What caliber?

[Elk868]

Hello
i plan my first elk hunt and have no experiences with . i will take my 338 LM with me because the outfitter i talked to told me range can be up to 500 m . my think is to take a rifle with me wich covers all distances and deliever as much as possilble Energy and demage to the target . of course you can use also smaller rifles and with an well placed shot it is no problem . i not want to loose an animal just because rifle can t take down the elk . Already found an nice load for and practice Long range Shooting

 

[Charley Morgan]

Last year I took an elk with the 6.5 creedmore shooting the 143g eldx. It was only a 30 yard shot but the elk only took 10 steps. I am upgrading this year to a 7mm rem mag but still would not hesitate to take the 6.5. You just need to know your effective range with any gun you take.

 

[Techy]

That is a shooter/hunter problem, not a cartridge problem. I don't see how a 130gr bullet out of a 270 is any better than a 130 out of a 6.5 whatever. What about a 130 out of a 6.5-06 or a 6.5x284 or a 260 AI?

Also, I would bet more dumbasses shooting big magnums make more bad shots than guys shooting the little 6.5s.

I think he was talking specifically about the creedmoor not all 6.5's. Was my impression anyway

 

[SilverbulletMAG]

Smallest? Probably a 120 Etip or 140 partition/accubond from a 6.5.

 

[Hespco]

My 6.5-06 24" Bbl. will drive the Barnes 120gr TSX to 3277 fps. Longest shot on an elk was 347 yd. Thru the rib cage. Staggered about 10' & went down . This same rifle will drive the Barnes 127gr LRX to 3200+. Either bullet will drive thru thick muscle & dense bone & exit even from angled shots. A friend takes his elk each season with bow & arrow. Proper bullet ( arrow ) placement works regardless of legal cal. Most elk I have taken have been under 200yds. I see being able to place a quick accurate shot off hand as being significant. The opportunity for a rested shot, many times not available.

 

[Hoss50]

Smallest I would consider is 100gr 243.
Smallest I have done is 115gr .257 caliber.
My next hunt will probably be using 135gr 6.5 cal.

 

[Heavyiron]

I wrote earlier that a 7mm rm with a 175 partition would be great and it would be a good selection for a hunter with one only one gun.
If i had multiple choices a 270 with a good 150 grain or a 35 whelen with a 225 barnes would fill the bill.
I own all 3 and use all of them. If grizzlies are in the area that i hunt, the 35 whelen would get the nod.
The 7mm rm has no peers with the high bc bullets that it has for long range to reach out and touch at longer distance, concerning what guns i own.

 

[Teknys]

I have taken Cows with a 243 adn 100gn PT. I've taken Bulls with 270 up to 338. If you have a cow tag and they are relaxed and close then 243 w/100gn. If you are hunting Bulls then 270 w/150gn. I prefer 30 cal and at least 180gn.

 

[436]

The smallest "Caliber" say out to 600 yards; 6.5mm... "Weight"... 147gr... "Cartridge"... 6.5x55mm Swede or anything that will ballistically match it. Now if we going beyond 600 yards that's a whole different ballgame. I think it would be reasonable to say; you can kill an Elk with just about anything depending on range and the placement of the shot.

 

[D.Camilleri]

I have lost track of the number of elk I have killed. What does stand out in my memory though are the bad shots I have made and others around me have made as well as the stories around the break table of lost elk due to poor shot placement/bullet performance. Bad shot placement happens, it is part of hunting, hit an elk with a bad shot out of a 30 cal or bigger and the chances of recovering the elk go up a lot. Bad shots with smaller calibers have a higher chance of going unrecovered. Hunting trips cost a lot of money, time, fuel, not to mention the time it takes to locate elk and the number of trips that are unsuccessful. I opt for large calibers and big bullets that perform reliably. How small of a caliber could I kill elk with? I can easily kill elk with extremely precise shot placement with a 22-250 and a barnes X or nosler partition bullet, but I don't hunt high fenced areas or easy access areas or even private ranches, so I have to invest a lot of time on my elk hunts. I have been around big bull elk that go over 1000 lbs on the hoof and I would never risk the chance of losing a trophy elk because I was using a marginal cartidge. Not to mention the fact that most of my elk hunting is done in Grizzly country and always in the back of my mind is the need to defend myself with one knockout shot.

 

[MkJose]

260 rem. Light kicker and the S.D. of the 140 gr. bullets are phenominal.
7mm-08 would be another terrific choice.

Either one would have a range limitation of approximately 200 yards give or take. JMHO

 

[Fotis]

270 150 Nosler Partition.

 

[memtb]

I was actually the second responder to the OP. I don't know what I was thinking when I answered, perhaps I had some other post "in my head"! The question I answered was .....what is the smallest caliber you would recommend. The actual question was, "What is the smallest caliber you (as in I) would use on elk and grain"? To properly answer......my wife's .338 WM with 225 grain TTSX! I apologize for the incorrect answer originally given! memtb

 

[MkJose]

I saw a vid a couple of years ago of a guy shooting a big bull elk at around 150 yards with a .243. He did a shot that hit the neck shoulder junction. On the vid in slow motion, you could see the eyes of the elk rolled completely back in its head on impact. The elk was literally dead on its feet before it hit the ground. I've made similar shots on whitetail with a 22 250 55gr bullet. They don't run, they don't kick, they don't go anywhere except straight down. Others may disagree but shot placement to me is what IS most important. You can hit a bull elk with 50 BMG in the guts and it will run a long ways or with a much lighter rifle with a well placed shot and it won't move. My suggestion would be as said before, something up to a 6.5 caliber, maybe Creedmoor, and enough time at the range to be able to place shots where they need to go. JMHO