Elk gun? Is mine enough?

[strutandrut]

Some day, when the opportunity present itself....

I have a Savage 7mm Mag.

I shoot factory loads. (maybe DA will hook me up with sumpthin better :wink

Until then, will my 7 do the trick at 200, 300, or 400 yds?

I have it sighted in at 200. Not much trouble to go beyond with practice....



Thoughts?

 

[4onaside]

Without a lot of words, yes, a 7mag is as good as you would wantIMO. I killed a running 6 x5 with one, and he rolled like a cottontail hit with a load of #6's. The last bull that I killed(and a cow last year), I killed with a 30.06, 180 gr. Nosler partitions. My buddy has also killed two with an .06. None of these animals went over 15 yards. So, don't fall into the hype of having to have a super mag to kill an elk. It just ain't so. Just about any good whitetail rifle will do, if you use common sense bullets.

 

[4onaside]

We'll, it speaks for itself that you probably would not want to use a .30/.30 or a .243, although elk have been killed with both(probably many elk with the former, used by cowboys because that was the rifle that they owned). However, I'd say that anything from .270 up would be super.

 

[strutandrut]

thanks guys

 

[.444 Marlin]

From a experienced shooter, somethin as small as a 7mm-08 would work as long as you use heavier bullets like a 160gr partition.

I dont have a 7mm mag to elk hunt with nor do I have any elk for to hunt for that matter but if I did I would let loose on one with my .375 H&H :grin:

 

[skynimrod]

I killed a Bull Elk where it stood 1 shot(my longest shot)with a 7mm Mag at 410 yds. Killed it with a 150 gr. nosler ballistic tip that was one of my hot reloads at the time. I Had time to put that bullet in my stainless stalker, partitions were my close in bullet of choice at that time.
O Yea 7mm Mag Just Fine

 

[skynimrod]

I can't wait to kill one with my New Marlin Xlr 444
Hunting the close in timber areas of corse.
last year I tried but no luck
Blue Mountians Washington State

 

[megalomaniac]

Yup, yup, and yup (assuming you do your part at 200, 300, and 400 yards)

 

[mike243]

my brother went on a elk hunt in Co last year & 1 of the guys that went took a 270,the guide poo pood that rifle as to lite & loaned him a rifle,i reckon the guide wanted at least 180gr bullets for pentration,if i ever get a chance to go i have a mod 70 300wm,mike243

 

[4onaside]

my brother went on a elk hunt in Co last year & 1 of the guys that went took a 270,the guide poo pood that rifle as to lite & loaned him a rifle,i reckon the guide wanted at least 180gr bullets for pentration,if i ever get a chance to go i have a mod 70 300wm,mike243

Not being someone who gets to shoot at an elk every year, I have used nosler partitions, 180 gr 30.06 and 175 grain 7mm rem.on the same premise that I want to make sure that I have enough bullet in the limited chances that I get. However, I got a buy on a bunch of 160 gr .270 Nosler partitions with which I have absolutely no doubt that the animal would be just as dead, just as quick as the aforementioned rounds. My guide in Kentucky asked me to shoot the animal in the point of the shoulder "so we wouldn't have to chase it all over the mountains". I did, and we didn't!

 

[skynimrod]

Originally Posted By: mike243
my brother went on a elk hunt in Co last year & 1 of the guys that went took a 270,the guide poo pood that rifle as to lite & loaned him a rifle,i reckon the guide wanted at least 180gr bullets for pentration,if i ever get a chance to go i have a mod 70 300wm,mike243

The guide probably has had some hunters make bad shots and chased blood trails for miles. He would probably rather you use a 50 bmg if he could(them hills can be steep)A good shot with a 270 with todays great bullets, within your comfortable range say 350 yds.,is just fine.Ask Jack O'Conner

 

[Winchester]

7MM mag and 175 grn bullets should work ok, but I would consider it on the lower end of optimum cartridges for Elk!

 

[4onaside]

The ones that I have seen shot with that combo were graveyard dead in a matter of seconds. If instant death is the ultimate goal of a game catridge, then it is definitely an "optimum" elk catridge. If it is on the "lower end" , curious as to what your idea of an "optimum" elk catridge would be? You cannot improve on dead in seconds as a hunter.

 

[LA man]

i shoot a 7mm mag. i havent killed an elk yet but im workin on that.

 

[Hogbear]

My brother guided for elk and mulies in Colorado and Idaho back in the 1980's and he killed all his elk back then with a .25-06 mostly using 120 grain partitions. A gun you can shoot accurately is way more important than mega foot-lbs.

 

[Winchester]

The ones that I have seen shot with that combo were graveyard dead in a matter of seconds. If instant death is the ultimate goal of a game catridge, then it is definitely an "optimum" elk catridge. If it is on the "lower end" , curious as to what your idea of an "optimum" elk catridge would be? You cannot improve on dead in seconds as a hunter.

I would consider optimum a .338, IMO!

 

[hambone]

The guy I hunt with has been hunting elk on an Apache reservation in New Mexico for 15 years and he and the guides both shoot a .25-06 with 117 grain bullets. He has never had one go more then 30 yards he says,and only once has he had to but more than one round in a bull

 

[4onaside]

Does your guy hunt on the Jicarillo reservation? If so, he must have terribly deep pockets! One of the priciest elk opportunites in the West.

 

[hambone]

Yes he does. He has not hunted there the past two years. He is 71 and says that he is to out of shape for the hills. He has hunted mule deer, mountain lion, and elk on the res. He has two beautiful 8x8 mule deer, 3 mountain lions, and 8 bull elk. He is a batchelor and just spends his money on hunting. According to him the mule deer tag is the most expensive but he says that if you are going out west to hunt that it cant be beat.

 

[Sting]

I killed my first (and only) elk last fall with a 7mm mag. It was a one shot kill using 160 gr remington core-lokt ultras.