6mm Creedmoor first elk hunt

Wrong post

VinceMule said:

I shot cows with a 243 Win with a hot load of IMR 4350 with 100g Partitions, close range of 125 yds and less. We rode mules and elk were not scared of a man on a mule as long as there was no talking or clanking of tac. We rode right in on them at the first of season, and during the Summer months, rode among them.

My advise, place your shot or don't pull the trigger. Think ahead of how you are going to retrieve the animal in rough country.

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Very similar with some of my friends on the Western Slope here in CO. They have used 243's for decades to fill their annual cow tags and even a few decent bulls. They have a nice ranch and are surrounded by BLM and NF lands.

6mm's are not my choice for elk hunting, but I have used a couple of 257 caliber rifles with good success. However, I cannot argue with their years of success with 243's.

If you are lucky enough to get a shot, don't blow it by using a small game rifle. Expert elk hunters might get away with it and boast machismo. However, elk deserve more respect. Elk rarely provide a "perfect shot" situation, so you probably won't have much time to set up perfect shooting conditions. Your elk hunting rifle should deliver at least 1500 ft-lb of energy at impact. Too many of these magnificent animals are wounded by unexperienced hunters or those intent on proving they can do it with undersize options. That said, if you take the 7mm, practice and get familiar at a range. Some 7mm's have too much kick and startle first time shooters. A better option would be to find and adequate 270 or 30/06 for your first elk hunt.

MontanaJack said:

If you are lucky enough to get a shot, don't blow it by using a small game rifle. Expert elk hunters might get away with it and boast machismo. However, elk deserve more respect. Elk rarely provide a "perfect shot" situation, so you probably won't have much time to set up perfect shooting conditions. Your elk hunting rifle should deliver at least 1500 ft-lb of energy at impact. Too many of these magnificent animals are wounded by unexperienced hunters or those intent on proving they can do it with undersize options. That said, if you take the 7mm, practice and get familiar at a range. Some 7mm's have too much kick and startle first time shooters. A better option would be to find and adequate 270 or 30/06 for your first elk hunt.

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Not to derail the thread, but a lot of elk have been killed by firearms that have less than 1,500 ft/lbs at the muzzle and definitely at impact distance. My M/L's and handguns are in that category and have taken elk.

Allen Kitts said:

Where did you come up with the MV for the 338. I see most are running between 2800-2900 FPS at the muzzle with a 210 grain bullet.

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From my Garmen XERO

Heading to New Mexico next week, I have a Unit Wide 5B Bull tag. Can someone lone me a 6 CM I'm feeling steady "joking".
All jokes aside can someone enlighten me on the recoil as being an issue this day and time. We have state of the art muzzle brakes not that expensive "earplugs" and suppressors which can be expensive. My wife is 5'5" 120 lbs has smoked Elk with 270 WSM, 280AI, 28 Nosler and 300 PRC.
She has never turned around after a shot on the bench or in the field and said I'm not shooting this gun again. She smoked an Elk @ 350 yards last year laying in his bed with a 300 PRC 212 LRX Bore Rider the Elk never moved. So recoil shouldn't even be an issue buy a muzzle brake and some earplugs.

Doghunter23 said:

From my Garmen XERO

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Doghunter23 said:

From my Garmen XERO

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I'm shooting a 338 RPM Hand loads
With a custom 20" carbon fiber barrel 1-11 twist from Oregon Mountain Rifle Co.
74gr of Stable 6.5 and it's a shooter.

257Tony said:

1000 lb Elk are about as rare as a smart Democrat.

OP, Take the 6mm, either of the bullets you talked about will work fine. Shoot em behind the shoulder, avoid

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257Tony said:

1000 lb Elk are about as rare as a smart Democrat.

OP, Take the 6mm, either of the bullets you talked about will work fine. Shoot em behind the shoulder, avoid the *** area.

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Boom, haven't read all of this thread just enough to see where it's going. Tony's response is spot freaking on!!

1000 pound elk, what a bunch of bunk!

Take your 6MM, you'll do just fine. Take out the lungs and where are they going to go...

I shot plenty and have seen plenty of elk taken via a 22/250 and the Swift. Again, remove the lungs and they're headed quickly to Croak City Wyoming

d.downey24 said:

Heading to New Mexico next week, I have a Unit Wide 5B Bull tag. Can someone lone me a 6 CM I'm feeling steady "joking".
All jokes aside can someone enlighten me on the recoil as being an issue this day and time. We have state of the art muzzle brakes not that expensive "earplugs" and suppressors which can be expensive. My wife is 5'5" 120 lbs has smoked Elk with 270 WSM, 280AI, 28 Nosler and 300 PRC.
She has never turned around after a shot on the bench or in the field and said I'm not shooting this gun again. She smoked an Elk @ 350 yards last year laying in his bed with a 300 PRC 212 LRX Bore Rider the Elk never moved. So recoil shouldn't even be an issue buy a muzzle brake and some earplugs.

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Amen. Everything I shoot has a brake, but I live in a state where suppressors are illegal.

dogz said:

Boom, haven't read all of this thread just enough to see where it's going. Tony's response is spot freaking on!!

1000 pound elk, what a bunch of bunk!

Take your 6MM, you'll do just fine. Take out the lungs and where are they going to go...

I shot plenty and have seen plenty of elk taken via a 22/250 and the Swift. Again, remove the lungs and they're headed quickly to Croak City Wyoming

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Yea I would also say 1000 pound Elk would have to be a Roosevelt Elk and probably not many of them below the Canadian border. So you actually take a 22-250 into the Rockies to hunt Elk that's interesting or are you just shooting them from the truck in the plains ? Even if I had done it, I wouldn't want anyone to know I did it.
a) For the taking of bighorn sheep, elk, moose, mountain goat or black bear by the use of a firearm, a hunter shall use: (i) Any center-fire firearm of at least . 24 caliber and firing a cartridge of at least two (2) inches in overall length and using an expanding point bullet, or any other cartridge of at least
I'm just assuming you from Croak City Wyoming

I live in the Rockies..........so yeah that's where I hunt. And how about you?

I take it you have a lot of elk and experience with elk hunting and killing in Va eh............. You've probably been on a few guided hunts out west right?

I've been elk hunting/killing for 46 years, I'm not sure you really wish to compare elk killing resume's..........

Side note, I've been in and around the taking (without a guide) of well over triple digits of elk. We've used most everything from the 22's to the 416's they all have one thing in common. If you take out the lungs things die, pure plain simple. Killing just isn't rocket science no matter how hard people try to make it.

The last 4 elk that I know taken with the 6 CM were taken by 4 fellas all using 6 CM's and I believe the 105 VLD. On the count of three 4 shots rang out and inside 3 second 4 elk were on the turf! Ranges were 510-540 yds.......

A 180 gr Barnes "elk medicine" bullet is going to produce a 1.5" diameter wound channel maybe 3'ish deep. A 108 ELDM at CM velocity is going to produce a 3-4" wide wound channel approx 20" deep depending on impact velocity. At MV it's probably 5" wide and 14" deep, at 1800FPS it's probably 2" and 24" deep (from what I've seen personally, which lines up with everything I've seen from other guys that actually shoot animals with them). Lowest impact velocity I've personally killed something at was 1900ish. I got approx 22" of penetration on a mule deer hard quartering to, through the humerus and caught under hide behind the last rib.

I don't know how anyone considers that marginal for elk in any way. What wound channel dimensions do you think are needed?

I wouldn't shoot a Barnes for elk in 6mm, but I also wouldn't shoot a Barnes for elk in .300WM. guys use these "tough, controlled expansion" bonded or mono bullets out of their 7mm/.30 cal, getting narrow wound channels and slow kills, and deciding these elk are super tough. Shoot them with a bullet that comes apart like an ELDM, TMK, or ELDX, maximize your wound channel, and watch them die quickly.

How many of you who say the 6CM is too little have actually killed an elk with one using 108 ELDM or similar? Because pretty much everyone I know who has actually tried it has been incredibly impressed by what those bullets do.

Edit to add: I was incredibly skeptical as well going in. It took a bunch of reports/photos to get me to start trying heavy for caliber tipped match bullets, and we killed several deer with 108 ELDMs and 77TMKs before I was ready to try them on elk. Conventional wisdom usually has a kernel of truth at least, and I think in this case it's that for a very long time the light for caliber bullets may not have produced the wound channels that the newer projectiles do. I would not use an 85 grain 6mm on elk, but a 108-115 absolutely yes. I sold my 7mmRM that was my old long range elk rifle (180 Berger hybrids did great) last year. I don't see ever going back to a 7mm or .30 magnum.