208 or 225 ELDM

[budlight]

@budlight you sure it wasnt a doe with antlers

My first ever elk was the same thing. You could hear them bugling all over the valley but it's so thick that you never see them. Walking down the game trail I hear something coming towards me, so I drop down across a log for a solid rest. Mr Elk pokes his big rack head out of the brush and stops as he sees me. We have our eyes lock on each other 40 - 50 feet away. Being 12-13 years old I didn't check for genetila or think about the scope being two inches higher than the barrel sighted in at 200 yards.

We have our eyes locked on each other trying to decide our next move in that instant of time. I put the cross hairs right between the eyes and pull the 30-06 trigger. He ran probably a 1/4 mile down hill and my Dad was ****ed because we had to 1/4 it up and pack it to the truck. He made me drag the head up the mountain and I probably didn't weight 90 pounds. The bullet hit him in the nose, passing under the skull and out the back of his neck. Massive blood trail. I felt bad about not getting a bang flop. It was a lifetime lesson. I've let lots of stuff go over taking a bad shot. I have had more unfilled tags than succsessful I was Born in northern Idaho and they used to close school for hunting season opening week!

 

[Barehandlineman11]

I think you missed my joke lol

 

[Jcook02]

With my 300 RUM and N570, I started at 86.0 grains and worked up to 91.0 grains. My first node was at 87.5 and upper was 90.5. This was using the 230 Berger OTM's though. Talking with Huntnful, with the 225's, I'm sure I'll be just a little less powder usage as the 225 has a longer bearing surface. Keep in mind my COAL was 3.836" with this being .010 off the lands. With my 26" the 230's were running 2955 with N570. With H1000, I was running the 230's at 2806 with 85.5 grains. I'd be more than happy if I can push the 225's at 2850-2900 for elk. I will be using the 225's next year for sure. I'm very happy with the 162's from a 7Mag that is being lite-loaded for my daughter this year. Exactly what I was looking for. N570 if you want more horsepower but it comes at a cost as it is super dirty and the barrel gets hot, quick. H1000 has been great to work with and is much cleaner, but FPS suffers. I've killed a lot of deer and several elk with the H1000 load though. Good luck and let us know how things turn out!

JC