Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Standard Cartridges for Elk

Boreas,

Thank you. That's about what I figured. I'm all for as light a rifle as I can a) hold steady (those 5lbers don't get it); b) doesn't knock my boots off; and c) gets the job done on the shootee.

Joe,

LOL! It's taken years of practice! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

surely a standard chambering would work just fine on a standard shot at a standard elk.
it all depends on your standards.

My standard reply would be that, I agree with you! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
But, don't forget the standard bullets at standard velocities.

Beauty part is you can shoot what you want and no one here gives a hoot as long as "you" are happy. Natives have the advantage of knowing elk hangouts but when season starts with all the traffic beginning in August with people in the field, it's just being in the right place at the right time and I say again, "any caliber capable of shooting through an animal is sufficent to kill it" whatever the size of each. Bull elk are larger, stronger, but die just like any other elk with a hole through the vitals. If you are making bad shots perhaps you should not be taking them to start with, ever hear of a "hope" shot? Perhaps the cannon guys are relying toooo much on their caliber to take care of their mistakes.

As for the rancher who sees all the wounded animals, great to know what caliber they were shot with. Any time you have a hunting season there will be wounded animals, if everyone out there had a cannon you would still see wounded animals, what kind of authority is that?
Just like automobile accidents, some live some die, there is always that percent. Many here on this board have several elk rifles and choose what they feel is best under the conditions of their hunt. -- no <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
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Give me a break!! I thought the flames had cooled down on this thread finally. Guess I was wrong....

300wby, did you get in touch with Frank and have coffee? As for the thread, flames were not intended, who cares what anyone else shoots, I just get tired of hearing about pip squeak calibers when the game departments set the standards. BTW, I was a warden just over the line South of where you are right now. You are in a great part of the state for outdoor activities, maybe not for making a living but all sports are at your fingertips with the mountains, lake, streams, plenty of public land. Down in the valley you don't get much snow do you? You are far enough out you don't get all the city slickers every weekend. Just look at the summer tourist as people bringing money for you to live on all winter. Ask Frank about his motorcycle and tell him Sonnie said HI. Hope to see you guys when Red Mountain Pass opens up this spring. I was the first car over it in a snow storm, 4" on the road and me breaking trail in a Ford sedan, when I topped out and started down going South toward Silverton, no guard rails, a fer piece to the bottom the seat in my company car took a beating. Swore I wouldn't be guilty of doing that again. I had just dropped off some hunters at Ouray and trying to get back to Farmington before it really got bad. Telluride was just a little mining town at that time. Frank killed a moose up by Creede about three years ago, he knows the area where you are if you need help. -- no

need one

Well I have dug out .22 caliber .277 .284 .308 to be exact, I kept a couple of them to show people the importance of premium bullets.

The .30 caliber bullet that I have kept is completely trashed The .277 looks good but it just ran out of gas as it hit the shoulder it broke the top of the shoulder plate bone had it of had more energy there would have been a dead Elk.

The .30. Caliber was just under the hide on the shoulder with about a 12 inch circle of lead around it had it been a premium bullet it would have been dead.

I always use a premium bullet and take my time and make sure I have a good shot that�s the reason I have killed Elk with the 6mm Rem. to the .340WBY and never lost an animal.

Its not what you use it�s how you use it that counts.

I will get some help and post some pictures maybe somebody can tell me what kind of bullet the .277 is. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

need one

Well I have dug out .22 caliber .277 .284 .308 to be exact, I kept a couple of them to show people the importance of premium bullets.

The .30 caliber bullet that I have kept is completely trashed The .277 looks good but it just ran out of gas as it hit the shoulder it broke the top of the shoulder plate bone had it of had more energy there would have been a dead Elk.

The .30. Caliber was just under the hide with about a 12 inch circle of lead around it had it been a premium bullet it would have been dead.

I always use a premium bullet and take my time and make sure I have a good shot that�s the reason I have killed Elk with the 6mm Rem. to the .340WBY and never lost an animal.

Its not what you use it�s how you use it that counts.

I will get some help and post some pictures maybe somebody can tell me what kind of bullet the .277 is.

This is always a fun topic: how much gun is enough. Contemporary logic seems too often to suggest that only a magnum is enough to shoot elk. Hooey! When I was a kid here in western CO, almost none of us "locals" shot magnums because the damned things kicked too hard. We shot '06's and .270's and 30-30's far more than anything else. The 30-30 was mostly carried horseback and used for short shots after quickly bailing off the horse. I guided for over 20 years, and most of the guests did better with "standard" rounds because they could shoot them well. In my opinion, and I'll admit I have a lot of them, the magnums come in to their own for elk when ranges start stretching beyond 300 yds. Personally, I can see no use for anything bigger than a .300 mag untill one begins shooting at elk beyond 5 or 600 yds. Very specialized shooting now. The CO div. of wildlife states that a rifle must be of .24 cal. shooting a bullet of at least 85 gr. delivering a minimum of 1000 ft lbs at 100 yds to be a legal big game round. I like a little more than that, but I've seen enough elk killed with just such a round to know it will effectively do the job if the hunter is "careful". So, what is careful? I would say practicing enough to be able to positively place your bullets where they need to be, within the effective range of both ones' ability and the relative power of the cartridge, and having the presence of mind to quickly determine a questionable shot from a clearly "doable" one.

This is always a fun topic: how much gun is enough. Contemporary logic seems too often to suggest that only a magnum is enough to shoot elk. Hooey! When I was a kid here in western CO, almost none of us "locals" shot magnums because the damned things kicked too hard. We shot '06's and .270's and 30-30's far more than anything else. The 30-30 was mostly carried horseback and used for short shots after quickly bailing off the horse. I guided for over 20 years, and most of the guests did better with "standard" rounds because they could shoot them well. In my opinion, and I'll admit I have a lot of them, the magnums come in to their own for elk when ranges start stretching beyond 300 yds. Personally, I can see no use for anything bigger than a .300 mag untill one begins shooting at elk beyond 5 or 600 yds. Very specialized shooting now. The CO div. of wildlife states that a rifle must be of .24 cal. shooting a bullet of at least 85 gr. delivering a minimum of 1000 ft lbs at 100 yds to be a legal big game round. I like a little more than that, but I've seen enough elk killed with just such a round to know it will effectively do the job if the hunter is "careful". So, what is careful? I would say practicing enough to be able to positively place your bullets where they need to be, within the effective range of the cartridge, and having the presence of mind to quickly determine a questionable shot from a clearly "doable" one.

Joe, while I believe what you are saying you didn't see the shots, you don't know the range, (distance), to the animals in question. I observed two guys laying on a ridge, one was doing the shooting , the other was handing ammunition. The shooter was shooting into an elk herd above timber line God only knows how far or what he was hitting, shot over twenty times with the herd stumbling around not knowing which way to run. Irresponsible hunters are among us, they think anytime they see an animal it's time to shoot. Most out of staters with little time, (heck the seasons are only five days now), and much expense think they must try any shot presented, sad but true. ---- Got to get in bed, going down to Boggys in the morning for a hog hunt. Got the trunk full of rifles to sight in. Take care, -- no
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Hi NO,

Nice to see you back.

need one, I havent made contact with your friend yet. I will as we get closer to spring. When I get in touch with him I'll certainly tell him you said hello.
Thanks Sonnie!

Shoot as much gun as you can ACCURATELY shoot and don't shoot any greater distance than you can reliably hit a 1 foot square, and you should have no problems (except for rear quartering shots mentioned already, which need long heavy bullets & more energy to penetrate.

Thanks Teeder, I got to playing with a bunch of old Air Force drill instructors for about a year. Trying to get their Asociation going, looks like everything fine now. We have had three Conventions back at Lackland AFB in San Antonio and they treat us like visiting royalty. Been much fun but the light of the Campfire and my old log called me back. Thanks for remembering. --no

Just so I can get in the big fight...

What do the anti-magnum folks have to say about using a smaller caliber rifle for practice that's set up just like the big gun? For instance--using a .243 Sucks with a crisp 3# trigger and Leupy 6x42 all spring and summer for 100 - 200 shots a month practice, then hauling out the .338 Ultra Mag Sucks with crisp 3# trigger and Leupy 6x42 for actual hunting? The trajectory is almost exactly the same (at least through 300 yards) for the vast, vast majority of all shooting. I know wind drift and other variables may be slightly different, but not enough to make a hunting difference at up to 300 yards. The only difference other than weight (which would give the marksmanship advantage to the .338) is that follow up shots (which we all know shouldn't be necessary) would not be similar in any way.

What say you?

FYI--I haven't joined the magnum revolution (yet) and have nothing against using or not using magnums for elk.

I think any and all practice is better than none. I had a .223 AI built for the sole purpose you mentioned, cheaper trigger time. I'll still do quite a bit a practice with my .338 Win, but will lean on the 223AI for getting better at trigger control, field positions, shooting out of breath etc...

ANY practice is good practice and will improve your marksmanshipedness.

Anti magnum? Not hardly, I just think you don't need one, and I own a 300 WSM. But for most folks the best elk rifle is the one you can hit the lungs with. I have never seen, nor reliably heard of, elk going down with a marginal hit from anything. They are tough animals, with incredible resolve, and edge hits mean long tracking jobs or lost animals.

Patrick Smith said it well:

1. Shot placement
2. Shot placement
3. Shot placement
4. Use enough bullet
5. Use enough gun.