Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting .308 for elk ?

going to coloardo on a elk hunt would the .308 win be enough ?

any bets how long this thread gets? I think we're boared with the discussion and it only gets 3 pages long.

Nosler partitions... shot placement...

I have to preface this with "I have zero experience with elk".

I did shoot a fairly large whitetail this year with a 150 grain TSX on top of 46 grains of Varget. The bullet went in behind one shoulder and stopped in the offside shoulder (I guess).

There was only one hole in the deer/hide. Until then, I thought sure it would penetrate enough for an elk. shot was 70 yards. i load everything "just in case" I get to go elk hunting I'll be ready.

This is a one time example, just trying to provide factual occurence for your digestion. All the bucks I've shot with .308 have died, but, within the last 3 years I've had failure to exit on 2 bucks. the other round was a 165 Hornady BTSP. YMMV.

just trying to give examples of actual game performance, not energy tables that look the "almost" the same. I bought a bigger gun (.300 RSAUM) FWIW. good luck

Yes. Plenty.

I have only killed 15 elk, so take my advice with a grain of salt. A good thirty caliber bullet through the vitals at a reasonable range will have no problems.

well put. i was only trying to share...

No slam intended, I promise. Too many people think elk wear kevlar. A .308 caliber projectile with an impact velocity of 2200 fps doesn't know if it was shot from a .300 Savage or a .300 Weatherby.

I have seen a few hundred elk killed through the years and would rather have a client with a 308 that can shoot it well, than one with a magnum cal. that is afraid of the gun and does not practice. Your .308 with 165 gr or 180 gr. bullets will work great. Sight in dead on at 200 yds, but know where the gun is shooting to 300 to 350 yds. Practice with your 308 and have a good elk hunt. Daryl.

For the sake of argument (eh, why not?) the .308 might not be the best suited for long shots at really bad angles. There, I said it.

For going out and taking an elk at a reasonable distance when presented with anything resembling a good shot; get a nice and steady hold, remember to squeeze and not jerk the trigger, send a quality projectile into the anatomically correct area and go collect said critter. The .308 will do fine for this purpose.

That last paragraph pretty well sums it up!

By the way, even though this same question is asked and answered around here at least 10 times per year, I've shot several elk with 308s. All died and ate quite well, as long as the procedure described in the last paragraph above is strictly followed.

as i have posted before, i have a bud in missoula, mt. who kills elk every year (and he has taken at least 23) with his 308 and 180 gr corelokts. your rifle is up to the task. good hunting.

ive had 13 elk killed this year, by hunters 12 with 308 1 with 270, all were 200 yrd + shots all hunters were ladys, dont worry about your 308, it'll work.by the way they were all 1 shot kills.

High fence?

25000 acres high fence, all 1 pasture,

I once shot a cow elk with a 308 and 165 trophy bonded bear claws. She laughed and walked it off.





Oh wait, actually she tipped over backwards DRT. The bear claw exited too.

165 gr Hornady bt interloc Blr 308, 245 yds, dead elk ,happy elk shooter.

I've seen elk shake off 308 rounds like bee stings.

Seriously, I visit this forum once and a while...it's the same thing over and over. Like listening to a broken record or watching the same movie.

If the whimpy cartridges (.270 win...25-06...280...7-08...30-06...260...243...etc) will do it. Well, I say no more.

YES, YES, YES! Topic should be banned! A modern 308 is superior to a 30-40 Krag or a pre WW II 30-06. Any idea how many 1000s of Elk were killed by them?
Stick a 168 TSX a CCI 250 and as much Varget as you dare it it and it will go through both shoulders of an Elk and keep on flying.

Of course you can, but I've never done it. I have killed them with a .30-06 and a .270 Win.