Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Honest elk rifle opinion.

I’ve hunted elk with 30.06, 300 Win Mag and 7mm Rem Mag.
I’ve always used premium bullets(Nosler Partitions, Accubonds and Barnes T-TSXs which I think are still the best option for ensuring good penetration on elk shoulders.
As has been stated in earlier posts, several of the newer powders available today have made standard(classic, non-magnum cartridges) even more effective by safely increasing muzzle velocities by 150-200 fps. I’m a believer as my chrono’ed velocities are proving this to be the case.

I loved how the 300 Win put elk down with authority! It’s a great elk cartridge! But now at 54 yrs, recoil is no longer a rush for me the way it was in my 20s and 30s. I no long own a 300 Win. My 30.06 with 165gr Accubonds moving along at 2,950 fps is my “Big 30” today….still very effective on elk and easier on the shoulder vs the 300 Win.

Having said that, I will be hunting elk this October with a very accurate Win Model 70 shooting 140gr Nosler Accubonds at 3,185 fps with Reloder 26….confidence inspiring to say the least!😁

Leftybolt

Chambered rifles you already have shoot high BC bullets. It has nothing to do with buying a new rifle, only barrel twist. A 1-10 twist 30-06 will shoot the most sleek, aerodynamic bullets made for .30 caliber and will produce reasonably high velocities such as 200-215 grain class bullets at 2,600 fps. Plenty of power and distance. The 7mm Rem Mag with the older 1-9.5 twist will shoot 170-180 grain class hunting bullets at about 2,900 fps. Apparently many hunters believe elk are encountered only at 500 yards and greater, when in truth most are shot inside 200 yards. My longest shot was around 250 yards with a 338 Win Mag and 250 grain Nosler Partition and others were around 200 yards down to 130 yards with a 444 Marlin. Most were shot with a 308 Win using 165 Partitions. Lastly, stop concentrating on BC and use a proven bullet like a Nosler Partition, they offer the widest range of effectiveness due to operating at a wide range of working impact velocities from 2,600 fps down to 1,600 fps. Late season bull elk are dug-in and are in heavy timber, many encounters are inside 150 yards in that timber.

I badly want someone to take their kid out and have them shoot a monster elk with a savage axis in 25-06 or something, just to make the point that our obsessing over $5000 rifles and magnums for a damn elk is as ridiculous as it seems.

A lot of elk have been killed by the smaller caliber and or lesser powered cartridges…..but, a lot of elk have been wounded and lost to the same cartridges.

A larger bore, more powerful cartridge certainly doesn’t guarantee an elk in the freezer….. but, a little insurance with said cartridge using a quality bullet (not designed for deer) is a big plus!

My wife killed her first elk with a borrowed .243 Win……never used it again. Even as an inexperienced hunter/shooter she realized that it was a marginal cartridge! She had nothing to prove…..but wants elk in the freezer and hates to see or hear of elk being lost after wounded!

A lesser cartridge, for those that live in elk country, and are accomplished shooters, willing to pass on “marginal” shots, and have many opportunities to bag an elk….are not really handicapped by the lesser cartridge. But, for the hunter that may only have one opportunity in their lifetime to make an elk hunt, a larger, more powerful, flatter shooting cartridge would be a good investment……provided they are not scared of the addition recoil!

For those that have no issues with wounding/losing elk ……..continue using lesser cartridges to try to prove something! Hell, why stop at the .243’s, 25’s, and low power 30’s…..start hunting with a 22 LR and really show how good you are! memtb

It happens every year and with even less.

I have killed more than a few Elk with a model 94 30-30, mostly cows, because they are usually a little better eating than bulls, also killed quit a few with a 99 300 savage, contrary to modern thinking Elk are not bullet proof, Elk are harder to find than kill. Rio7

mj, when I started hunting this area, I worked for some ranches. I ask the son what he used for elk. He said a .25-06. Years later I hunted with the federal trapper in the Big Horn Basin . I as him what he used. He said he used to use a .25-06, but uses a .300 now, why, he said I got tired of tracking elk. The ranchers son also switched to a .300 for the same reason. You don't need a .300 for elk, but you need something with bullet weight and penetration. I could go on, but you should get the idea. But maybe Ohio elk are easier to kill.

Another reason that the out of state hunter with limited time and opportunities should give themselves a much wider range of opportunities. The “magnums” (more powerful, larger bore, flatter shooting) cartridges are not “needed” ….but certainly give an ethical hunter more opportunities! memtb

Just that in every discussion, whether it be tents or rifles or cars or hats, everyone has to defend their choice to the death and argue every inch and insist we spend the max on the best and then it degrades into name calling.

If you’re the one responding it may be an articulate, knowledgeable response! If you are the one being responded to…..it’s appears to be a personal attack!

We all have our opinions…..generally established by personal experiences or what we have gained in other manners! memtb

WCH,

This thread is ending up like most elk-rifle threads do, with the same examples of why somebody might want to use a certain "power level."

So in the interests of balanced viewpoints, I'll mention a local friend, who's in his mid-60s and doesn't really know how many elk he's killed--or want to say, since he grew up in the era when Montana hunters often killed elk that were tagged and eaten by friends and family members. For quite a while he mostly used the 7mm Remington Magnum and .300 Winchester Magnum, but a few years ago grew weary of the recoil, especially the .300's--but had considerable experience with other cartridges. So around five years ago he started using his .25-06 exclusively, and last fall killed another mature bull with it, no problems.

Now we return to the regular program...which like most such threads tends to go a lot longer than 10 pages....

I loaded up some 30-06 rounds for a buddy of mine. H4895 and 150 TSXs. I ran the ballistics for that combo and wondered why I needed a 300.

Which bullet in the 25-06 John? Just wondering.

I’d agree with Rio on elk. Hard to find.

Kinda boils down to what a person wants to use. With care most anything mentioned has the ability to work better than arrows or spears. Our new bullets make a lot of stuff relevant that wasn’t so slick 25 years ago.

Know he uses 120s, and they might be Partitions--but it's been a few months since I talked to him about it.

I think a lot of people see the size of an elk compared to a deer and think it’s going to take a much bigger cartridge just due to the overall body size. What they don’t realize is that the depth to penetrate to the vitals difference between an elk and a deer is only a couple inches. It’s not the overall size of an animal that matters, it’s the depth of the chest across the body.

When you look at animals that way it makes a lot more sense why a 243 class cartridge can cleanly take elk, which I have done myself several times.

chicoredneck,

I have seen them killed very quickly with similar cartridges even on angling shots. Today's bullets can make considerable difference, but then Partitions always worked pretty well themselves.

Use what you want. I’ve seen elk lost to chitty shooting and to sub-par cartridge choice. If somebody has to ask a bunch of numbnuts what cartridge to use, perhaps he should take up basket weaving or tiddly winks. I’ll be taking a stout .300 and 7mm to the elk mountains. Good hunting

6.5 creed for the win!!! 👊🏻

👍! memtb

I bet you use those heavy high BC bullets in the creed for those long 100 yard shots in the timber too, right? LOL...