Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Smallish bore rifles on elk?

Please relate success and failures with smallish bore rifles on elk. Curious.

I've got a 700 CDL .25-06 that has proven to be almost a magic wand on mule deer from 20 - 400 yards. Thoroughly enjoy hunting with it. It seems to drop bucks so well, I get tempted to take it elk hunting. The Noslers just punch right on through too. It's very accurate, and I shoot it well - which can be two different things.

Your thoughts & experiences re smallish bore rifles, .24's, .25's, 6.5's etc for general purpose elk hunting?

Thanks, Guy

I have only shot one elk, used a 257 wby and a 100gr ttsx. It worked fine for me and would do it again with the right bullets.

I normally use a 7mm but I know a lot of guys that drop them with 243's so my best advice is use what you are comfortable shooting. As long as you hit the kill zone they will go down.

I've killed several elk with a 264 win mag, works pretty well. Always used stout bullets though. Did lose a cow that I shot with 130 accubonds with seemingly good shot placement and good blood trail.

Have hunted elk several time with my .257 Roberts. No shots taken. Same thing with my .30-30 and .44 Mag.

one of my friends has hunted elk with a 257 Roberts for decades, like hes said many times,
place the shot correctly and the results a dead elk, but don,t be surprised if you get little reaction to the bullet impact

A 70 year old woman here in Jackson Hole only uses her 257 Roberts. She continually hassels me for using "too much gun", meaning my 308. My 300 win mag sends her into absolute fits!

Killed my first elk with a 250 savage. Then went on to kill a pile of them with a 243. Know several folks that used the 257 and 25-06 right up until the time they got to old to go to the high country and hunt anymore.
Put your bullet where it needs to go, and then get ready to start the business of packing the meat out...

Simular topic taken off another website.
http://shootingworld.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=5270

I personally believe i you know your cartridge,know it's limitation and know the anatomy of the animal it can absolutely be done.
The guy that claims he can shoot his 300Mag as accurately as his 270 is either a heck of a marksman or a heck of a liar....i'm thinking the latter.

Having guided for several years, I'd a lot rather jave a guy show up in elk camp with a .25-'06 that he CAN shoot than a .375 H&H that he CANNOT.

In fact, I saw an outfitter take a .338 away from a hunter that had wounded two unrecoverable elk. He had the guy shoot the cook's .250 Savage ten times off a stump and they went elk hunting.

He got his elk ... took a dirt-nap with a single 100-grain Silvertip.

The next year, he showed up with a .25-'06 and proceeded to get his elk. And for several more years.

Anatomy, hitting the elk in precisely the right place, is vitally important when using any cartridge and/or any bullet.

Take your time, set up the shot, hit the elk right ... and the war is one with the FIRST ROUND. Ignore any of those steps and you are in for a long blood-trail and a bad experience.

God Bless,

Steve

PS. Have I used the .25-'06 on elk? Yep.

Used the Hornady 100-grain Interlocked on a few and double-lung shots killed wonderfully. I also shot a few with the 100-grain Nosler Partition ... they killed fairly quickly, but the Interlockeds killed faster and better.

Both bullet types exited the several elk from the angles I set up. Don't need heavier bullets when that happens.

I've killed elk w/ about everything from a 243 to a 375 H&H. Lots(7, maybe 8) w/ a 6.5x54 M-S. Currently have a lot of love for a 35 Whelen. It just works! As has been stated, it IS the first shot that counts! The little Mannlicher got a lot of laughs until I needed help gettin' the elk from the woods to the truck.
Cheers

I can't even tell you how many guides i've heard say this exact thing.
If you shoot the big magnums as well as you can shoot a 25-06 (most cannot)then i would say to use them,IMO it will give you an advantage.

Son used a 25-06 and a 115 CT on one and a 7mm Rem Mag with a 120 Sierra or Speer loaded light for another. Neither took a step.

A 100 grain Partition bullet from a 243 Winchester rifle through the lungs of an elk means DEAD.

I think we have all had a few encounters with folks like that, I don,t let it bother me in fact its fun at times to play along, when I purchased my 458 win mag I figured Id take it out and use it on an elk hunt (loaded down to 1800fps with a 405 gain remington bullet) for sneaking thru the thicker lodge pole and conifer thickets, where ranges tend to be well under 200 yards,and yes if your interested it works great.
I got a really good deal on a Remington 700 custom 458 win mag rifle after the previous owner decided almost instantly after firing a few times off the bench rest that it was just a great deal more dangerous to his shoulder, to own the rifle than it would be to his checking account balance if he sold it at a significant price reduction.
I mounted a leopold 2.5X scope and felt I had a decent timber rifle that might raise a few eyebrows but certainly would not be lacking in punch or knock-down, even if the recoil was a bit bore than ideal.
if your a bit of a rifle loony, you have at least wanted to try a 458 win or you might own one.
for many years it was about the only really common ELEPHANT RIFLE caliber familiar to most American hunters who failed to read a great deal , as it was always listed on those rifle charts the magazines published and gun-shops had posted, on their walls.
well I succeeded in finding a good deal on a 458 win rifle at a local gun-shop, when its previous owner decided that it was beating him half to death with recoil, after less than 12 shots were fired.
the gun-shop owner was a friend and knew how much of a rifle nut I was so when I was offered a Remington 700 custom shop 458 win, for $700 it found a new home.
and carrying a 458 win in the field is usually a good conversation starter if nothing else.
I started out with some Remington 405grain bullets I had in inventory, loaded over some imr3031 as suggested in one manual, and I found the accuracy was good but the recoil was formidable.
and its fun watching guys faces when they ask you what caliber your using when you reach into a pocket and hand them a cigar size 458 win cartridge, it makes for some silly but entertaining conversations, especially when they show you they have a 243 win, for example,... and don,t get the idea a 458 wins necessary or required, it may be a great choice under some conditions but a skilled hunter with a 25/06 or 270 win can kill deer/elk just as effectively, but as a conversation starter a 458 win works rather well.
now obviously you don,t need to load to its max potential in bullet weight or velocity , as hot 45/70 level loads will drop anything in north America convincingly in skilled hands, with decent shot placement.

I got no reaction to a solid hit from a .280 Remington either...maybe this is also a small caliber?

Have an old Bud that uses the 264 WM and 160 gr Woodleigh PP bullets to kill all sort of NA game, Elk and Moose included.

He wont even discuss another cartridge/caliber. LOL

Gunner

I saw some stats a couple of years ago from Colorado DWF showing elk lost by caliper. It showed all were within the margin of error starting with .257 and up. The only one to show a significantly higher loss was the .243.

I was a believer in larger calibers, thinking 243 was too small for elk, but 2 wweks ago my 15 year old nephew proved me wrong with his first elk ever - a 5pt bull with 2 shots from his 243 with 95gr bullets at about 130-140 yards. Shot placemement!!

Shot what you are comfortable with. I have taken elk mostly with my 300WM with 180gr bullets (Accubonds since2004). I have taken a few with my 270WSM with 140gr Accubonds-very impressed with this combo!!

Anything can be killed by small caliber rifles if the shot is perfect. The thing is, not every shot is perfectly placed, and sometimes several more are necessary. This is when the small bullets are folly. If a raking shot is necessary as follow up and a lot of animal needs to be shot through, a bigger bullet with more energy is always better than a little pill.

Elk also have thick hides that greatly influence a bullet's effectiveness.

IMO a 270 with a good bullet is about the reasonable minimum. Others won't agree.