Cow elk caliber

[memtb]

Never, ever, never a head shot .....unless the head is securely in a vise, and unable to move! The head, in a fraction of a second, can be moved from a perfect shot to an animal with a long suffering injury! If an animal senses something, the head is the first thing to move.....a couple of inches in impact location can be critical. With a behind the shoulder shot....the entire body must move many inches to get away from the kill zone! JMO memtb

 

[Longshotjames]

lets not hijack the OP turning it into a head shooting debate

 

[Reelamin]

Never, ever, never a head shot .....unless the head is securely in a vise, and unable to move! The head, in a fraction of a second, can be moved from a perfect shot to an animal with a long suffering injury! If an animal senses something, the head is the first thing to move.....a couple of inches in impact location can be critical. With a behind the shoulder shot....the entire body must move many inches to get away from the kill zone! JMO memtb

I forget this is the internet and everyone reads things differently. Just to help clarify my style and calm some possible ruffled feathers. You do you and I will do me. I will continue to head shoot does and cows every chance I get. I wont take a head shot much past 200 yards and its a cow, doe they are all over and not hard to find one to kill. If I am shooting a female ungulate its purely for meat so I don't have to shoot one and I want every bit I can save. (why I take road kills also.....just ground up 170lbs of sausage Sunday all road kill) I wont criticize or ever say to NEVER do something if it is legal or even maybe illegal by the mountains of rules imposed on us. If they think it is within their morals and are not asking for input I will give what I have done, will do, or trying. I'm not trying head shots as I do, have done, will do until I don't hunt anymore. The OP will kill what he is after and we all gave great advice.

 

[memtb]

I forget this is the internet and everyone reads things differently. Just to help clarify my style and calm some possible ruffled feathers. You do you and I will do me. I will continue to head shoot does and cows every chance I get. I wont take a head shot much past 200 yards and its a cow, doe they are all over and not hard to find one to kill. If I am shooting a female ungulate its purely for meat so I don't have to shoot one and I want every bit I can save. (why I take road kills also.....just ground up 170lbs of sausage Sunday all road kill) I wont criticize or ever say to NEVER do something if it is legal or even maybe illegal by the mountains of rules imposed on us. If they think it is within their morals and are not asking for input I will give what I have done, will do, or trying. I'm not trying head shots as I do, have done, will do until I don't hunt anymore. The OP will kill what he is after and we all gave great advice.

You are correct! I shouldn't have attempted to impose morality upon anyone! We all should have some form of moral compass! memtb

 

[LVJ76]

You are correct! I shouldn't have attempted to impose morality upon anyone! We all should have some form of moral compass! memtb

Agreed 100%.

However, you brought up a great point about what can happen on a small target that, in one second can move and the results can be disastrous. Many might have not thought about that before. Thanks for sharing memtb.

 

[bballard]

Not trying to impose my opinion on anyone, but here is a little story from deer hunting with some friends last fall. We all had any deer tags and hunted for bucks the first few days of the hunt. I did not find a buck that I was interested in taking, so I decided to fill my tag with a nice medium sized doe for the freezer. This doe gave me a 75 yard standing broadside shot, which I promptly took by sending one through both lungs. The doe did not go far and there was no wasted meat to speak of. When I got back to camp, one of the guys in the party gave me crap several times for not "head" shooting the doe and asked why I didn't. I told him that I just generally don't do that because of the possibility of wounding or missing. The very next day this guy was hunting with my brother and came across a doe that he was going to fill his tag with. The doe was about 50 yards away looking at him. Well, he tried his "head" shot and ended up blowing half the doe's face off. It ran in a big circle and made a rather agonizing noise as you can imagine. He ended up shooting it a couple more times to finish it off. I am glad I was not there to witness this. After hearing the story from my brother back at camp, I made sure I told him that this is why I don't do head shots. He didn't have too much to say then........

 

[GrayCreed]

This is a good excuse for you to buy a new rifle,... You should definitely buy a 6.5creedmoor with burnt bronze ceracoat.

 

[Web1350]

If you were going to shoot a cow and have a 308 and a 270 which would you choose? I have 150 and 165 grain Barnes bullets for the 308 and 130 grain Barnes and Nosler e-tips for the 270.

I could pull out the 300wm but it's a heavy rifle. I'm not opposed to carrying it because this hunt is going to be from side by sides or quads.

I'd use the .308. Bigger and heavier bullet.

 

[Hespco]

Any reasonable cal with a tough deep penetrating bullet ( I prefer copper mono ) will take elk. We have been doing so for decades. My personal favorite is the 260 Rem with a 120gr to 127gr copper mono. They have never failed us . Never. Tough , deep penetrating bullet properly placed works every time. The remains of this years elk.

 

[Prairie]

Either one! Both are very respectable. You put the bullet where it belongs, either one will do the job! That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!!

 

[Otiro]

Shoot the one you haven't killed anything with! or close your eyes and grab....

 

[KSB209]

Shoot the one you haven't killed anything with! or close your eyes and grab....

Well I guess I know which one that would be. Haha. This is a good idea. But then I have to hide the pictures from the wife because she doesn't know ow about 1 of the rifles.

 

[dogz]

Both rifles shoot equal. Shots will be under 200 yards.

either one will do you just fine, anyone who says differently just doesn't have any experience in taking elk.................what one will do, the other will do. For cow elk to 200, my 22/250 with a 55 Horn w/c or 63 Sierra will do you just fine. Doink it behind the front and it'll tip over just fine!

 

[MT-Shooter]

If I was shooting a cow elk I would use the smallest legal caliber I could. I would shoot her in the head any way so If I could use a 218 Bee I would. For your two smaller cartridges.......does not matter one bit. I would suggest you shoot a 140-150 or 165-180 for body shots....what ever you want to head shots.

Head shots are very risky at best and are not the best option. As are small caliber bullets. Hope nobody else tries for head or neck shots. Besides, a double lung shot is best for bleeding the animal and the meat will taste so much better!