Energy or bullet diameter most important?

I've been contemplating where my heart lies on this too lately. I think it's the late winter rifle dreams getting to me. I've killed elk, deer, and antelope with my 7mm-08 and 168 VLDs at about 2600 fps out to 600 yds. Now I'm trying to decide if a 6.5 PRC should be trusted to do the same at mid ranges with smaller bullets. I know people that have had good results and there's plenty of stories of bad results. At the end of the day I think you have to know what shots are on the table with a given bullet type and speed.
 
For elk, I think you need a bullet of at least 165gr, preferably a monolithic or nosler partition and traveling at least 1800fps at impact.
6.5x55 142 ABLR, 185yds 2 steps and tipped over dead. Broke front shoulder and caught in offside hide.
 

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Yes, even big bull elk can be killed with small caliber rifles, but not reliably. I have seen a lady kill a bull with a .243, but it took 3 hits to bring him down. I've seen a guy kill a bull with a 6.5 prc, but again 3 shots to the chest before he went down.
I have a bunch of rifles, but I would reach for my .300 WM or 28 Nosler for an elk hunt. Maybe take my 7 mag as a backup/spare rifle, but not my 6.5 prc or .270 as I have better choices.
I bet the % of wounded/got away elk is higher for 6.5 Creedmore than .300 WM if the hunter is proficient.
 
Yes, even big bull elk can be killed with small caliber rifles, but not reliably. I have seen a lady kill a bull with a .243, but it took 3 hits to bring him down. I've seen a guy kill a bull with a 6.5 prc, but again 3 shots to the chest before he went down.
I have a bunch of rifles, but I would reach for my .300 WM or 28 Nosler for an elk hunt. Maybe take my 7 mag as a backup/spare rifle, but not my 6.5 prc or .270 as I have better choices.
I bet the % of wounded/got away elk is higher for 6.5 Creedmore than .300 WM if the hunter is proficient.
The bull above is from a side by side double..mine was 1 shot shoulder, double lung and heart, took 2 steps and was dead in 10 seconds. My hunting partner double lungged his twice behind the shoulder and it ran 80yds and was dead in a minute..... 6.5x55 swede 142 ablr vs 300Wby 180gttsx.... its all bullet and placemet
 
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One of the trajectory sights on the 'net. I don't remember which one, sorry. Maybe someone who knows the formula for energy can post the correct number for a 90 grain bullet running 4, 250 feet per second.

I think you can compute it with…..https://shooterscalculator.com/! memtb
 
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