Complete Newbie seeking advice for elk setup

[memtb]

While many of us, including myself, may have come across as a bit harsh....most of us were trying to help. An elk hunt can be an expensive proposition, unless you live with the elk! To spend lots of money, and from the surface it appears he "is not" rich.....we were trying to make his elk hunt successful. He may only have one elk hunt....he should have every opportunity to make it successful. Hopefully he can, understand that....despite our nearly universal disagreement with his scope choice. memtb

 

[mpayne]

I've gotten away from the base and ring set up and went to direct mount scope rings. To my way of thinking less screws means less points of failure. I haven't run into any issues with eye position or scope height. The rings I'm using now are Hawkins Rings from Red Hawk Rifles. They have 25 moa and a anti-cant built into the rear ring.
As for a Elk load I just got a elk with one nicely placed pill of Hornady 212 xld-x out of my Bergara HMR 300wm. Where I hunt elk the shots can be from 10 yards to a 1000 my Vortex gen 2-5x25x50 performs great for me.

 

[Rhino Hunter]

Scope is in hand. I'm gonna use it.

I would get a new scope. You never know when you'll be surprised by an elk or how close he'll be. I guided a buddy to an elk at 35 yards away when he popped out from behind a big pine tree. He had his scope set at 9 power...rookie mistake. He missed him 2 or 3 times until the elk ran far enough away where he could see him in his scope and he finally hit him.

It's your gun and your hunt. But I'd get a lower power scope before I bought my tag.

Good luck!

 

[44hunter45]

There are many good comments here and like many have stated,..
1) Use a 3.5-10X or, a 4.5-14X scope as you "may" get a 50-70 yard shot like, I just did a few weeks ago, in Ariz. The 10X, 14X, or, 16X on, the upper end, easily gets you to 700-800 yards or more, on a big animal, like an Elk. I was watching a herd at about, 300 yards up on a ridge, trying to pick out, the Bull my son saw, when another bunch came down the mountain from behind us and crossed our gulley at 65-70 yards, my scope was on 12X and I quickly turned it down to about 5X and shot 2-3" behind, the "Crease", from the sitting position, over "sticks". The 140 gr AccuBond, was still going at least, 3,100 FPS when it went thru the rib's, Lungs and clipped the Clavicle on the far side as he was not perfectly, broadside. I lost very little far side shoulder meat and he was only, lightly bloodshot around, the exit area. We lost a pound or two of meat, maximum. We like Elk Meat, so we ALWAYS shoot for the Heart Lung area, to avoid LOSING, the Backstrap Steaks or, Shoulder Roasts !
2) Get away, from the ABLR's as, they are, too "fragile" for any close shots (under 200 yd's ) as the ABLR's are designed, to expand down to, 1,300 FPS and will fragment and blow Blood and Meat, everywhere if, ANY bone, is hit! The regular AccuBond, is FINE !
3) I'd PERSONALLY use, a light enough bullet (165-180-200 grains) that, is fairly flat shooting and easy, on your shoulder, so you can PRACTICE, all the Field positions necessary to become,..."proficient" at, 50 to 750 yards, sitting position, over "Sticks" to 400 yards, Prone over a Pack or Bipod to however far that, you can REGULARLY hit, a 10"-12" Steel plate, in the WIND if, necessary ! For me that's 650 yards max with, less than a 15 MPH wind. Get a 10 mph, Wind chart made and add 50% if 15 mph ! If more than that, get way, WAY closer or, go back to camp as, an Elk is to great of, an animal to cripple and waste! As stated, by several people, MOST Elk are shot at, 400 yards or, LESS,..my son shot his Elk, here in Idaho at 250 yards. Good luck !

What a fascinating thread. The OP may have bolted, but I hope he is still lurking and reading this. I smell a lot of combined elk knowledge here.
Here's another North Idahoan saying less scope is more. I run a Vx-3i 4.5-14X50 on my .264 WM. Every other rifle in the safe has a 3-9 Leupold or a 2-8x42 or 2-10x42 Zeiss. I've shot more elk close than far. Lefty's point about ABLR is dead on. This game is all about knowing what your bullet will do at what velocity. This is where I plug Nathan Foster at Terminal Ballistics Research in NZ. His knowledge base and caliber specific articles are great to help chose the right bullet at an expected range and downrange velocity for your rig.
I use more "cheap" bullets than premium. I've had really good luck with the 140 grn SPBT Gamekings in my two 6.5s. One of them is fast and the other slow. Occasionally TBBC or Berger VLD hunter. I'm experimenting with ELD-x but haven't landed on a favorite load yet. I use Speer 180 grn Hotcor SPBT for deer in .30-06 and TBBC when I'm out for elk. But I've killed 4 elk with the Speers when I tripped over them while deer hunting. CLOSE! I will sometimes run a TBBC in the pipe and a cup&core in the magazine. If they are far off you have time to think about bullet choice.
My big thing about all this is that 600 yards(1800 ft) is 0.6 seconds away at 3200fps. an AWFUL lot can happen with critters on 0.6 seconds. IF you mis-hit an animal at that range it is now wonton waste, you sure as heck are never even going to find the spot it was standing when you hit it, much less track it. The OP says he is confident out to 600. But elk are not paper. They move and paper doesn't give you elk fever. 45 years in the woods and I still feel my heart pound on a big buck or bull.

 

[Tlr155]

years in the woods and I still feel my heart pound on a big buck or bull.[/QUOTE]
I can relate to this,

 

[FEENIX]

Doesn't matter if it is elk or jackrabbits. 8x is absolutely useless at close range.

Agreed! I have 4.5s and 5s and sometimes I feel the same way. I recently acquired 2.5 and it's perfect for those close-range shots.

 

[Coyote_Hunter]

Here is what I know:
Winchester Model 70 .300win mag
Athlon 8-34-56 Argos btr ffp
I want to kill an elk and feel confident pulling the trigger at 500-600 yds.

What I don't know:
What bases and rings to use
What bullets to use

Any advice on rings bases and bullets is welcomed and appreciated

First thing I would suggest is ditching the scope and getting one in a 3-9x or 3.5-14x with a BDC reticle and/or turrets. A lightweight scope is good unless you like carrying extra weight up and down the mountains. Most of the elk I've taken in the last 37 years could have been taken with a fixed 4x just as easily. In fact, I tend to keep my variables at 4.5x.

The .300WM is a fine choice but not needed. (I chose my .300WM for last week's elk hunt.)

Almost any accurate load will work if you do your part. Bullet placement is #1, so accuracy in your rifle counts big. I prefer Barnes TTSX and LRX, Nosler AccuBond and the no longer available North Fork SS (of which I have a lifetime supply in multiple calibers). The Federal Edge TLR is what I will use for future load development as it combines the features I like (high B.C., bonded front core, mono rear). The heavier the bullet the less its construction matters.

Bases aren't anything I concern myself over. Lightweight is good as long as they do the job. Most of my rifles are Rugers with scopes in the factory rings. Some are Warne Quick Disconnect and a couple ring sets are unknown. Bases tend to be Leupold or rails. Whatever works.

While I may be mistaken, it sounds like you have not hunted elk before. Much more important than choice of rifle or cartridge is your willingness to go where the elk are (not always easy) and spend time in the field rather than at camp.

Good luck!

 

[nksmfamjp]

Deleted.... what is with the negativity about long range hunting.....the choot'em at under 100 yds crowd hangs out elsewhere.

To that point thought, I just gave this advice on FFP's. The reticle looks great at max power. At min, it looks like a mess. Consider that mirage or lighting can hold you to like 15x sometimes....what does 15x look like on an 8-35x vs a 5-25x?

AB's, ABLR, ELDX, Berger's all work if some care is taken with proper calibers.

 

[robert l]

Winchester expedition big game long range 190gr nosler ABLR, Vortex precision matched rings. You mite want to tame the scope a little bit.

I use vortex rings all so.

 

[robert l]

Scope is in hand. I'm gonna use it. Do you suggest a picatinny rail base for the vortex precision matched rings?

I would use a rail 20 moa if you think you will be shooting past 600 yards.

 

[bearcat2]

Pretty sure this guys elk hunt is over. So the advice you all are giving today is probably a little late

When I saw the thread revived I was expecting to see the results of the hunt posted by the threadstarter.

 

[rgvt4]

Pretty sure this guys elk hunt is over. So the advice you all are giving today is probably a little late

When I saw the thread revived I was expecting to see the results of the hunt posted by the threadstarter.

 

[swe123]

Pretty sure this guys elk hunt is over. So the advice you all are giving today is probably a little late

When I saw the thread revived I was expecting to see the results of the hunt posted by the threadstarter.

He aparently didn't hear what he wanted. There many new hunters out there that think the more power the better. They need to hear this.

 

[FEENIX]

Pretty sure this guys elk hunt is over. So the advice you all are giving today is probably a little late

When I saw the thread revived I was expecting to see the results of the hunt posted by the threadstarter.

Yep, it ended 27 Oct. Hunting result is always nice to hear.