now obviously this is a bit tonge in cheek,but long range rifles are not mandatory for ELK!
,I go to the local ranges on a regular basis,
I usually have my 35 whelen, and 450 marlin rifles along, sometimes my 375 H&H carbine, sometimes, my 340 wby mag, but IM constantly being told at local ranges that my choices in rifles for hunting ELK are all wrong by the younger guys, with thier 270-7mm-300 mags , now I generally smile and ask how many ELK they have killed, what the areas looked like, how far the ELK went after they were hit, etc.
about 90% of the time those young guys either have thier first hunt coming up, or they might have 1-2 ELK to thier credit.
now Ive hunted ELK for over 40 years , in several states and have only killed a bit over 3 dozen ELK personally,(some years I lucked out and got two(different states) but Ive seen well over 100 elk killed from guys in our group., Ive dressed out many if not most of those ELK. and if Ive learned something, its that its not the caliber of the rifle used so much as the guy behind the rifle that matters in the end result.
in 40 years of hunting ELK I can remember only a very few that were taken by ANYONE in camp that were shot at over 250-275 yards.
my 35 whelen and 340wby have both killed well over a dozen elk each with a single shot, with never a problem. SO Ive GOT SOME idea WHAT WORKS.
AND THE FACT IS THAT IN THE STEEP CANYON COUNTRY IVE USUALLY HUNTED EVEN SEEING AN elk PAST 200 YARDS IS RARE!
ID be perfectly equiped with my 450 marlin BLR or 340wby or 35 whelen, the rifles caliber is just not as important as the skill used in getting into the herd and selecting the shots, and the ability to locate the herd.Ive even used a 45/70 with hot cast loads on a couple,
if pressed Im sure I could kill ELK with a 44 mag carbine, ELK are just not that hard to kill once you get into a decent angle and range, its GETTING INTO THE POSSITION THATS HARD.
find something you shoot well, something fast and accurate out to 300 yards with enought power to kill effectively and youll do fine, its been a darn rare hunt where shots over 250 yards were even considered, and thats not due to lack of long range skill with a rifle, it due to the fact ELK are not STUPID and rarely stand out in the open!
,I go to the local ranges on a regular basis,
I usually have my 35 whelen, and 450 marlin rifles along, sometimes my 375 H&H carbine, sometimes, my 340 wby mag, but IM constantly being told at local ranges that my choices in rifles for hunting ELK are all wrong by the younger guys, with thier 270-7mm-300 mags , now I generally smile and ask how many ELK they have killed, what the areas looked like, how far the ELK went after they were hit, etc.
about 90% of the time those young guys either have thier first hunt coming up, or they might have 1-2 ELK to thier credit.
now Ive hunted ELK for over 40 years , in several states and have only killed a bit over 3 dozen ELK personally,(some years I lucked out and got two(different states) but Ive seen well over 100 elk killed from guys in our group., Ive dressed out many if not most of those ELK. and if Ive learned something, its that its not the caliber of the rifle used so much as the guy behind the rifle that matters in the end result.
in 40 years of hunting ELK I can remember only a very few that were taken by ANYONE in camp that were shot at over 250-275 yards.
my 35 whelen and 340wby have both killed well over a dozen elk each with a single shot, with never a problem. SO Ive GOT SOME idea WHAT WORKS.
AND THE FACT IS THAT IN THE STEEP CANYON COUNTRY IVE USUALLY HUNTED EVEN SEEING AN elk PAST 200 YARDS IS RARE!
ID be perfectly equiped with my 450 marlin BLR or 340wby or 35 whelen, the rifles caliber is just not as important as the skill used in getting into the herd and selecting the shots, and the ability to locate the herd.Ive even used a 45/70 with hot cast loads on a couple,
if pressed Im sure I could kill ELK with a 44 mag carbine, ELK are just not that hard to kill once you get into a decent angle and range, its GETTING INTO THE POSSITION THATS HARD.
find something you shoot well, something fast and accurate out to 300 yards with enought power to kill effectively and youll do fine, its been a darn rare hunt where shots over 250 yards were even considered, and thats not due to lack of long range skill with a rifle, it due to the fact ELK are not STUPID and rarely stand out in the open!
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