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What's your favorite elk cartridge?
Mr. Perfect
Member, Moderator Posts: 66,381 ******
Pick your cartridge (and even your gun combo) and spill it. Which is your favorite for hunting elk? And why? What distances?
Some will die in hot pursuit
And fiery auto crashes
Some will die in hot pursuit
While sifting through my ashes
Some will fall in love with life
And drink it from a fountain
That is pouring like an avalanche
Coming down the mountain
And fiery auto crashes
Some will die in hot pursuit
While sifting through my ashes
Some will fall in love with life
And drink it from a fountain
That is pouring like an avalanche
Coming down the mountain
Comments
...old fashion...7mm REM Mag, Browning Medallion A-Bolt, topped with an old Redfield 4 x 12...it reaches out more than far enough, and hits where I aim it...duh, someday I may learn to read...Hornady 150-160 gr...
I had not considered the question until now. Missouri reintroduced elk in the Southern part of the state a few years ago. There are limited permits for hunting, but maybe someday I will have to think more about it all. 😀
Ruger tang safety M77 338 Win Mag. Topped with a Leupold VXII 3X9.
PA introduced elk back into the state a few years ago. I have never hunted them, but would love to. I would probably take my 270 Winchester or my 375 JDJ. I love to handgun hunt.
Most elk I have hunted and harvested (12) were from 50-275 yds with an average of about 150 yds.
I got 2 (different trips)with a 54 cal "Real" muzzle loader(1-66") shooting round ball and 100gr of Real Black powder with iron sights.
3 I used a Winchester 88 (3x9 Leupold vx-1) in 308 with handloaded 165gr bullets, these were in timber around Pe ell WA.
5 I used a 30-06( 3.5x10 or a 2x7 Leupold vx2)with Handloads most were 180gr bullets they were shot with a Pre 64 Winchester M70 and a 24" barrel
Of the other 2 one I got with a Winchester 94 in 30-30, Iron sights with 170gr silver tips the other was with a 6mm Remington M788, he came in when I was calling coyotes he was in season and I had a tag, I think I used a 90gr Sierra Game king and he was about 80 yds away.
None went too far but all were hit fair. The muzzle loader killed much better than I expected considering it was about as powerful as a 45 Colt. Elk are tough animals and they are big with lots of blood in them. They need to get hit hard to anchor them.
I would say a 30-06 will do all you need it to when hunting Elk. Its better to spend money on ammo and pratice shooting.
30 ott 6
ladies and youth around here go .270
I am not surprised about your success with the .54 round ball.
I killed a lot of deer with a .50 round ball in a Hawken, it hit them harder than the 30-06 did.
Here's Jeremiah Johnson killing an elk with the .50 Hawken:
I used to like either 7mm Rem mag(5 elk) or 300 Win mag(3 elk) but can't handle that level of recoil anymore.
My 25/06 killed 5 cow elk with 7 shots so not a bad choice if you can shoot accurately. 2022 elk hunt, I used a 6.5 Creedmoor and wasn't disappointed at all. My hunting partner used a 7mm Rem mag and not a noticeable difference in the end result.
Killed one with a Mauser 98 in 8mm using the old Norma 196gr. load, and the other with a Mauser 98 re-barreled to 30-06 using Federal 165 loads. Both rifles were wearing a Leupold M8 in straight 6 power.
The 8mm has also killed a bunch of mule deer, but I'm thinking of a new barrel in 6.5x55.
The only two elk I have ever seen was when I was trout fishing in Cherokee NC. and one that wandered from Great Smokies here to upstate SC. They are big critters,
The 8mm is a small ring Kar98 that I put a Buehler micro-dial one piece base on many years ago. When I get around to re-barreling it to 6.5x55, I have a Leupold two piece base I am going to use.
The 30-06 is a large ring Standard-Modell that has the very basic Weaver two piece aluminum bases with Weaver rings. The Weaver base/ring combo has been around so long because it works well.
Both of these Mausers were already modified, so no collector value was lost in the complete sporterizing of each. Both have Timney triggers and the '06 has a maple stock from the long defunct Herters company, and the 8mm with a handmade walnut stock.
7mm Rem 700. But I no longer hunt elk. I can't get one out of the mountains alone any longer.
Elk hunting was the excuse I used to get the Weatherby Mark V 300 Weatherby topped with a Zeiss 4-16 conquest
In Florida we use a peach switch or a black willow switch if you don't have a peach tree. If you don't have either one with you at the moment - you can always use a golden rod (Solidago) spike.
WARNING - Smarty Pants Response - We don't have Elk in Florida except at very expensive 'Hunting Experience' places such as the one along the banks of the Suwanee River.
Best Regards - AQH
All of the above, but I would like to take one with a handgun. 454 Casull or 475 SRH preferably.
7MM STW. Works well pushing a 175 grain Barnes triple shock
.35 Whelen. BRNO Mauser action, Timney Sportsman trigger, and a 26" #4 contour Shilen barrel, topped off with an older 4x Weaver (in a perfect world, it would be a Leupold M8 6x). Handloads using 250gr Hornady round noses.
.270 Winchester. I've taken an even dozen elk with mine and all were one shot kills. Let me qualify this a bit and let you know that I probably could have taken all of those elk with a 22 LR. All were taken within 30 yards. Half the fun/challenge of hunting for me is seeing how close I can get before taking the shot.
NeoBlackdog, somewhere Jack O'Connor is smiling.
Win. m-70 classic in .338 win mag
Never hunted elk, but would like to sometime. Would probably use a Remington 700 in 30-06, zeroed at 200 yards, might stretch it to 500 yards if I was sure of the drops and drifts.
7mm Remington Magnum in a Ruger bolt action in regular season. In black powder season, a .54 caliber lead ball in an original musket. Elk are easy to get well within 200 yards of, no need for fancy optics.
84, no evidence of Elk any where around here.
Pretty sure the closest ones are near Cherokee NC.
A few years back near Saltville Va a few were spotted but cattle owners gripped so much about disease the hammer was dropped on them.
There are supposed to be elk in western West Virginia and eastern Kentucky. Lots of vacant land for them. At one time the had draw huts for them. Don't know if they still do.
Just over the hill from you in NC, a couple had a elk farm. The husband died and the widow was unable to vaccinate them. Guess what the rabbit sheriffs did? Destroyed them.
Another fellow near Pioneer Landing, your front yard, raised them for auction. Guess what he did with the big bulls? Sold them to canned hunt ranches.
No elk in the flatlandsof NC . Doubt that I could handle the ups and downs of the mountains at this point
Got my last Elk with a Model 70 Winch. in 30 06, so I guess its my favorite.
That is my go-to.
And fiery auto crashes
Some will die in hot pursuit
While sifting through my ashes
Some will fall in love with life
And drink it from a fountain
That is pouring like an avalanche
Coming down the mountain
Back in the 1970's I used a Ruuuuuuuuuuuuuger #1S in 300 Win Mag for my only two elk trips to Colorado.
IIRC.......it would deliver 2000 ft-lbs at 400 yards. I seem to remember that Elmer Keith liked that number for elk........works for me. 😎
But then......Elmer thought that the 270 was sufficient for jackrabbits.
He and Jack are probably still arguing it over......and over.😉
WV DNR is trying to establish a herd in southern WV but no hunting opportunities yet. They have brought some in and stocked them and also several have migrated from KY. Eastern KY has a good number of elk and I only live about an hour away from their elk zones. Ky brags about having the largest elk population east of the Mississippi. They are lottery drawn and it is almost impossible for a non resident to be drawn. Maybe in the future I will be able to hunt them, if I do I have a 300 Win mag I would probably use. They stocked them on old strip mine sites and shots can be quite long.
Lately, around here any way, it seems that vehicles are the best elk medicine, but I prefer a 300 PRC.
Out west here they are trying to do the opposite. They're introducing grizz and wolves to kill off all the elk.
And fiery auto crashes
Some will die in hot pursuit
While sifting through my ashes
Some will fall in love with life
And drink it from a fountain
That is pouring like an avalanche
Coming down the mountain
I found out today that Michigan has a resident-only elk license drawing every summer, with seasons in August/September, and November/December. Literal once in a lifetime opportunity as those who draw a bull elk tag are never eligible to enter again, those who draw a cow-only tag can't enter for ten years, only exception being that literally anybody(or maybe just any resident?) can enter the "Pure Michigan Hunt" sweepstakes the state puts on, which includes an elk tag, bear tag, turkey tag, and a couple others.
But of course, all those hoops to jump through kinda make sense when you factor in we only have like 900 elk in the entire state, all in a few counties between Mount Pleasant and the Mackinac Bridge. And it's also got me thinking if by the good Lord's grace I enter and draw a tag, and the terrain for the hunt turns out to be full of brush, maybe the trusty model 94 in 30 WCF might be a better option than the 30-06 with the 3-18x50 scope? Like Ron Spomer always says, right bullet in the right place.
truthful what model muzzleloader are you shooting?
Winchester Model 70, Leupold vx3 4-12, chambered I'm 30-06
That's a swell set-up right there.