Welcome from Oregon.
Oregon and Washington have been under constant attack from communist lawmakers, that moved there from other left leaning states. The jackwagons ruined their own states and decided it wasn't good enough, they had to come here and try to instill the failed policies of their state. The ole "It's not a bad policy, it just didn't work there" mindset.
Apologies, I was born and raised in Oregon and I can't stand most out of staters who move here.
If you want to practice long range shooting buy a 6.5 creedmoor to work on your fundamentals. Comparatively cheap and abundant ammo with lots of choices. Plenty of folks have dropped elk at distance with the 6.5 creedmoor, it's more about shot placement with the smaller calibers. However, the 6.5mm bullets also tend to carry more energy out to distance than several of the 30 caliber bullets in comparable cartridges. I would look at external ballistics, ammo availability, cost and if you're reloading...component availability and cost.
I wouldn't go with a 300 win mag personally. I got rid of mine when I had a custom rifle built. The gunsmith talked me out of the win mag and into a 300 PRC. I regretted the choice for years, but now that ammo is available and fairly common, I don't regret it at all. I unfortunately drank the Kool-aid before ammo was available and all mine was made from 375 ruger brass. I got into reloading for my 300 win mag; and I had to reload for my 300 PRC. It was a whole lot of learning, as I was still new to reloading. I actually have a bergara here pro stock inlet for Badger M5 bottom metal because I needed a .338 CIP length magazine and an interim stock. I had a few for that one rifle... Bergara didn't make a 300 PRC at the time, I really liked the bergara stock though.
Most importantly, unless you want to pack a ridiculously heavy rifle in the extreme terrain long distance elk out west offers...buy a rifle you're comfortable carrying. What I mean to say is, you may want a separate rifle for long range practice and for working on your fundamentals. The idea of an everything rifle is kind of a dream unless you're going to build a modular setup.
my short action has 8 calibers, 10 barrels, 1 lightweight stock 1 competition style stock and 2 scopes. I can go from shooting a 6 dasher fully competition configured etc...to a 6.5 Addiction Carbon barrel, lightweight stock and scope in about 10 minutes. I wouldn't hesitate to shoot an elk with the Addiction.