Elk Question - What Would You Do?
- Thread starter Bowie
- Start date
Homesteader
CGN Regular
- Location
- In a Wallow West of Edmonton.
Trade your least favorite of the three, for a nice 300 win, or the Rem 7 mag. If I had to pick one of yours it would be the 375, or twist up a 150g tsx in your 308 if you reload.
Maybe I have been lucky, or maybe I have been able to put the bullets in the right place. [up to this point, anyway, lol]
The farthest any lung-shot Elk has gone after I shot it was about 120 yards. Most, much less.
I remember nailing a big Bull in the East Kootenays with a 200 Partition out of the 308 Norma at about 175 yards.
He took off like he had been stung by a bee, not even giving me time for a follow up shot.
However, when I got to where he had been standing when I pulled the trigger, I could see one of his antlers sticking
up above the grass, a mere 50-60 yards away. That Partition went through both lungs, and exited.
A 5-pointer on the dead run at about 75 yards got a 180 Partition from the same rifle 2 years later....he made it another 80 yards and piled up on his nose.
Story of my elk hunts.
Dave
The farthest any lung-shot Elk has gone after I shot it was about 120 yards. Most, much less.
I remember nailing a big Bull in the East Kootenays with a 200 Partition out of the 308 Norma at about 175 yards.
He took off like he had been stung by a bee, not even giving me time for a follow up shot.
However, when I got to where he had been standing when I pulled the trigger, I could see one of his antlers sticking
up above the grass, a mere 50-60 yards away. That Partition went through both lungs, and exited.
A 5-pointer on the dead run at about 75 yards got a 180 Partition from the same rifle 2 years later....he made it another 80 yards and piled up on his nose.
Story of my elk hunts.
Dave
BigUglyMan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- New Scotland
Interesting yet ill-conceived blanket statement. There are things that "magnum" cartridges do better than others. And one of those things is drive bullets into the vitals of heavy game from poor angles. I don't think that choosing the Swede is a fundamentally poor choice, but when it comes to ensuring that you anchor an animal that, for one reason or another, decides to vacate the country a little more oomph isn't a bad thing. Particularly if your second (and God forbid third) shot comes as the animal puts distance between you and it. a simple shot at 225 yards that gets duffed can turn into a second or third shot at 350 or 400 or even more. I would suggest that if a wounded animal is leaving the hunter will (should) still be shooting, not sticking to an arbitrary line in the sand. I'm not suggesting that this would be you, but in this sort of scenario (as we often talk about when discussing dangerous game) there is a hell of a difference between starting a fight and ending a fight.
The O.P. asked our opinions on his question. I gave him my opinion with a full disclosure that I am biased against magnum calibers so he could judge my opinion accordingly. I am not about to steal his thread by discussing magnums versus standard calibers.
I stand by my choice of the 6.5 x 55.
Dave
For me I'd go 300wm with a good scope that you can compensate for hold over with in which ever manner your most comfortable using. Another way to look at things would be to sell the rifle/scope afterwards if you want and perhaps just be out about 15-25% of your initial purchase cost if you buy new and count it as part of the cost of your adventure?
pisces-guy
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- West Kelowna, B.C.
The .375 if you're comfortable shooting it or you get a muzzle brake so you become comfortable shooting it. If not, go with warm .308 loads and 150 grain Barnes ttsx bullets...and sight in for long range.
The 375 with good bullets from 230-270 grns is a wonderful choice, and one you would never regret. You need to ask yourself if all you had between a filled tag and an empty bag was a "rump to" shot on a good bull at 250 yds, would you turn it down? With the 308 or 6.5 you most certainly should walk away, but with the 375 you can take the shot with complete confidence that you will kill him forth with. All this blather about putting a little bullet in the heart or through both lungs assumes that the elk will give you a nice standing broadside shot........good luck with that!!! I have taken many, many animals of elk size and larger right out to 350 mtrs with a 375 H&H and 270 gn TSXs, of all these different critters I doubt 2 were standing broadside, some were hard quartering to or away, some were walking, some were running, some were behind a screen of bush, one all I could see was the top of his shoulders, my Bongo at 270 mtrs was in the bush/grass and all I could see was his head and neck down to about his back line. I slid a bullet along side his neck and into his spine between his shoulder blades....I severely doubt this shot would have been successful with a 308 or 6.5, given the amount of heavy muscle that was penetrated on the way to the spine.
There is absolutely no downside to using your 375, unless you are afraid of it. My rifle loves the 270 TSX but my son's Ruger loves the 260 AB and he took a dozen animals in Africa with that bullet ranging in size from bushbuck to eland, and believe me all African animals are tenacious and require a lot of killing, just like our elk. I highly recommend either of these bullets given the performance I have seen on more than 3 dozen head of big game.
There is absolutely no downside to using your 375, unless you are afraid of it. My rifle loves the 270 TSX but my son's Ruger loves the 260 AB and he took a dozen animals in Africa with that bullet ranging in size from bushbuck to eland, and believe me all African animals are tenacious and require a lot of killing, just like our elk. I highly recommend either of these bullets given the performance I have seen on more than 3 dozen head of big game.
One thing about hunting Elk in Southern AB is opportunity's come at distances that can be deceptively long. I've glassed Bulls on open hillsides across valleys or in open country that appear to be within a reasonable shooting distance only to find out they are 700ish yards away.
We spotted 2-young bulls bedded together on a southern slope from 2-3km. Ran out of cover by the time we got into 410yds. My buddy's 338WM killed his bull decisively. I was shooting a .270Wby that put 2 into the boiler ant the third through the nearside shoulder before that bull got the memo that he is dead.
Elk are tough animals with great tenacity when hit poorly or ineffectively. Of the guns you mentioned I would use the .375. If I was going to buy a dedicated Elk rifle it would be a .340Wby. As an all-rounder for AB hunting the .300WM is never a bad choice.
We spotted 2-young bulls bedded together on a southern slope from 2-3km. Ran out of cover by the time we got into 410yds. My buddy's 338WM killed his bull decisively. I was shooting a .270Wby that put 2 into the boiler ant the third through the nearside shoulder before that bull got the memo that he is dead.
Elk are tough animals with great tenacity when hit poorly or ineffectively. Of the guns you mentioned I would use the .375. If I was going to buy a dedicated Elk rifle it would be a .340Wby. As an all-rounder for AB hunting the .300WM is never a bad choice.
Have you seen that bald headed prairie down there ? Antelope can spot you at 3 miles.
Grizz
I have to agree on the 6.5 .I am a long time elk and moose hunter . Using a 7mm mag for many years and have shot an elk every year for the last 15 .about 4 years ago I switched to a custom made 6.5 since then it has 3 elk behind my little 6.5 and at least 10 deer
all have stopped dead in there tracks and I have had good success out to 400 meters.
As as for shooting elk ,I don't care what your shooting for calliper, keep shooting till they drop .
For me it's almost natural to always follow up a second round befor I even know the first round did its part of my routine and everyday practice
bearkilr
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Nowhere, ......just past the middle
The 375 hands down out of those. Weren't you selling a Sako in 338 a little while back on the EE? Regrets?
elk aren't antelope, or as they're locally known, as speed goats- they don't have 7x vision and are less likely to "vanish" if they've found a good feed spot when and if they're threatened-I know the country- did my basic at Suffield and you can "sneak up "and all u need for those speed goats is a 243 or 25/06- a 30 cal is "too much " gun- any 30 cal- they're extremely thin skinned and light boned- think "birds" of the deer family- anyway, if u ever get the chance, watch how the first nations hunt antelope- you might see nothing, but if you watch close, you may see a bush move- point being NOT to stand out and make the terrain work for you
The 375 hands down out of those. Weren't you selling a Sako in 338 a little while back on the EE? Regrets?
Lol, yes that was me. At the time I couldn't envision the need for both a .338 and a .375, and the African dreams meant the .338 was on the block. I had planned to get a .300 to replace the .338, but then I got sidetracked and it didn't happen. I shoot more deer than anything else, so the .300 just didn't get thought about much as I have a rack full of deer rifles.
Then they announced the Suffield antlered elk hunt - and I happen to have 10 years of priority saved for a rainy day - and, well, it's raining.
I have a lot of faith and a ton of experience shooting the 6.5x55, but with the heavier bullets it moves a bit slow if the ranges get long. The last time I hunted in Southern Alberta I killed an antelope at 485m using a 7-08. That 120gr Ballistic Tip isn't exactly an elk bullet though.
Right now I am leaning towards a 235gr TSX in the .375, which I should be able to start in the 3000fps +/-. I have been shooting 225gr Hornady bullets and they are accurate, but I am shooting them a bit slower - in the 2700 fps range.
Once draw results come out though, I may change my mind.
