Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting 270 cal 150 grain OK for elk?

I also think long distance shots are dictated more by terrian than any thing. If your hunting in the timber you probably not going to be shooting more than a 100 yards but if your hunting sage flats or along canyons you might have to shoot a long ways.

I am hunter first and a shooter second but that doesn't mean that I don't respect some one who is capable of making a long shot I just have different skill set and will have to close the distance because I am not as skilled as some who practices a lot of long distance. I can respect them for having those skills. All it means to me is I might have to pass on the shot but they can make it.

Sure I can. If you have a 300 yard shot from where you sit but could easliy slip down a finger of timber and have a 150 yard shot you owe it to the animal to get off your butt and get close.

Anyone who thinks he can place a shot as precisely at 300 yards as he can at half that is bragging to himself. I know its fun to blast hot air on these forums about the long shots you are capable of and those you have made. I have made my share too, but only when it was my only choice and when I was sure of a solid hit.

A real hunter will not shoot from long range when he could stalk closer just because he thinks its cool to kill from long range.

Dont take any of this to mean I dont advocate mucho practice at long range to develop the skill just in case its the only shot you get.

But... 300 yards is not long range, not hardly! Plus, so you slip down that finger of timber and blow a couple does out that you didn't know where there... who run off the elk... and you just missed out on your once-every-five-years bull tag because you passed on a 300-yard shot?

Now, to be clear, for THIS lug nut, no way in heaven I'm shooting offhand at 300 yards... that's a shot that requires some setup. But at 300 yards, with a half-decent rest... even the wind is hardly a factor at 300!

Now change that number to say 450 or 500 yards, and we have a more viable debate here...

-jeff

Agreed.

The 300 figure I just pulled out of the air. For some its more and others less.

Also, I dont feel the need to take iffy shots because I can hunt every day of the season if I want to, and if I have to let one go today theres always tomorrow.

Lucky dog <g>.

I'm that way with blacktails- usually- but elk and this year, mule deer, are big-time expeditions... elk is a 5-day season, which is usually a 4-day season for us because of the reality of when people need to get back vs. the reality of what would happen if someone was actually dumb enough to SHOOT one of the things on that last day. We hunt wilderness, so when an elk is down, it's usually a couple days to get it all out of there.

Anyway... enjoying the debate, and I'm certainly not advocating that everyone go out and fling lead.

-jeff

I very much understand how it is when you have limited hunting time. I used to travel from GA to WY every year to do most of my big game hunting, and with constraints on how much time I could be away from work I had to make every day count.

Retirement changed all that.

I will take 50-75 yard shot any day if I can get it. I went on this little rant because of the cheap shots guys are taking at the guys who can take them at long range. I seen people pass up 450 yard shots because they thought they were to far and I respect them for that, But don't get a long face if you don't see another elk for the rest of the hunt. All I know is were I hunt closing the gap sometimes isn't a option, so I train, practice, and use the right equipment so if I have to take him at 500 I can do it

More power to you.

My shot was directed at the guy who could easily stalk much closer but chooses to run his fingers through his chest hair and take the long shot with his super whizbang magnum. This kind of guy does not have my respect. The guy that sneaks as close as its possible to get then settles into a good rest and puts one right in the boiler room is my idea of a hunter. I think we are singing the same tune, just a little differently.

I got to meet Dober at the NRA Convention here in Louisville a couple of weeks ago. We didn't get to visit much, but from what I saw there, he's a heckuva nice guy. Period.

Jeff: The three essential elements of a contract are......

Happy Birthday!!!!

Thank you sir.

The guy who wrote the section on contracts was fun to read, as fun as that stuff can be. He made fun of lawyers. That's ALWAYS in good taste <g>! Also made fun of Realtors- also always a good idea.

He had some interesting insights into the fundamental differences between lawyer-think (fundamentally adversarial, winner and a loser, scorched earth, etc) and brokerage-think (let's get along, win-win, etc). Tied it into how that plays out at the legislative level. Smart guy.

-jeff

Back to the topic of the thread............the cartridge has been around since 1927,and it has been toppling elk since it came out; by now the number of elk taken with it must surely be into 7 figures.With that volume of empirical data, I have to wonder why we still have these conversations(except for internet entertainment value).... (?!)

If anything, given such wonderful things as TSX,Swift Aframes and Nosler Partitions to shoot from the 270,the cartridge is even better than when guys like O'Connor and Jobson were rolling elk out to 600 yards with standard cup/cores, and old-style Barnes bullets.Reports of the 270's inadequacies as an elk rifle should, like campaign promises,be ignored.

One of the first articles I ever read about the .270 Winchester, was about 30 years ago.
Best I remember the author said if a 270 wouldn't git 'er dun, he'd need a .458. True then, even more true now.

The 270 will definitely work, in december of 2009 I took a cow elk with the 270 150gr Nosler Partions. It was a one shot kill and the elk dropped about 35 yards from where I shot it.

One of my buds guides and his clients bring in all kind of cannons to hunt elk. He ussualy take his clients and sets a 1 gallon water jug at 200 yards. He has them use his truck hood as a rest and sees if they can hit the jugs. In some cases they cant, and then he has them try out and use either his old 270 or 308. When it comes to elk, it shot placement that is the most important thing.

There is no way a .270 Win with 150g bullets is adequate for elk. Never was, never will be.

Your 7mm Rem Mag with 160's however, is just the ticket. Mine has been slaying elk since 1982 with boring reliability, even though the bullets were fired at .270 Win/150g velocities.

The difference of 0.007" in diameter and 6.7% in weight makes all the difference in the world in terms of effectiveness. While the .270 Win/150g combination is woefully inadequate, the 7mm Rem Mag/160g is more than adequate. Man up and use a real elk cartidge! [laughing]

my 270 with 140 grain hornady interlocks brought home the 6 point bacon two seasons ago

What he said.

Dave

Three words: 150 grain Partition.......









Of the 40+ elk I have killed, somewhere around 25 of them have been killed with a 270...........


Casey

Well, not really... one number and TWO words is more like it... but most 270 users are a bit slow that way

Aside, I seriously question the sanity of someone that doesn't think the 270/150 combo isn't serious elk medicine.

A Partition only makes it more so...

I have never heard of anyone trying to kill an elk with a 270