Advice on shooting elk
- Thread starter furey2304
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6pt-sika
Well-Known Member
When I used to do FB there was a 6.5 Grendel group on there . I’ll never forget reading some guy writing that his wife had killed a cow elk at 350+ yards and dropped it on the spot , then he made some absurd claim about it being the best elk cartridge ever . Firstly unless she lucked into a spine or brain shot dropping it on the spot I doubt . Secondly if you live in an elk state and can hunt them for month or so a lesser cartridge can get the job done inside more reasonable parameters . But if you’re going for 5-7 days on a paid deal you need something that’ll get thru in a less than perfect angle or you’ll hopefully refrain from firing . Just my thoughts on the matter ! FWIW I’d be more inclined for a 7 or 300 Mag of some type 160 gr in the 7 and 180 gr in the 300 .
Scottish red stags aren’t really very big! Probably a third the size of an elk, and famously have been shot in their tens of thousands with .243s.
We all know you can kill a red deer with a .22LR …I’m not saying that you need a magnum to shoot red deer but compared to the 6.5 the magnums do kill faster, especially at range. I have seen this play out many times, even when the bullet designs are as similar as possible with the 6.5 shooting the 114 TLR, the 7mm shooting the 130g TLR and the .300 shooting the 148g TLR. The 6.5 kills slowest and the .300 the fastest….. not surprising really.
Utectok
Well-Known Member
Haha an old ghillie I know shot his first stag when he was 9yrs old with his dad and a 22lr. His dad (also a ghillie) had stalked in really close and had the “big gun” if it went wrong.
Of course big guns have more energy but I guess where I’d draw the line is losing shot picture which is really useful if you are on your own, which I mostly am. I know a few Americans who were told by a guide shoot elk with the gun you can shoot best/most even if it’s a smaller calibre. Anyway it’s not something I know a lot about and as pointed out red deer are babies in comparison also in the uk we tend to shoot most deer at ranges sub 200m where I suspect even an elk will die with almost any deer sized cartridge.
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I would far sooner guide someone shooting a 6.5 well than a .300 badly! And based on experience, the probability of the shot placement being bad seems to increase markedly as the calibre goes up. Best shot I’ve guided in recent times was shooting a 6mm Creedmoor. Absolutely surgical, and everything dropped in its shadow.
Bavarianbrit
Well-Known Member
Elk = in USA Wapiti?
Exactly that. Cervus canadensis
Leave your 6.5 at home. I have not shot an Elk or a Moose, but I have shot large animals in Africa, including an Eland. These big animals are really, really big. If you do not put the right bullet in the right place you will have to chase them round the wilderness. You need confidence to pull the trigger. That will come from a sufficient calibre, and bullet, to do the job. Then you need plenty of practice to put it in the right place. At 400 yards it will be a big target, but the target area will not be. You still need to be accurate. A magnum calibre will come with magnum recoil, and magnum bullet expense. Will you develop a flinch, or be able to put in the practice?
To summerise, take a calibre that begins with a "3", a really good hunting bullet, and only shoot at the range you can hit a 6 inch target every time, from all sorts of positions, in all sorts of conditions, and wearing bundles of clothing. If you really want that 400 yard kill then do what everyone else does---shoot one at 100 yards, and lie.
To summerise, take a calibre that begins with a "3", a really good hunting bullet, and only shoot at the range you can hit a 6 inch target every time, from all sorts of positions, in all sorts of conditions, and wearing bundles of clothing. If you really want that 400 yard kill then do what everyone else does---shoot one at 100 yards, and lie.
Many professional guides and outfitters that I have encountered use and recommend this classic combination.
I agree with you entirely, but that was not the question…
With practice and a suitable set up shooting a .300 is not so hard. Most people can learn to apply the bullet with precision but it does take significant practice. The advice given assumes the shooter is able to maintain adequate accuracy with any of the calibres mentioned. If the OP had said I’m a crap shot will a .338 help me out when shooting an Elk at 400m the advice would have been different…. More along the lines of get very much closer and practice as much as you can!
Utectok
Well-Known Member
Generally the first question in my head with any deer over 200m away is can I get closer. If the answers no then I ask myself am I set up for a longer shot or not. Personally I’m maxed out even with a bipod at 400yds or 350m so if it’s much further than that I’m going to give it a miss I simply don’t practice enough beyond that. If I can get set up and think can I read the wind…. I suppose if I could consistently hit targets at 500 or 600m in the field I’d get a bigger gun as it is a small gun seems to do the job just fine although the right bullet and shot placement is always king.
As much as it pains me to say it, you are 100% correct. I am trying to be polite but Backfire is one of the many channels that are no more than marketing shills for their many sponsors, Very little skill teaching and a lot of, “If you use Product XYZ, you too can kill elk at 800 yards!”. The host of Backfire is especially annoying with his numbers charts and smarmy marketing delivery. JMHO.
Cootmeurer
Well-Known Member
I’ll see if I can get my brother @MountainBug to chime in. He often shoot a couple a year and prefers his 7mm REM Mag. Maybe better cartridges but he knows the gun and has a high level of confidence with it.
But, as previously mentioned- he lives in Colorado and waits until the elk show up on his place. Then, he usually chooses cows, fatter and closer to the track the better. They often migrate through in January so he is shooting (and skinning) at 7000 feet and -5 degrees F.
But, as previously mentioned- he lives in Colorado and waits until the elk show up on his place. Then, he usually chooses cows, fatter and closer to the track the better. They often migrate through in January so he is shooting (and skinning) at 7000 feet and -5 degrees F.
My understanding is the 7mm Rem Mag and a 160 or 175gr partition is a classic combo for Elk. Not sure if it is ideal for 400m plus, but it will be interesting to see how far away from this combination he is!
Me too !
I read a lot about these long shots and wonder how many are missed
I will admit im no great rifle shot but to me 200 - 250 m is way far enough
Some of the accounts of foxes at night 250-350 are really puzzling - i have perfect eyesight a scope X15 zoom and i cant really see them properly so i do wonder - i dont doubt some can but i assert most cant
Annoying as he is, he has consistently shown that an awful lot of people can’t shoot anywhere nearly as well as they think/claim they can.
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