There is a lot of lever action talk about hunting with your lever action rifles. How many actually hunt Elk with their lever action??

My Marlin 45-70 is not my primary rife, but I bought it just for the really bad days, heavy snow and low visibility, where something with a lot of close up energy and iron sights give me a fast shot chance

I suspect a lot more will, once that new Marlin 338 Express starts getting around. Pretty sweet lever gun.

I carry a '95 Marlin in 45-70 and on sunny days I tote my '71 Winchester .348 Win. The .348 is yet to get bloodied by me. Hopefully this year.

Joseph

If i decide to go on another elk hunt my open sight Savage 99 will go to for the snow falling days in the high country

I have hunted a shot a few elk witha 1886 ,but at 13 lbs it was a tad heavy to lug around. On days when I know I will be in heavy timber and want soemthing light I carry a Marlin 94 in 44 mag. I have only shot one elk with it,but it died about as quick as anything else I have shot elk with.

I hunt elk using a Remington 700 30-06.

I own a Marlin 336 30-30, but I have never used it for elk hunting. I just like the classic lever action design.

One time, a guy from Arkansas hunted elk with us and he used a Browning BLR .308. It sure looked like a sweet gun and did the job effectively.

Someone else mentioned using hard sights. My old eyes can't focus on the front sight so I have scopes on all of my rifles.

KC

Try a good peep sight old eyes tend to like them better.

Like this one?


My dad is the happy hunter here. Both of us put this bull down on the last morning of the 1st rifle season in 2008. He had hunted elk with his .30-06 for almost 30 years and then decided he'd like to kill one with his Pre 81 BLR in .308 win. Been hunting with this rifle the last 10 years and finally accomplished his goal. I also started out with this gun for elk hunting when I was 12. Carried it for 9 years till I could afford my own rifle. It is indeed an excellent elk gun and very handy in the timber.

Kelk:

Yep. Looks like the same gun. Are you sure that you didn't steal that from the Arkansas guy?

Your dad looks like a happy hunter.

KC

KC,

Luckily no, he didn't take it from someone in Arkansas. He bought that new before I was born for $189 and another $129 for the Leopold 2-7 VX-II scope.

Crazy story and depressing thing is. That about 10 years ago we stopped into Gene Taylor's Sporting goods in Gunnison, and there on the rack was another Pre-81 in .308 win and the exact same scope. NIB, for $529. Sure wish one of us would have bought it. I'd love to have one in my rack.

Nice Elk with the Browning BLR

1895M 450 Marlin, pow-pow-pow, cow, cow, cow.. only one I've ever shot with a lever. but this is what that gun was bought for. dark timber, close range, quick swinging elk thumper.

This one has been dropped, scratched, you name it, over the past 25 years. It's a BLR in 7mmRM.
I've tried hunting with my other rifles but always come back to this one.

I've taken elk with 243 browning blr, 308 savage 99,250savage 99, Winchester 94 3030, Winchester 95 405 win. I also have carried a Marlin in 30-30 ai but did not shoot elk with it, but have shot antelope with it.
My wife fills her elk tag every year for the last 15 or so with her blr 308.
If you count underlever my Ruger #1 06 and Sharps 45 2.3 have taken elk also.

I've hunted elk with two levers. The top one is my .325 BLR. I carried it every day season before last stoked with 200-gn TSX's. The bottom is my 45/70 (don't have it anymore); later that day, I took the scope off while tracking a wounded spike elk, wounded by who knows who, because I was getting into bedding areas and [bleep] was thick in there. I shot high with the buckhorns when the spike staggered up out of bed. Aargh. Lesson learned- use a peep, or a scope:





The

I've shot elk with my Marlin 1895SS in 45-70 and a Savage 99 in 308. They work. The Marlin wears the old Ashley Outdoors (now XS) sights. The Savage carries a Vari X-III 1.5-5.

I've never hunted Elk with a Lever Action, but I do remember running into an ole boy out near Forks years ago and he was carrying an old Winchester in 45/70 about 25 years ago. When I asked him how it worked on Elk he said that it worked just fine. That he could shoot it out of season and that the local game Warden wouldn't even come out to investigate as he would figure it was some logger or farmer out there blowing stumps.

I know a man, now long retired, who, over many years, used his old Savage 99 in .300 Savage, to kill over 30 bull elk.

Worked for him.

L.W.

Shot an elk this last year with my new Marlin 1895 Cowboy .45-70. A joy to carry and the 26" octagon barrel puts down some nice groups, its going to be my elk rifle for a long time to come, I just love the nostalgic look of the old levers.

I've taken 3 elk with a lever, .300 savage--.308--7mm mag

My son has taken elk with a lever action .32 win--.300 savage--.308--7mm mag browning lever. No shots exceeded 150 yards.

ElkNut1

As a ranch raised kid that hunted elk horseback growing up I shot my first 3 or 4 elk with a 25-35 Win SRC, and it worked well enough..Then I graduated to a 30-30 then to a 250 Savage, and they all worked well at the ranges I shot them at.. I always shot under 200 yards and mostly under 100 yards..My folks used the same guns, and one uncle used what I considered to be a real sho nuff magnum at the time, a 300 Savage, it was the talk of the camp. Most folks used these calibers with a few 45-70s tossed in..I have seen a lot ot elk shot with the 45-70 and to be honest, it has always been less than impressive, even with hot handloads..

Today I use a lever action when I hunt horseback, but its a Sav 99F in .308 caliber with 180 gr. Noslers or those wonderful Rem RN 180 gr. Corelokts..When I hunt on foot in the Selway in the thick black timber I use a bolt action 338 or 375 with 300 gr. bullets in both..All shots are quick and going away in there.

Marlin 308MX for me, although I've yet to kill an elk with it. It will go again this year.

DJR

I took my first elk (cow) just a few weeks ago with my Savage 99F chambered in .358 Win on the first day of the controlled Cow hunt I had been drawn for. Scoped with a straight 4 power Bushnell ScopeChief VI. I was shooting factory Winchester 200gr Silvertips. If I'm fortunate enough to get drawn again for the 2009 season this is what I'll be using again.

I have shot one with a Winchester 88 in 308. That is all Dad has used since he bought his in 61 or so.

FWIW we didn't hunt elk when I was a kid.

I started hunting them after I was out of the Marines for a while [28 or 29 I guess]. Mid 70's, took a couple of years to get the first one. Lever guns were perfect for the pole thickets in the Blue Mountains.

I had sold my .300 Savage before I went in. I bought a .308 99E to kill the first two [not a great rifle [certainly not the equal of my .300]. I never got to like it.

I borrowed dad's Model 88 in .308 to kill the next one. Then I went to bolt action '06's.

I have the Model 88 and need to hunt it again. I used Federal Premium 165 gr Sierra BT's in the Savage. We used to use 150 grain Winchester Power Points in the Model 88. They both rolled the elk.

The guy that finally showed me about elk hunting [SJ Neal] Had killed over 40 elk with his .300 Savage 99F. They work fine.

Savage,

That sounds like a good story. Did you post a story and pics?

-jeff

I've taken a couple elk with a 30-30, works well both dropped right there

The only rifles I own are levers and Ive used a 348 and 30/30 to kill elk, love the smooth 71 action but prefer the light 94. danny

Looks more like open quakies than "dark timber." YMMV

I've carried my .45/70 while elk hunting... But no elk with it yet. Suppose the thought of being hit by the big Marlin scares 'em off???

I use a Marlin 336 in .35 Remington.

No elk, just red deer. Quite a few. Here is one.



Marlin 1895 G .45-70, factory sights, Speer 400 gr. FN, shot at 25 meters, heart/lung, 75 meters flight.

cmg - somehow it does my heart good to see a traditional American lever action being used in Europe. Are they fairly popular with hunters in Germany?

GuyM,

Well - I do my very best. They do seem to have a small but dedicated following.

I have some more pics in this post:
https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbth...owflat/Number/2809401/page/1#Post2809401
Perhaps you are interested.

All the best,

I have taken a couple bull elks using my fathers savage 99 in a 308. with no problems when I was younger. I used plain old 180 gr bullets. I think my longest shot was about 160 yards. This is what I considered my dark timber gun.

However my new go to rifle is now my new 30-06 tikka t3.

Its dark timber about half the time.

Night time.

I killed a big cow once with a 30/30 lever gun that I had carried with me to the camp outhouse. Something must have been chasing her because she trotted right through the trees at the edge of camp and right past the outhouse. Glad I had already taken care of business and started back to the cabin.....she tasted good.

Over 30 years ago.

Havent killed a head of game with a lever since.

Have hunted with them all:
Marlin 1895, .45-70
Marlin 375, .375 Win
Marlin 336, .30-30
Browning B92, .44 Mag

Coyote Hunter, have you whacked an elk with that 44 mag B92?

I sold my other two Marlins but I love my 44 mag carbine... M1894 I believe. It would be fun to hunt elk with.

The Browning was given to me by Dad in the mid-80�s and I made it a point to hunt elk and deer with it at least one day every year until the Marlin .375 Win replaced it as my backup rifle in 2002.

In 1999 or 2000 I got a friend, Dave, started rifle hunting. He didn�t have a rifle so I loaned him my 7mm Rem Mag while I carried the Browning .44. We had an agreement � anything under 100 yards was mine, anything over was his.

Couple days into the hunt we spotted some cows in a stand of pines about 25 yards away. We froze and watched them watching us.
Dave was 7 or 8 yards behind me and whispered �Oh, [bleep]!� I knew immediately what me meant � there was a bull present and we were busted. Dave indicated some aspens 100 yards away and there was a 5x5 bull standing broadside with an aspen covering the front shoulder and rump. Dave started to take a standing shot until I whispered for him to take a knee. He did, and put a 160g Grand Slam through the neck, dropping the bull on the spot. I immediately whispered to Dave to shoot again if the bull got up.

We waited a moment and we both spotted a second bull standing and facing us, a few yards to the right of the first, also at 100 yards. I had the Browning in my hands and immediately took a knee as I brought the rifle into position. This bull was even bigger with much more massive antlers. Although the tines were hidden on either side by aspen trees, there was no question he went well beyond the 4-point minimum and was easily the largest bull I had ever put my sights on.

Dave already had a bull down and w had a packing job ahead of us. After some period of time I brought the rifle up and lowered the hammer down to half-cock. The bull decided it had had enough and started walking off. As it went through the aspen I counted 7 points on one side.

The funny thing is, on the last day of the hunt Dave and I were in the same general area, maybe half a mile east, as daylight was dwindling. Since Dave already had his elk I was carrying my 7mm Rem Mag. We spotted a huge bull walking along the far edge of a beaver pond. It continued around the pond and stopped about 100 yards away with its antlers behind an aspen. There was no doubt in my mind it was a legal bull and I dropped and took a knee, got the rifle to my shoulder and slipped the safety off. Then I moved the safety back to the �Safe� position and stood up. The bull walked on, disappearing behind a small rise, but I counted 7 points on one side as it did so and am reasonably convinced it was the same bull.

We had had a great hunt, Dave had taken his first bull, and I had twice had a huge bull in my sights. But both times I let it walk, for reasons I�m not sure I can explain. No regrets, for sure, but don�t know if I would make the same calls again.

Since then I have not hunted elk with the .44 Browning, so no, I haven�t taken any elk with it.

I haven't yet met a legal animal I didn't at least TRY to kill, but I suspect the day will come.

Biggest deer I've ever seen, I let get away in a most absurd fashion.

Those big critters have some mojo to 'em. Like a mountain makes it's own weather, they make their own luck!

3 dead elk with the BLR 308 pre 81. New to me last year is a BLR 358 which is unbloodied. The Mod 92 44 Mag has been packed but no shots fired.

And, the winner is....?

CH: that's a great story, and I look forward to the day that I'll pass on a legal bull. BTW, I have respected your internet input since the original Marlin Talk forum.

I have carried my Marlin 444 a few times still hunting in the thick stuff, but generally carry a bolt in 270 or 35 Whelen for most elk hunting. My 444 is a gunsmith-made "guide gun," complete with 18.5" barrel, and is a joy to carry in the woods. Last season, while scouting the day before the season opened, I saw 2 legal bulls at 262 lasered yards. One was a raghorn and the other was branch-antlered, but I couldn't get a good enough look to tell if it was a 5 or 6 point (it was getting dark). That's a long shot with a traditional levergun, although the new Marlin Express cartridges help. I'm on the fence about buying a 338MX. Ballistically, it's a 338 Federal, which doesn't excite me (nothing against the cartridge, it just bores me like the 30-06, which is to say it's a good all-around cartridge). But if you really like leverguns, the MX's give up little to most bolt action cartridges.

JV

PS, after the season opened, all I saw were other hunters!!!

The .45-70. 6x6 bull elk.

The .375 Win has taken a buck antelope, the .44 Mag has taken deer, the .30-30 is still a virgin in my hands. working on that, though...

Every year I try to carry my Marlin 444 in the woods at least once while Elk Hunting. Two years ago I finally got my elk with it. I was hunting some dark timber north side caught a small group feeding ended up with a nice sized cow at around 70 yards - one shot one elk 265gr handload.

444Marlin, BLR 7mag.

I wouldn't hunt one with a lever action. I'd move on and find one that wasn't armed.

As a kid I hunted elk with winchester and savage levers. I still hunt them every once in a while with a mdl 99 or a mdl 99f.

I hunt almost exclusivly with my 1895G 45-70. Two years ago I killed a cow at 205 yards. Long shot with the short barrel 45-70 But I had a rangefinder and a good rest and plenty of time. I've tried bolt actions but they just don't appeal to me much.