Elk rifle minimum question.

[GigEm'15]

260 is plenty. Shot placement is everything

[Phillip Fields]

Day 5 of an expensive elk hunt, 15 minutes of shooting light left. A big 6x6 steps out 300 yards away, quartering away from you, you have mere seconds to get off a shot. The shot will have to pass through a couple feet of paunch to take out a lung and bust the far shoulder. Do you want a .260 Rem or a .300 Win Mag in your hands.

[bpa556]

My Dad lives lives in Montrose. He said all the locals can tell where all the other hunters are from just by asking what round they are shooting. 270/308/243...they are locals that kill elk every year. 300 Win Mag/RUM Weatherby.....they be from Texas...

Yep. I hunt Pagosa every year (public land DIY). Got family stretched from there up to Grand Junction.

Go into any gun store in SW Colorado and marvel at the number of 25-06s in the rack. They sell a lot of them because that’s what a large portion of the locals hunt with. Flat shooting, mild-recoiling killer with 120 grain Core-Lokt ammo. Fun for the whole family!

Most locals don’t take 500 yard shots at elk either. It’s not particularly difficult to get within 250 yards of them. The majority of the work is generally put in locating them to begin with.

I cannot count the instances where I was looking at elk inside 150 yards and really wishing my bow was a rifle. Sneaking into bow range, setting up, and drawing without some wary old cow blowing you up is a rush that is as indescribable as it is rare.

All that rambling to say this, take whatever caliber you like. Shoot a quality bullet (no varmint bullets), get within a reasonable range for that round and have fun. If you’re comfortable toting/shooting a .300WM, take it. If you’re more comfortable toting/shooting a .260, take that.

You’ll be better off shooting a rifle you are comfortable with than some unfamiliar cannon you bought because Joe Blow internet-hero said you can’t kill elk without one[emoji849]

Recoil-anticipation/flinching with big calibers is responsible for far more wounded animals than “not enough gun”. Any elk guide worth his salt will corroborate this assertion.


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[Venison4Dinner]

My dad shot a big bull at 250 yards with a 30-06 using a Barnes Ttsx 180 gr.
It took 2 shots to seal the deal.
I shot a cow at 150 yards with a 7 mag using corelokt 150 grain. She took a few steps and then took a dirt nap.
Then switched over to the 338 RUM and took a bull at 525 yards.
.
As mentioned earlier, there are no easy shots out there. Things happen fast.
In the area we hunt, it seems like shots are averaging 300-400 yards.
I think it comes down to how comfortable you feel shooting your rifle. Practice and understand how your bullets drop or drift at long distances.
Good luck!

[Sackett]

Day 5 of an expensive elk hunt, 15 minutes of shooting light left. A big 6x6 steps out 300 yards away, quartering away from you, you have mere seconds to get off a shot. The shot will have to pass through a couple feet of paunch to take out a lung and bust the far shoulder. Do you want a .260 Rem or a .300 Win Mag in your hands.

.260 Rem. Been shooting it extremely well and have confidence that the bonded bullet will hold its form and do everything it was designed to. I've yet to meet anyone that enjoys shooting a .300 mag.

[steve corn]

Just wondering. Is the 30-06 I've been using for deer for 30 plus years considered over kill or show me to be an out of state hunter.

[sharkhunter]

If you shoot the 260 well then it’s the best rifle for you. However I’m not going after elk with anything less than a 300 wm with 180gr NP or bonded core. That’s me though. A 260 will kill an elk just study the anatomy and put it in the right spot. Also a lesson I learned the hard way on a bull of a lifetime. Shoot him till he stopped moving!

Also I love shooting my 300WM !!! Recoil is just not an issue at that level. It’s really a squirrel gun compared to the medium and big bore rifles. Almost like shooting a 22 :-)

[Phillip Fields]

.260 Rem. Been shooting it extremely well and have confidence that the bonded bullet will hold its form and do everything it was designed to. I've yet to meet anyone that enjoys shooting a .300 mag.

I've enjoyed shooting my .300 Win Mag since I bought it in 1977 and have killed a truckload of deer with it.

Heck, I even enjoy shooting my .375 H&H Magnum.

[drwilliams]

260 is plenty of rifle. Get a good bullet and have fun. I carried a 257 Weatherby Mag with 120gr partions. Ask your self this question. How many have been killed with remington core lokt out of a 25-06, 243 or even a 270? Heck 20 and 30 years ago that was about all you could buy and there wasnt alot of these "fancy" rifles running around. If a arrow and broadhead will kill them so will a 260.

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[lodgepole]

Day 5 of an expensive elk hunt, 15 minutes of shooting light left. A big 6x6 steps out 300 yards away, quartering away from you, you have mere seconds to get off a shot. The shot will have to pass through a couple feet of paunch to take out a lung and bust the far shoulder. Do you want a .260 Rem or a .300 Win Mag in your hands.

Neither, 7Mag and 180gn Bergers.


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[bownut]

I killed a 6x6 bull 2 yrs ago with a 30/06. I'm leaving in 2 days to go back and this year I'm taking my new 7 mag. Can't wait. I believe it's all about placement. I do have a 300 but it's not going. I'm not comfortable with it and I think you should take what your comfortable with.

[basschump]

The local I hunt with in NM thinks a 243 is perfect for elk. He says a 243 pokes a hole through both lungs same as 300 mag. Who am I to argue, he’s killed a bunch. I use a 7 mag and would love a 30-06.

As alluded to in other posts, proficiency is paramount- and not just off the shooting bench. Things often happen fast and you need to be able to get stable and shoot quickly. We get spoiled hunting from tower blinds over feeders seeing tons of deer. On my western hunts- seeing a legal elk or deer on public land was considered a huge success- shots came quickly and usually from awkward positions.


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[sendit]

Day 5 of an expensive elk hunt, 15 minutes of shooting light left. A big 6x6 steps out 300 yards away, quartering away from you, you have mere seconds to get off a shot. The shot will have to pass through a couple feet of paunch to take out a lung and bust the far shoulder. Do you want a .260 Rem or a .300 Win Mag in your hands.

The high sectional density of .264” bullets are some of the highest there is and what is needed for penetration. A 160gr 6.5 bullet will most likely drive deeper than a bullet out of a 300 wm. The lowly 6.5x55 has been killing moose since the 1890’s.

[Pauly G]

.260 Rem. Been shooting it extremely well and have confidence that the bonded bullet will hold its form and do everything it was designed to. I've yet to meet anyone that enjoys shooting a .300 mag.

I am the one who enjoys shooting the .300 WIN MAG, that's all I have shot since 18, I'm 41 now, and still does not bother me. I just love the .300 Win, I have yet to lose a deer or track one past 15 yards, as I got older I learned about shot placement and grew confident with my .300 Win, now I drop them where they stand(whitetail), Confirmed Kills and trust along with practice and decent equipment, you will kill most anything the U.S. has to offer with a .300 Win.

[Dale Moser]

Most locals don’t take 500 yard shots at elk either. It’s not particularly difficult to get within 250 yards of them. The majority of the work is generally put in locating them to begin with.


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Pretty easy to do when you live where the elk are and have all season to get it done.

Little different when it’s a 9 hour trip and you may only get to go once...



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