Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Enough energy for elk?

I was watching Eastmans on the tube tonight, watched a guy take an elk at 380 yards. I would rather get a bit closer than that, but I was just wondering if a 30-06 with factory ammo say 165-180 gr would still have enough energy at 380 yards to take an elk?

Thank you.

Where do you plan to hit it? Yes a 06 will kill an ek at that range, And yes it can wound an elk at that range.

Just wondering if the caliber had the energy for that shot?

Not an elk, obviously, but at 399 yards- by GPS after the shot- this moose did not survive his encounter with a 190 Hornady BTSP, a load you can buy I believe, though I handload for hunting. He also didn't stop the bullet which traversed his chest before exitting forward the opposite hip. I won't tell you whether you should shoot at elk that far, but the cartridge is not the weak link in the question.

LeosRedFox got it right in a nutshell. I will expand on his comments.

I agree that if you punch a hole through their lungs, they're going to die. A 30-06 using Fereral Premium HE 180 grain Nosler Partitions will kill an elk at 400 yards. I know because I've done it. But not very often and it's certainly not the optimum situation. I would not recommend trying to shoot big game at that range unless the conditions are perfect, you have a perfect rifle rest and lots of time to make a clean, careful shot. So yes, it has the impact energy. But it's not recommended because there's a very high probability that you might wound the animal and not make a clean, quick kill.

I gather from your comment "I would rather get closer than that", you already knew much of what I have just written. It's still good to add caution to comments when who knows what rookie may be reading this open forum and get the wrong idea.

I appreciate everyone's concerns, it isn't my intention to go out and take a shot beyond my capabilities, I assure you it was just a question on ballistics pertaining to a 30-06, not looking to go out and emulate the Best of The West gang...really.

I think the question is a good, and fair, one. Certainly a shot that will break shoulders demands significantly more energy than a broadside lung shot.
Personally I would rather hit them "to hard" and kill them twice as dead :), than risk a wound, utilizing the variables over which I have control.

Barkoff, I guess the question then becomes how much energy is enough energy for elk?

Barkoff, in my opinion, yes.

That doesn't make it the best reasonable choice for 400-yard elk killing- that would be the .338 WM- nor does it mean that most people have much bidness shooting that far at an elk, but simply put, yes a 30-06 will kill an elk at 400 yards.

How could it NOT, assuming (big assumption) proper bullet placement?? Heck, it'll kill them even with very poor bullet placement... it'll just be days later, and miles away.

I don't want to get sucked into some sort of war here so I'll try and be brief and then scoot. In my opinion, the question isn't so much what will kill an elk at XXX yards, it's what will give you the best reasonable chance of killing the elk and recovering it. Elk can be tenacious as HELL. I've not seen either of my mere two elk show that, they both went down pretty fast... but a couple elk shot by my friends, that I helped with, were incredibly resiliant after being pretty well-hit. An elk running a few hundred yards can be a real problem. A lot can go wrong in elk country to mess up the recovery of an elk that goes a long ways. Snow coming in cost my friend Jerry an elk with a good blood trail, for example.

So... since I do practice out to 400 and beyond, I use rifles/cartridges/bullets that I feel will put the whip to an elk at those ranges, and they are bigger than a 30-06.

But if I had to, I'd load up my 30-06 and go elk huntin'- which is exactly what I DID do for several years. But I wouldn't be under the illusion that I had the BEST reasonable choice for hammering one at 400 yards.

All just in my humble opinion.

Energy doesn't kill critters. Hitting them in the right spot does.

By the way, standing by for flames.....

This should liven things up a bit.

Absolutlely! Anything else.

SEE BELOW

Well the facts are you could wound an elk at that range with a 378 Weatherby. Know your gun and know your ability.

Exactly...

Yes, an 06 has plenty of remaining energy to kill an elk at 400 yds. Most modern bottleneck cartridges do. But the secret is enough bullet.........

I've killed enough elk at longish range with 06 class cartridges with both conventional and premium bullets to think at longer ranges, regular jacketed bullets often open up less than they would at closer ranges, and consequently will penetrate further than one would expect.

I guess you could say the test of a cartridge is longer ranges, the true test of a bullet is point blank range........


Casey

It ain't what you shoot 'em with, it's where you shoot 'em.

Like JB says, "Shoot them in the front half".....


Casey

This picture makes me hungry.

Travis

The last bull elk that I shot was at 465 yard measured by laser. I shot it with a 30-06 using a 165 grain Nosler ballistic tips. I aim to high and hit it in the spine over the shoulders -- it did not move.

In 1985, I killed a 3 x 3 off of Decker flats (next to Yellowstone Park) hitting it 3 out of 4 shots off hand with a 270 using 130 grain factory ammo. I aimed approximately 3 feet above the back. I found 3 bullets holes in a 6 inch group behind the front shoulders. It died within 50 Yards of Yellowstone.

Both of these elk were on the run.

I think your'e better off with the 30x06 you can shoot, than any so called magnum.