcious and the shooter who flinches is not aware of it.

A flinch happens before the shot (think about it) and the flich is developed and ingrained while shooting at the range. If the shooter fliches at the range from a rifle that is beyond his personal recoil tolerance, he absolutely guaranteed will flinch (probably worse) when excited by the prescence of a live target. The resulting possibility of a miss (or worse) a bad hit is what wise shooters try to avoid.

Most shooters who shoot rifle/cartridge combos that are beyond their tolerance are not aware of it or are too fat headed to admit it. I see guys all the time at the range who will point to the two holes near the bull on their target and say "she's all sighted in and ready to go" They often are blissfully ingoring the other two or three (or even 6 or 7) shots that are scattered across the paper.

I'm not advocating nor damning the 25-06 for elk. I'm suggesting that the shooter who stays within his tolerance has better odds of a clean kill regardless of the caliber chosen. The tolerance is personal and can't be quantified by anyone except the individual shooter.

JimF

Hey Prospector, I have noticed that you seem to like to bring up cartridges that are on the very low power side for elk, i.e. The .357 and the .25-06. Why dont you just go with a bigger cartridge that can do the job better, and why start all of this controversy?

NH_Hunter

With a .25-06 you are far better equipped for elk than Lewis and Clark were, and well behind Teddy Roosevelt's gear (though you have a wider selection of bullets than TR did).

Prospector,

Seems like there is a whole truck-load of cartridges between the 25-06 and the big magnums that will work better. Take a look at the 280 Remington with 154 or 162 gr. bullets. There's a lot to be said for shoot the most potent cartridge you can shoot well for elk and above. Sure a 25-06 will work but there are a lot better with out magnum size recoil.

Snuffy

rbore,

There is a large difference in the performance of the typical, copper jacketed, bullet and premium bullets. While a 165g, 30 cal bullet of traditional construction may be lacking at times, there are 165g bullets that perform well on elk without "breaking up". Try one of the premium brands that shoots well in your rifle and report back.

HogWild

HogWild,
yes I know that now. And I still might go back to the premium bullets yet. I don't switch until I shoot something at 50 and at 200 yrds plus. When I do then I make the choice to change. I grew up with one brand of bullets, I just never looked anywhere else. Actually it was my boys that turned me on to those good bulltes. It funny that you said that, because that's exactly what I was saying to my older boy, I should have stayed with the 165 but with a higher quality bullet. Thanks for the info.

NH Hunter

If you'll look at my original post, you'll see that I do use a magnum. The original thought of this post is less recoil and thoughts on the .25-06 with a premium bullet.

As far as just agreeing with what every one has to say would be pretty boring. No controversy intended, but I wanted to gather info from others experience. I just recently took notice that the late "BoB Milek" used the .25-06 on elk and did quite well with one. This made me inquire to others experience.

As far as the .357 mag. I've always liked this caliber (and probably I just want to justify another new gun) and you read a lot in print about it being underpowered (I wouldn't pick it as a primary arm for hunting large animals). A number of polsters in that forum (handguns) have made interesting comments in regards to its power, and from a practical standpoint of experience.

Prospector

how about a fine 358 in a blr? mine is as sweet as pie and kicks much less than my 350 mag while being right behind it in trajectory.
or maybe a model 7 in a 358? big bullets, big holes <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
woofer

The .25/06 with good bullets constitutes a .270 lite. It will kill elk. I would under most circumstances prefer a little bit more gun, such as a .270 and 150 grain bullets.I have friends that have taken on elk with both .250 Savage and .25/06 and did OK. Just put them where they need to go.AW

Maybe a 7mm Mag would be a bit more adequate eh Adobe? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />