Anyone ever use 25 cal for elk?

[Buska]

I have taken several elk with my 257 weatherby. Most of them were with 115 gr ballistic tips. Most of the shots were taken between 50 and 300 yards. I did take one bull at 425 with that combo. If that's what you have and you trust it, go put a tag on an elk

That's a good confidence booster there! I definitely feel confident with my rifle. How many required follow up shots? The BTs probably have a serious blood trail lol they can do some serious work! I've used them on deer before, good bullets for sure.

 

[Wyofax]

The last one we took definitely required follow-ups. It was a small six point that my wife hit broadside at 220, he started walking off and she got a tad excited. She missed the second shot, but put the third just a couple inches behind the first. The fourth shot was high in the hip as he was walking away. That one put him down. All of those shots took a total of 15-20 seconds. The issue wasn't that he was going to get away but that we didn't want him bailing off the flat bench he was on or we would have had twice the work. As you will hear many times on this and other forums, it's not that the smaller calibers are not lethal but that the bigger ones tend to put the animals down quicker. I am a recoil whiner and my accuracy suffers, therefore I prefer lighter calibers that I am more confident in. I upgraded a couple of years ago from 257 weatherby all the way to a 264 WM. But I will say I still love the 257 and have no fear of putting elk down with it.

 

[Montanasloth]

My father in law uses a 25-06 with 115 grain partitions and has killed a pile of elk with that set up. I would imagine you will be fine.

 

[Bbear]

2 smallish bulls with a 25-06 and 120 gr partitions. Neither took another step. Placed the shots right behind the ear on each one.