Intersting find in my elk..

[Longshotjames]

Could it be a pistol bullet? Makes more sense that way

 

[david g ranes]

This is just a wild rearended guess but it looks a lot like a Sierra GameKing bullet... but keep in mind it is just a guess and they usually penetrate more than a few inches, although they do tend to shed some weight along the way.
I'm in the "two holes are better than one" clan and won't hunt big game with anything other than Nosler Partitions. I also pass on shots that might hit another animal. I'm also of the opinion that anything less that a 300 Win Mag is not a 'real' elk cartridge. Just to be clear, this is just my opinion, nothing more!
When I started my quest for an elk cartridge I called and talked to probably a dozen or more guides, mainly in CO, WY & MT. Virtually every one said the same thing regarding caliber... .338 was the best and bigger was better! But only if you learned to cope with the recoil. Their pick for the worst cartridge surprised me... 7mm Mag! I thought the 7mm was absolute death on elk and had seriously considered it until my informal survey and I suspect it was mainly from guys who never learned to use the rifles properly, but every guide said they had seen more elk wounded with 7mm mags than any other cartridge. Next on the list was 270 Win, then 30-06/.308!
They all said they had found encapsulated bullets from the 3 main rounds listed and to a man, said that Core-lokt were the absolute worst elk bullets ever! Keep in mind this was back in the very early '70's.
Ok, I know a lot of elk have been taken with smaller calibers than 300 WM. But every time I hear this I wonder how many were hit and lost? As always, shot placement is king of the hill, no matter what caliber you use (with the possible exception of a 50 BMG!). And using a properly constructed bullet will go a long ways toward success with lighter calibers. And as long as hunters using the lighter calibers are ethical, passing up marginal shots and being good enough with their chosen tools to place a bullet where it will do it's work, I don't have a problem. But I will relate a story that happened on my first elk hunt, where the lead hunter (e.g. the guy who paid the most!) shot 3 elk they were not able to recover before he actually killed one dead enough they could find it. There was a big celebration at the dinner table that night with everyone congratulating him on his success. Being the youngest and probably least experienced elk hunter there, I didn't say much but when things started to wind down I did shake his hand and asked him how he felt about the 3 that got away and did he still think his 270 elk slayer was a good choice! Things got real quiet real fast as he struggled to figure out a suitable answer. I just smiled and turned before he said anything and went off to bed. I killed my elk the next day (no trophy to anyone but me) and later the next day, killed an elk with my 270 Win. (I was now hunting deer, although we never saw even one!l) that my father-in-law wounded with his 7mm mag! He actually kneecapped the thing at about 200 yards and never fired another shot. He was standing in a creek when I put a 150gr. Partition thru both his lungs, after which he fell on his non-functioning leg and literally drowned in the creek! I hit ribs going in and out, the entrance hole was small and the exit hole was maybe an inch and a half in diameter... big enough that he sucked in enough water thru it to fill his lungs with water and expire! It was not a good death. Turns out every time my hunting partner pulled his rifle out of the scabbard, he managed to spin the dial of the BDC on his fancy scope that he had no idea how use (I tried to show him but he wasn't really interested!). It was not the best hunting experience I've ever had. It also was not the last animal I would recover that he wounded. That second hunt was my last with him.
Cheers,
crkckr

The only reason guides go for really big is better is to make up for excited clients and poor shots to make their life easier. 7 mag and a good bullet will kill anything in North America. David

 

[buckbrush]

The only reason guides go for really big is better is to make up for excited clients and poor shots to make their life easier. 7 mag and a good bullet will kill anything in North America. David

Yup. "Over gun and under practice."

 

[rlshrumva]

Great read from everyone, and a lot of good information/experience. I tend to agree with the premise of a 300+ for elk based on my lived experience.

I was fortunate to draw a WY elk tag (after 14 years of applying) and was really lucky to find the bull in the picture below. I shoot a 300 win Mag, and have settled on a 168 grain Barnes ttsx. The results (10/15/22) were very impressive, at least to me… 1 shot high in the front shoulder with him dropping within 5 feet of where he was standing. I guess pretty much a DRT. Upon examining the bull it was a complete pass through and the bullet actually broke the offside upper leg! I was very pleased with such a quick kill on such a regal animal.

 

[epoletna]

Very nice bull. Congratulations!

 

[Mike D Texas]

The only reason guides go for really big is better is to make up for excited clients and poor shots to make their life easier. 7 mag and a good bullet will kill anything in North America. David

It's funny that the OP mentions the 7 mag, Roy Hindes; famous deer dog tracker here in Texas says the number one call he gets to trail wounded deer is from being shot with a 7 mag.

 

[WYO300RUM]

How did you decide it was a .264 bullet?

I've found pieces of arrows and broadheads in elk I've taken..not a bullet..but I have found a good sized chunk of another bulls antler between the bases of a bull I caped...about 4" of antler.....
But...one particular blktail I got with an arrow was shot head to tail with .22 bullets....not a lot of good meat to eat..as he was pussed up allover....
View attachment 409073148" 4x5

I found a broadhead stuck in side of skull on a buddy's buck in Utah years ago. It was fairly fresh . I'm sure from archery season the month before.

 

[Aoudad 101]

I wouldn't hesitate to shoot a elk with my 22 creed ,or my 243 win. Shot lots of aoudad, and nilgi, and oryx out to 700 yards. Is an elk that much bigger?

 

[WYO300RUM]

Great read from everyone, and a lot of good information/experience. I tend to agree with the premise of a 300+ for elk based on my lived experience.

I was fortunate to draw a WY elk tag (after 14 years of applying) and was really lucky to find the bull in the picture below. I shoot a 300 win Mag, and have settled on a 168 grain Barnes ttsx. The results (10/15/22) were very impressive, at least to me… 1 shot high in the front shoulder with him dropping within 5 feet of where he was standing. I guess pretty much a DRT. Upon examining the bull it was a complete pass through and the bullet actually broke the offside upper leg! I was very pleased with such a quick kill on such a regal animal.

Congratulations and. Beautiful bull !

 

[Wyo37]

All speculation.

Sometimes bullets do weird things, but nobody will ever know the details behind what you found.

One thing is certain, elk are not bullet proof. If used within the correct velocity window, there is not an elk on this earth that can not be killed with a good .264 bullet (ie berger, eldx, eldm, scenar)

There seems to be a strange mysticism surrounding shooting elk. Very strange stuff.

 

[Wallrat]

I wouldn't hesitate to shoot a elk with my 22 creed ,or my 243 win. Shot lots of aoudad, and nilgi, and oryx out to 700 yards. Is an elk that much bigger?

They're awful tough. I crossed a blood trail in the snow a few years ago, and could see that it's left front leg was broken and flopping around (not me that shot it). Losing blood steadily. So I took off tracking it. It had no trouble keeping ahead of me, up a mountain, over the top, down the backside and up another. All this in about 16" of snow. I never did see it, it didn't lay down long enough to stiffen up. I'm sick that I didn't get to put it out of its misery. D**n the man who took that shot.

 

[Aoudad 101]

P

They're awful tough. I crossed a blood trail in the snow a few years ago, and could see that it's left front leg was broken and flopping around (not me that shot it). Losing blood steadily. So I took off tracking it. It had no trouble keeping ahead of me, up a mountain, over the top, down the backside and up another. I never did see it, it didn't lay down long enough to stiffen up. I'm sick that I didn't get to put it out of its misery.

Sounds like poor shot placement .

 

[SweatyYeti]

I wouldn't hesitate to shoot a elk with my 22 creed ,or my 243 win. Shot lots of aoudad, and nilgi, and oryx out to 700 yards. Is an elk that much bigger?

My two Pennie's, for what it's worth, a great parameter is that 180 grains and 3000 FPS should be regarded as a good barrier to entry when bull elk are concerned. Cow calf are surely not as "tough" but to break shoulders and take the life out of a mature bull we should be sure we have the energy delivered to take one of the absolute toughest species we have in the states.. so I would say tougher than those species, not bigger than Nilgi though…

 

[Wyo37]

My two Pennie's, for what it's worth, a great parameter is that 180 grains and 3000 FPS should be regarded as a good barrier to entry when bull elk are concerned. Cow calf are surely not as "tough" but to break shoulders and take the life out of a mature bull we should be sure we have the energy delivered to take one of the absolute toughest species we have in the states.. so I would say tougher than those species, not bigger than Nilgi though…

How much "energy" does it take?