Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting 30-06 didn't impress me.

Up until I went with a 35 Whelen AI a few years ago, I thought a 30-06 was perfect as a great alrounder cartridge. After taking a few Moose & Elk with the .35 at moderate ranges, I now Rank the 30-06 at # 2. There seems to be absolutely no replacement for displacement.

I shot a 30-06 for years 180 grain nosler Part never disapointed me killed a lot of elk I use to have or proably still do somewhere 12 perfect bullets i found in elk that had did there job and perfect mushrooms.

Great point about the 180gr partition. I have 2, and then switched to the 200gr. After that, I was not collecting bullets. Complete pass thrus.

My 30-06 has done me well. I could probably get by just fine if it were my only hunting rifle. I’ve shot rockchucks, coyotes, deer, and elk with it. I used to use 180gr Partitions, but am mostly using the 168gr TTSX now.

Yea, even with a 165 interlock at 2850, it's a pretty unimpressive cartridge. Even my 11 year old boy shoots it.

Boring old wood stocked fudd gun will outshoot 99 percent of most people's custom long range deals.....rem arms....doing it right.

165 interlock with h4350. Unimpressive to say the least.

But have also used plenty of Bergers. If you use them enough to understand how they work, and place them accordingly, on average they have killed big game quicker than any other bullet used, including Interlocks and Ballistic Tips.[/quote]
From Mule Deer.

I've said this about 900 times. My next build is gonna be an 06 with a 25 incher, launching a 168 hunting vld around 2900 to 2950. Nothing will take that and survive.

My 19 year old son wasn't impressed with his 30.06 either even though he's got 2 muley bucks and 2 cow elk with it in the past 6 years when he has been able to draw a tag. So, he went out and bought himself a 300 PRC yamahammer with a 26 inch barrel on it and saving up money to buy a high powered scope so he can shoot out to 2 miles with it. I kept telling him all he needs is the 30.06...He says the 30.06 is just too old school...All his buddies hunt with the newer calibers, yet I've only heard of one of them actually getting a single big game animal, and he's gotten 4 of them so far.

I know folks that have felt the same way about cartridges, rifles, scopes, etc. One of my good friends has been using a commercial Mauser in 30-06 with a beat up stock and a VX-I 3-9x40for years and he is a straight up killer with it. He once handed me his rifle while he tagged a buck. I unloaded it and found 2 Remington Core-Lokts and an unknown Federal cartridge. Had no clue what the bullet weights were. I asked him why all his ammo was different and he says, “Really, I swear they all said 30-06!”

LOL! Sounds like a good friend of mine that lives in Southwest Colorado. He probably has a dozen different big game rifles, but keeps coming back to his old Winchester Model 70 30.06 that his granddad gave him to hunt with. I swear he can hit anything with that rifle out to 500 yards no sweat, and it is not picky with most 150 or 165 grain ammo. It's almost like an extension of his arm. I think he just gets bored with it..

It is easy to get bored with an 06, that's why I seldom hunt with mine.

son and myself have shot many elk with our bows and arrows ,matter fact my largest bull elk that i shot measured scored 376 B.C. shot with bow & arrow and my son got one that is even bigger with his bow & arrow . so when someone says a 30-06 didn`t impress him i would say he needs to look in the mirror he is the problem idiot.

There’s something to that. From moose and elk on down I’ve shot the gamut with my 06’s, differing bullets at times but always with very good results. There is not an animal on this continent nor some others I wouldn’t be more than comfortable using that caliber to take.
Sorry it hasn’t turned out as well for some.

Osky

Man, if we were as unfaithful to our wives as we are the 30-06…..

May not be the youngest, or the sexiest, or most well endowed, but it sure puts food on the table and doesn’t fuss!

I spit my coffee out reading that Gooch.

Greatest cartridge of all time. It's not even debatable

I have shot exactly one bull elk, but it was with my .30-06. 180 grain TTSX at 177 yards. Bull went maybe 10 yards. I think the '06 works pretty well for most applications. I don't deer hunt with it much anymore, mostly have migrated to smaller cartridges

I like that bullet and load!

I have no idea why anyone would use a 30-06. Got an 11 year old son using the tar outta one! That 165 grain interlock ain't no good either.

Admittedly, I don’t use the .30-06 much personally. But i have seen enough game killed with it, mostly 3-4 dozen bull elk, that i have developed a healthy respect for this old warhorse. The times that i have used it personally have cemented this respect. Most game have always been taken well within 500 yds and will continue to be. New bullets, fired from state of the art efficient cartridges WILL NOT change that. Most folks continue to hunt the way they always have……. Meaning hand held rifles fired pretty quickly from field positions at game that is moving or about to be.
These are not long range precision situations at all.
They are everyday, boringly normal hunting scenarios that unfold everyday on the worlds hunting fields. The .30-06 simply excells in these situations…….. just as it has for the last 118 yrs. A good 180 gr Spitzer bullet launched at 2700-2800 fps just flat solves most hunting needs.