Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting 25 06, or even 257 roberts on elk?

yes or no? I have never hunted elk before-would like to one day, but my next gun purchase will be alight weight gun of some sort in probably 270-plenty for elk in my book, but I have found a 25 06 that fits real good, but is it enough for elk...and bear?

Dave

is it legal? in AZ yes, would i use my 25-06? NO!!!! i would take my 270 at the lowest. some will argue that the 25-06 with accubonds, TSX or other good bullets would take down an elk. and yes, they are right. with a "perfect" shot, it will. i, personally do not think there is such thing as "over gunned" (unless you are shooting a 50BMG for varmints or coues deer) i like to have a little room for error. now, saying that, my elk gun is a 30-06 with 180 accubonds. that is the biggest gun i have so thats what i carry.

Yes they will work under good conditions and with proper shot placement. The gunsmith that built my 257 AI swore by that caliber for elk. But think of this. You spend all the money to go on an elk hunt somewhere either guided or unguided and you see a nice bull quartering away at 300 yards or so do you really want to be holding a 257 Bob? While they will work I would stick with a 30-06 with a quality 180gr bullet or larger.

Dave,
Lighweight is fine, especiallyin the mountains. But don't think of lightweight as also being a smaller caliber. I wouldn't go smaller than a .270Win and only then with premium bullets. Better yet a 30-06. Another to consider, a Kimber Montana in .308 - 5#'s 2 oz. or a Montana in 300WSM - 6#'s 3 oz..
Good luck.

I'm of the belief the 25-06 may be one of the most underrated cartridges around. With a good bullet (120 TSX?) it's a perfectly decent elk killer. I know more than one guy that has whacked and stacked a lot of elk with the 25-06. One guy I know uses it as his only rifle and generally shoots 120 gr Factory Corelockt's. His elk kills are impressive.

lubbockdave �

I�ve been hunting elk for over 20 years with a 7mm Rem Mag and 160g bullets. My minimum recommendation is generally a .270 and 150g bullets.

I have a Ruger .257 Roberts that I love. Very accurate, light recoil, easy to carry. Considered taking it elk hunting last year but decided against it � I have too many other rifles that are better suited to the task.

That said, I have a load I am very confident could do the job � a 120g A-Frame at a bit over 2900fps. Best choice for elk? No. As always, proper shot placement and a willingness to forego some shots would make it an acceptable choice. And better than a .243, IMHO.

I would not take a 25-06 or 257 out to hunt elk. However if that is what I was carrying when I found an elk I would not run away with my tail between my legs.

I have taken elk with a 270 and a 308 and as my handle suggests an 8mm and some more in between the 270 or 308 is a good starting point for an elk rifle.

As for bullets shoot the bullet that you have confidence in. I killed many elk with standard bullets. Used 154 grain Hornadys in a 7 mag for years then some one convinced me that I "NEEDED" premium bullets to kill elk. The elk that I shot with premium bullets died just the same as the ones shot with standards.

My point is elk are not armor plated but they are larger and tougher than deer so if you hunt with a gun of less than ideal power make extra sure of your shot placement.

8mmwapiti

But again if you spend all the money for an out of state elk hunt and you are faced with a 300+ yard quartering away shot on a nice bull do you really want to be holding a 257 anything?

Hunterbug,

I believe the 25 06 will do the job quartering away at 300 yards...but I'd much rather be a good enough hunter to get with in 100 yards myself-out to 250+ yards it kind of becomes a shoot instead of a hunt, no?

Like Brad, I'm sure it will work and know somebody who uses nothing else (with 120 Nosler partitions) and tags his elk every year--his wife used the same rifle successfully when she drew a Shiras moose tag. But he's an Idaho cowboy and can pick his shots. I have to fly, pay for out of state licenses and generally spend a bunch of time and money to hunt, so I would never limit myself to shots I could safely take with a .25-06. A .338 and 210 Noslers is about right. When you're from a a thousand miles away, there's no "next weekend" or "next split" if you have to pass an iffy shot. The temptation to go ahead and take a poke is mighty strong, and the consequences potentially mighty bad.

However, I do consider the .25-06 the absolute cat's a$$ for west Texas whitetails and antelope.

And I'm all for getting close. I am not however convinced that a 257 caliber is a good tool for extended quartering shots on larger game. Yes it may work but how well? I figure that if I have to follow an animal more than 50 yards or so then there was a problem somewhere. If you want to get within 100 yards why use a rifle at all? If you are going to Colorado take a muzzle loader and hunt during the rut. It's your hunt and your money but if it were me I would want to maximize my chances of success and I would start by selecting as big of a caliber as I could accurately shoot.

Well,my neighbor has used the 25-06 on alot of Elk and thats all he uses but he also spends 90% of his life out in the woods and knows where they are and can pass on questionable shots.Like most of the others,.270 is as low as I would go with a premium bullet like the Trophy Bonded or Nosler.

Broadside shots are getting scarce in my part of the world and it is important to have a caliber/bullet combo capable of any angle thrown at you and the bigger the better.The two you mentioned can and have killed Elk but in steep country,I want them down yesterday with as little follow up tracking as possible and from what I have seen,the 25-06 and 257 just don't have it to do it reliably everytime like some other much better choices.The 30-06 is probably the best choice(in my opinion) for those that only occasionaly hunt Elk and spend the most time on smaller game.The old 06 falls into that from Horseflies to Elephants category. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Jayco

The TSX's for the .257 cal are 100 gr and 115 gr. That be said the 115gr. TSX retains enough weight it doesn't need to be 120 gr.

A shoot instead of a hunt? Not necessarily, no. But you say you�ve never hunted elk before, so I understand the question.

You may be lucky to SEE an elk, let alone get close to one, especially if you are not familiar with the territory or the habits of the local elk population. When you do find an elk, the shot may be near or far and you may have all day to set up your shot or mere seconds. You might spend all day stalking your elk only to have another hunter stumble into the area and take a shot from another angle, ruining your opportunity. In short, a 250 yard shot might be all you get and you might (and probably will) work darn hard to get it.

Case in point, a few years back we spotted a herd of about 80 elk bedded down on a knoll below us. The country was open sage. We crept up to a ridge and watched them from behind a sage bush from 11:00 until dusk, at a range of about 500 yards. Try as we did, we could not figure out a way to get closer. While we watched we were overrun by antelope, rained on, sleeted on and snowed on. They started moving at dusk, off the knoll and into a valley below it. Again we got as close as we could, about 450 yards. I laid down on my back and pushed myself head first through the snow, sage and cactus for another 100 yards. Slowly sitting up, I was able to find one legal bull but it was laying down behind a cow � no shot � and shooting light was going fast. They finally got up but the bull stayed behind the cow. I followed them with the scope and when the cow stopped I took the shot � 350 yards as measured with a GPS and mapping software. That shot came after days of hard but unsuccessful hunting and was the only opportunity I had to take a bull that season.

My last bull was taken at 213 lasered yards, again in open sage. A herd of maybe 60 was strung out and on the move. I had no time to pull out the shooting sticks and simply took a knee. A break appeared in the line of elk and a bull stopped in the middle of the line. I lined up the crosshairs on its shoulder and just as I was about to drop the hammer on the .45-70 a larger bull ran up and stopped, chasing the smaller one away. I switched targets and sent a 350g North Fork on its way, and got my bull. Had I tried to get within 100 yards the elk would have been in the next county and I would have gone home empty handed.

On the other hand, I�ve had elk hunts where I was nearly run over by one. You�ll need to decide what you want to do if a long shot is presented and prepare accordingly. I practice out to 400 yards and have no intentions of letting a legal animal go just because it�s outside knife range � I love elk meat and work far too hard all year so I can spend a few days trying to get some.

I know one old guy who shot over 40 elk, including some very nice bulls, with a Savage 99...in 250-3000. Another killed six nice bulls with six shots with his 243.

While that may not be your first choice, it's not like the bullets are going to bounce off. As with all elk rifles, hit the lungs and the rest of your problems are minimal.

lubbockdave- I like Brad think the world of the 25/06. I feel it is a lot more capable than most will ever have the chance to realize.

The Roberts is a cool round for sure but for whatever reason I view it as a 243. I personally feel that the 25/06 is a big step up in power even though the numbers would not show it.

Bottom line is that for black bruins and elk I would hunt with either an 25/06 or a 270 and not fret one bit. Which would I choose, well it would for sure be the one that fit me the best.

There isn't much in this world that I would not take on with the 25/06 and a 115 TX.

Good luck to ya

Mark D

Regarding the 25-06, if you do your job well it will certainly do its job well. I happen to think you would be better served with a 7mm-08, 7x57 Mauser, 308 Win or 30-06.

I have taken elk with the 308 Win, 444 Marlin and 338 Win Mag. The 338 Win Mag really anchors the big bulls and thats really the diffference in choosing cartridges. The others work, but may have you tracking most elk several yards down the road after hitting them, especially small bores like the 25-06. So if your comfortable tracking game, by all means use it.

Next thing you know, these whack em and stack em experts will be telling us to use .243's on elk <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />. Plenty of elk have also been killed with 22s and if you are from Montana you know that plenty of cattle have been killed and rustled with 22s. Come on quit the bullshit. The guy needs good advice on a hunt that will cost him plenty of bucks - more than the new rifle by far. They only reason one would tout 25-06s and 257s for elk is if they (or their wife or teenager) is recoil shy. The guy needs to buy a larger caliber rifle - as big as he is comfortable shooting. And then he need to shoot it a lot to become comfortable with it. And if it ends up being a .270 (and I repeat the above suggestions that this should be the minimum caliber), he better be prepared to pass those deeply quartering away shots. And Mark how can you praise .340 Weatherbys on another post and 25-06s for elk here? Vic/

Dave, I beleave beware of a man who only has one gun, for chances are He shoots it well. I know men here that shoot there guns well better than most, and get by with smaller cal. The question is are you one of them. I would never recomend a 257 or 25-06 for a first time elk hunter, I would recomend a min. 30-06 or 300 something. They leave a bigger blood trail. Duckgunner.

Huh.....WTF?

What on earth does the fact that I like the 340 have to do with any of this????? That thread was about the 338 vs the 340 if I remember right.

I have used a ton or rounds on critters and would gladly hunt the world with a 25/06, and or a 340. His question though was around the 25/06 so that is what I answered.

I never said over on that other forum that you had to have a 340 for anything. I just said that it is a good round and I enjoy it and use it a lot. I never said that you had to have one for this or that purpose! I also believe I said that I like and want to use the 340 and that it wasn't a need!

I don't know how much experience you've with elk Fishdoc but I've a pretty darn good idea it is fairly limited and not all it could be.

It is not rocket science to take out an elk. To do so one needs to get the bullet where it need be. I've seen plenty enough of them taken with Swifts and 22/250's to know that. And no I am not telling folks that they should use a round like these for elk anymore than I ever said that you had to have a 340 to do so.

Fishdoc it you have some real world experience in taking elk with a 25/06, then by all means please feel free to chime in as I would love to hear it.

I always get a kick out of the fact that the 270/130 combo @ 3K fps has taken a ton load of elk. And yet if one mentions the use of a 25/06 and 115 or 120 combo then some chechako gets all up in arms with it. There is not a bit of diff betwixt those 2, and the critters are for darn sure never gonna know the diff.

You stick a good 25 bullet in the lungs and the critter is toast. You don't stick it where it belongs and you'd better get your Adida's on as it is gonna be a track race. Guess what you do the same thing with a 340 and you'd better put your track shoes on as well. Taking an elk out is about taking out the right equipment and not about this or that cal.

It just isn't rocket science but some sure seem to have a desire to make it that way.

I'd be willing to bet though that you've not been in on the seen a handful of elk with the round (25/06) though.

Trust me, you give me a 25/06 and tell me to hunt elk with it the rest of my life and if I don't take an elk each year it sure as heck won't be because the round isn't adequate!

Mark D