Elk guns

[speckslayer]

I have a place to hunt elk in eastern Oregon, but I also do a lot of deer hunting here in California. I need to buy a rifle that I can use for both elk and deer.

I have looked at the .300 Winchester Ultra Mag, but I think this may be a little much on a 120 pound California blacktail.

What do you suggest?

 

[Qbn Hunter]

I like the 30/06. I ahve a frond who has killed a couple of Elks with his .270.

 

[WildBird]

I checked out the possibilities a few years ago and went with the .270. The new custom factory ammo lets you have hyper velocity and custom bullets when needed. I have taken 2 mule deer with core lokt 130 grain. For a 6x7 elk I used Federal High Energy with a 140 grain Bearclaw bullet. Knocked him off his feet at 250 yards. Retention on that bullet was at least 80% - went all the way through and lodged just below the skin after going through the outer shoulder. Great flat shooters, mine is a mod. 70 with a B.O.S.S. and with the first (and only) adjustment puts em in 7/8 inch groups at 200 yards. My next project (no shortage) is to load up some varmint rounds with 90 grain bullets to reach out and touch some yotes. So, all in all a very versitle round. WB

 

[Oregon Archer]

oh the possibilities are endless to this question lol smallest id choose is a 270. this just happens to be my favorite calibre as well. id say a 300win mag or 7mm mag would be the biggest id go for. both are a bit big for a blackie but not by too much. 30/06 is kinda right in the middle. best thing is to go with the calbre you can handle the best. all will do the job if you do yours and put it where it counts.

 

[SDHNTR]

Personally, I'd choose either the 30-06 or the 7mm mag. Both are plenty for elk and I don't think too much for deer. I tend to think the .270 is a bit too light for all but ideal shots. But as you can see here plenty of elk have fallen to one. It would also depend on how your elk hunting is. Are you in open country where long shots are common? Or are you mainly in thick timber? Obviously if long shots are possible go with more power. Another option if you are a reloader is to buy that .300 ultra (or other mag) and just load down for deer and load normally for elk. I think sometimes people think rounds always have to be shot at max charge. A magnum load can be very versatile for the handloader.

 

[speckslayer]

Thank you all for your responses.

SD hunter, I think you are right. I do handload most all of my rifle rounds, so I could shoot a smaller bullet for deer, and a larger one for elk.

I will be deer hunting in the high desert of eastern Oregon, and from what I understand, the property that I am hunting calls for a lot of long shots.
What better gun to use than a flat shooting .300 UM? I guess I'm just a sucker for the big powerful rifles.

 

[1SoCalHunter]

You really can't go wrong with a 30-06 or a .270, but it would be better if you could have one of each

 

[COHunter]

There are a lot of Women and Youth hunters here in Colorado that drop they're Elk with the 7mm-08 and .270, you just need a good bullet. Elk are not these all powerful creatures that people make them out to be. It cracks me up when all these hunters show up with their big magnum calibers "because thats what it takes to kill an Elk" and the locals use a 30/06

 

[Dave in LB]

If it was my choice, I'd look good and hard at a .270WSM or a 7mm Rem Mag. Either one will cover a lot of opportunity and great selections in bullets. Not to mention that they could be used for Pronghorn and black bear if you so desire.

Thinking about this a little further you don't have to load the 300Win Mag to its fullest potential( assuming you reload) for deer. Obviously the other option that everyone else has mentioned or will mention is the 30-06 hard to argue against it.

 

[Csbishop]

I shot a 450lb cow elk at about 100yards with a .270 130gr softpoint it did not exit but was stuck in the hide on the other side. It went down after about half a step worked good but I was a little concerned that it did not exit at 100 yards. It only hit ribs not sure I would be so lucky if it hit a bigger bone.
I now use a .300 win mag not to big for deer but just the ticket for elk.

 

[Losthwy]

.270 to .300 mag take your pick. All will do the job, remember the larger loads generally have more kick. The new WSM cartridges might be the way to go in a 270 or 7mm. They make for a lighter rifle with less kick than their counter parts. If I was buying a one today I would buy one of those two and shave 1/4 lb off the weight of the rifle.

 

[JOE MACK]

If I HAVE to carry a rifle while elk hunting, I carry a .338Winchester Magnum. This is usually because I'm hunting with flatlanders from out of state when I go home to hunt. I've had to put down two elk in about fifteen years that were hit badly and were going straight away. Both shots were Texas heart shots and were effective almost immediately. I like to err on the side of overkill as Murphy is always looking over one's shoulder. I've taken 3 elk with a .41Magnum revolver. It gets the job done but I wouldn't say it's the ideal elk caliber.

 

[Kensco]

For me, one consideration would be how much of your hunting is behind you, and how much is ahead of you. I'm in my mid-50s. If I was going to be hunting just deer and elk a .308, .270, or 30.06 would be fine.

I can visualize my last big game hunt being with my Remington Model 600 .308 Win, the same gun I started with as a kid. (I hope to be too old to carry or shoot anything bigger and heavier.)

If I was 25 and had forty more years of hunting, with some real adventures ahead of me, maybe Africa or Alaska, I would probably step up to a 300 WSM, or equivalent now.

Selecting the right bullet for the correct game is my philosophy. I've reloaded so long, that I don't have to think about what I might use. For my .308 Win. I'll use a 110 gr. bullet for Texas Whitetail, 125 gr. for mule deer, 150 gr. for elk. (If I was going after a moose I'd load 180 gr.)

My 300 WSM hasn't been fed anything but 150 gr loads yet. Once I get back to the States I'll play with it a little.

 

[wmidbrook]

I'm happy with my 30-06 & .270. Both work on elk & deer. I've shot a 7 mm STW, 7 mm Rem., and a .338 win. I've noticed though that the added noise from a magnum bugs me a lot. There's a huge difference in vibration and noise in dB's when moving up from an '06 to a magnum cartridge which can effect shooting for some folks.

You might also want to look @ the .257 Weatherby--good for deer/elk/antelope and a real flat shooter. You can zip a 120 grain bullet (partition, grand slam, a-frame) out of the muzzle @ 3300 fps for elk. It retains the recommend minimum energy for elk--2,000 ft lbs--out to 300 yds with warm loads. And you can use the 100 grain bullets for antelope/deer and they zip along at up to 3,600 fps.

I think I'll be trying out either a 25 Gibbs, 25-06 AI or a .257 Weatherby one of these years.

Bill

 

[tmoniz]

30/06 180 grain bullets for elk, 165 for deer. Whereabouts in Oregon I know a good public place outside of Granite, saw alot of elk and a few decent bulls last time I was up there.

 

[Hook]

Hey guys,

Don't forget about a Muzzleloader. I used a Knight Disc in .50 Cal to take a nice bull in New Mexico last year. Plus you odds of drawing tags are better with a ML.

 

[340mag]

it really depends on the ranges you are likely to be shooting at and to some extent the size of the largest game your likely to shoot. far to many people think thier equipment allows them to take shots at extreme ranges, learn to get in close for a precise shot placement and the caliber of the rifle becomes somewhat less important, stretch the range and it becomes much more important, if your shooting at ranges where you can,t keep all shots in a 6" circle your too far to shoot!
I started hunting elk and more or less specialized in ELK hunting for the last 33 years,I started with a 30-06 but even with perfect shot placement and premium bullets it failed to produce exit wounds from some good hits. now they were all good kills, and Id be the first guy to say your better off with a 30-06 you shoot well than a 338win mag you flinch with, but some elk in fact most elk hit with the 30-06 traveled 40-50 yards after impact, some slightly further, and keep in mind I won,t shoot untill Im possitive of a good precise shot placement. i swapped to a 340 weatherby mag and 250 grain bullets, about 25 years ago, and since that time Ive always had good results on ELK in that most fall within a step or two of the impact point and I get exit wounds, and huge blood trails that are extremely short.(most less than 10 yards) now the results on deer are somewhat less impressive in that the rifle is perfect for 500-700lb elk but the bullets open slowly on deer, this results in deer that tend to walk slowly for a few seconds and sometime remain on their feet for 40-60 yards as the bullets tend to act almost as solids, but after over 18-19 elk and over a dozen big deer in the last 25 years (btw thats hunting in several states some years, for several years I hunted both wyoming and colorado, and on a couple years I also got pulled for mule deer in california) I give the rifle an EXCELLENT GRADE!
shots like the image above work but the elk tend to run a short distance, yes this is 100% fatal but aiming about 1/3 up from the lower chest to the top of the shoulder and aiming so the bullet enters through the near lung and veins above the heart and breaking the far side leg has always been my prefered shot when I can get it!

if Im takeing a shot at an ELK facing me at an angle I try to aim 1/3rd of the way up on the chest and try to pass the the bullet just above the heart and while passing the bullet between the legs and pass the bullet as it exits through a lung, because that takes a good deal of penetration , I use a 250 bullet in my 340 weatherby mag most of the time.
if you try and picture in your mind that thre target is a soft ball size area 1/3 of the way up in the chest and located just abought between the front legs but slightly behind the near leg as the ELK steps forward youll almost always cut the arteries above the heart which stops all blood pressure and brings a very quick resulting dead ELK.


its potenially a mistake to use a deer rifle on ELK if you pick one thats marginally effective,because you might increase your chances of lost elk, but its not nearly as bad to use an ELK rifle on deer as its by definition more than adequate for deer altho it might prove to be more than necessary like my 340 wby has (btw) swapping to a 200grn bullet makes the 340mag an extremely effective deer cartridge that drops deer like THORS HAMMER but the swap to that bullet vastly increases expansion and decreases penetration (since ELK are the prime game target not a great swap)KEEP IN MIND THAT A LARGE BULL ELK COULD EASILY RUN OVER 600 LBS while your average large mule deer might run 225 lbs (most are smaller) and while a 25-06-thru-30-06 are excellent mule deer rifles there are times when an ELK requires deeper penetration than your average deer bullet/cartridge combo are designed for, at the very least pick premium bullets with sectional densities of about .260 minimum and .280 or above prefered or above when elk hunting with .308 or smaller bullets

 

[7mm MAGNUM]

My favorite weapon of choice is my namesake .... I have a Remington 700BDL chambered in the 7mm Magnum round. It has a 6.5-20x50 scope and a bi-pod setup by Harris. I hand load my own, and my favorite for elk uses the 162 grain Interlock by Hornady.

It is VERY ACCURATE, and a very deadly round for these critters, running a little over 3000fps according to my chrony. I have also done some expansion and weight retention tests on this round useing soaked phonebooks. Penatration is a little over 19 inches, with a weight retention of 91% (148gr.)

I'm VERY pleased with this round, and I have some buddies at work who beg me for some to take on their outfitted hunts out West.

 

[Dave in LB]

340Mag- thanks a lot for posting all the info about the 340 WBY Magnum. Now I am thinking about it as a solution for a middrange game rifle. Save for the fact that WBY ammo is expensive and I don't know of a source for brass other than purchasing factory and reloading the shells this is a really tempting gun to own. I am curious as to how punishing the rifle is from the bench an in the field. I have a Marlin guide gun and shooting stout loads can become painful after a while ( read 30+ rounds). All things considered it looks like a really fine elk option and one I was not really familiar with prior to your posting.

 

[340mag]

dave,
a 400 grain bullet at 1900fps has almost exactly the same total recoil in an 8 lb marlin guide gun that the 250 grain weatherby mag has in a 10 lb weatherby rifle, but the weatherby mag has a far better designed stock with a better strait stock, youll find that the felt recoil, is lighter in the weatherby especially if the weatherby has a bipod and muzzle brake. now keep in mind both rifles have about 35 lbs of recoil energy but you can more easily handle the recoil with a more modern designed stock. use a reciol pad like this

http://www.roc-import.com/gb/recoil_pads1.html
sewn into the vest you use while hunting and get the magnum pad for bench work

remember youll only need one or at the most two well placed shots durring a 10 day elk hunt, you can easily learn to handle what amounts to just slightly more than 3"slug load 12 gauge shotgun recoil levels, especially since your already doing it with the guide gun.now as far as brass goes, 300 weatherby,8mm remington mag,300H&H,375H&H brass just to name a few can very easily be re- formed into 340 weatherby mag brass