Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting 25-06 for elk

he he he he... this aught to be interesting.....

I keep waiting for this thread to heat up...
??

MackMan-when did they make the Classic in the 300 RUM?

Thx
Dober

It would be pretty cool to have killed so many elk that the safety blanket of a bigger cartridge no longer felt... So compelling. I'm envious of you guys who aren't "mad at 'em" anymore!

For me- my elk mantra is carry as much gun as I can shoot well. Bigger is better, etc. Macho? Magnumitis? Yeah, but it's hard to argue against (say) a .338- as long as a guy can shoot it, a big if I suppose.

Bob- you got me all revved up about an Ouch and Ouch! Handled one of the "Dangerous Game" M700's so chambered today... Probably rather have my .375 be CRF, but still, it worked for gunshop fantasy purposes <g>.

Mark,
I am not real sure about the Classic moniker, I know that it was a limited run of some kind of commemorative model, it was
one of the 1st factory 300 Rum rifles. She bought it with her
own money that she had made by picking up sheds and selling
them. The story behind the elk is pretty interesting too.
She and her Dad and Mom where returning from hunting on the
Bookcliffs and stopped on top of a ridge leading across Rabbit
mountain just out of Rangely Co. She announced that she had to
pee, so while she walked off one side of the ridge while her
parents went off the other side to glass. When they heard
a shot they feared the worst, they ran over the ridge to find her standing over the elk . Seems that she was getting ready to
pee and heard something in the trees and threw a rock at the sound and the bull came trotting out.
I remember shooting that rifle and it knocked the snot out
out of me! I watched her shoot and instead of pulling the
rifle back on her shoulder, she pushed her shoulder into the
rifle and then rolled with the recoil. When I tried to do this
it took 9 stitches to fix my little recoil problem. She told
me that it would help if there wasn't a 1/2" gap between the butt pad and my shoulder. She then told me that I couldn't shoot
the way she did, because it was women thing!
Charlie

There are certainly better choices than a 25.06. Careful shots a reasonable ranges kill 'em though.

Hi folks, I apologize in advance for commenting on this because I am new to this site and haven't earned my space at the fire yet, but, I take exception to this post in a couple of ways. I am always suspicious of folks who post outlandish statements that are so far from actual that it can only be to draw attention to themselves. A .22 LR on an elk at 100 yards??? The most serious to me, the 25-06 only fine for coyotes and in a pinch antelope???? Here I've been dropping 180 plus bucks out to 500 yards for almost 40 years and never new the limitations of this outstanding cartridge. At least there is some measure of reality to this flaming mess, that's the 30 cal at 180 grains. I use a Ruger in 300 Win Mag and load 180 grain Hornady's just for elk. I suppose to vaildate wild statements, you have to at some point base something in the realm of intelligence. But at any point, everyone is entitled to their opinion, even if experience and common sense dictate otherwise.

Would I hunt elk with my 25-06, no, if I had to I would, but I don't have to. Here's my effort at wild rediculous statements. Why not mandate the minimum cailber at 50 cal, like I use to shoot in my M2 (in the servce)(No, I don't have anything against the folks who do use them). Don't think I haven't wished I had one when I glassed those magnificent royal bulls out there at 1,000 to 1,200 yards. But then again, I don't think you need anything that says "Hey, I'm trying to drop it in its tracks even if I wing it in the hoof". I wonder over the century or so how many elk have been dropped by that inferior 30-30 lever action? Kind of makes you wonder about the need for a 338, 375, even perhaps a 458 Weatherby Magnum.

Disclaimer Follows: All flaming was unintentional and accidental. Don't take any of the previous statements personally, I have no idea who you are, nor you me. Just trying to chat harmlessly. I'm getting so excited about hunting season already, it seems the older I get, the earlier the mild fever sets in. ;-)

Regards,
M376X6

Just a quick note on the 22LR thing...

I've killed two deer with a 22LR. No, I wasn't poaching them. Anyway, both went down like they were struck by lightning. Both were brain shots. I can't see why the same wouldn't be true with an elk.

But anyway, it's just illustrative of how shot placement trumps all.

Now, on to the realies of elk hunting... I could have killed scores of elk so far in my short hunting career, if I'd had the right tag... the right tag and right place and right time have only come together twice for me, though... but point being, I've been around some elk.

They have very, very rarely been standing broadside. They are usually moving, whether they were aware of ME or not, for me to be aware of them, usually means some movement on their part as it's still fairly thick even over in Eastern Oregon- other than on the southern exposures, but the elk don't go there in huntin' season!

So the plot thickens considerably- for ME. 8 times out of 10, it's a moving animal, filtering through the trees. Not a simple shot. So for me, I like a little more gun than might technically be "necessary" just because you don't know what is gonna be the shot you actually GET, as opposed to the mythical 100-yards-broadside-on-a-calm-animal shot that is apparantly so common for some folks.

That said, I very much appreciate hearing folks relate their experiences with something like a 25-06. Nice to know that what I see as a relatively light cartridge for elk, works great. Just makes me feel that much better about my heavier cartridges!

Mr. M376X6

I don't take any offense to any of your statements. I was only trying to make the point that if somebody is going use "careful shot placement" as a fall back for not using enough gun, then the same point could be made backwards all the way to the 22lr. Will the 25-06 shooting 100 grain bullets kill elk, of course it will. Can you take a shot with the 300 win mag shooting 180's or 200's that you couldn't do the job with shooting a 25-06. I think I can make the arguement that you can.

Personally coming from the Elmer Keith school, I don't see any thing wrong with the 30-30 spitting out 170 grain bullets. I personally would much prefer it on elk at up to 100 yards than the 25-06 shooting 100 grain bullets.

It cracks me up how easily riled the small caliber guys are.

then what do you consider the ideal antelope gun?

Rem-7, I'll give a vote to the .270 Winchester and 130 grain bullet! It's been getting the job done since 1922 or there a abouts.

Now on the other hand, if you wish to hunt elk with a 25/06 have at it, just make sure of your shots, use a premium bullet and don't try those 500 yard friggin shots down range. I would limit myself to 250 yards using a 25/06 with 120 grain bullet. Elk are not mule deer, hell they can soak up a lot of lead. I'll stick with my tried and proven in all circmumstance, .338 Win mag and 225 grain premium bullet.

Tonk-agreed

i personally use a 25-o6 and know what it does to antelope but would'nt be scared of using a.223 if i had to.
dont see a reason to go above a.270 but to each his own and some folks dont have a lot of options.On elk it is a .300 win mag because imo out of what i have available it is best suited to do the job under about any circumstance....though this is a fairly young girl thats gonna be behind the trigger and the 25 will be fine for elk

Rem-7

If I were going to go out and buy an antelope gun to just hunt antelope with, I would buy either a 25-06 or a 270. Maybe even a 264 win mag.

Just trying to stir the pot a little. Looks like it worked. Got the bees buzzznnn didn't it?

did you read your post??

one thing i've learned is these guys dont need me to stir anything,they're pretty quick to buzzzz on thier own

Did I read it? I wrote it. Sarcasm my friend, I was trying to make the point that I didn't think the 25-06 was an elk cartrige. Used a little sarcasm to make my point and POed all the antelope hunters too!

Gives us all something to argue about. What else we got to do on a Sunday afternoon?

enhance your calm

I used to have a 25/06. Like a darned fool I sold it.

Every gun I ever sold I have regretted it. Maybe I should put that on the regrets thread that was going so hot awhile ago....

Hey Rem-7, where you at? I usually get down to NM every year to do a little elk hunting. 16c or 16e usually, but last year wound up by Chama. Think I'll be doing 16e this year. Be bringing the 300 and not the 25 though. LOL

99guy