Maybe you do, NP.

We all have pet peeves, and sometimes someone else's opinion will rankle the sensibilities---but it's got to stop right there. Be rankled, but leave the rankler alone. Otherwise it becomes personal and when that happens you can't enjoy the site anymore. The fact of the matter is, you can end up hating someone you've never even met---over something silly like a caliber preference. You might one day meet a fellow on a hunt whose company you find you enjoy, then later find out he is the guy you had a huge argument with that put you in a bad mood all day long. What kind of way is that to live a cyber existence, for lack of a better term?

With all due respect, I don't hate anyone. I am 53 years old and don't really need the advice about really knowing someone vs. internet interactions. But I know you mean well so it's appreciated.

That advice would be better given to my personal troll that follows me around like a puppy dog quoting my posts to make his smart-a** comments because he has a personal beef with me (though we've never met) - when 20 others have given the exact same opinion.

Oh, man. Well, I spoke to the cowboy in depth that provided me the horses to carry my elk off the mountain I killed during bow season there, I asked him about rifles and elk. He said most of the elk they take is with a 30-30 lever gun. That's a 150 or 170 grain RN bullet at a very modest speed. I spoke to another guy who culled out several hundred (yes, several hundred elk) in a season, and he used a 308 Win with 175 SMK.

Moral of the story (again), is shot placement. I don't care if you use a 30-30, 308, 270, or 7 Mag or bigger. With good shot placement, the animal will die, PERIOD! Pick a round, you as a hunter can shoot well, and let the bullet do it's job.

Don't see any 110 grain bullets on that list.

Sure, locals that live in a place often use .30-30s for game. Part of it is they have all season and all the opportunities they want, they are after meat, a .30-30 travels/carries well, with some nostalgia from cowboy days thrown in. So it's not surprising he would say that. A .30-30 has an effective range of about 200 yards (100-150 would be better for elk). If you or your cowboy friend thinks he should limit his range like that, oh well. I think that's bad advice.

He's not an out of state guy who has 5-10 days and MAYBE one or two chances to kill his bull.

That's the problem with guys with zero to little experience giving advice on a subject - they don't have a full understanding of the subject - never having done the thing inquired about. In this case, that applies to both you and your cowboy (though each of you are speaking from opposite ends of the spectrum).

And "shot placement" is not the be-all-end-all answer to every caliber thread. Otherwise the .22 LR would be the answer for everything. It's just a truism.

tt85 - take the 7 mag or you may regret not having done so. You asked for recommendations - that's mine.

Wow. Yes, you need a break from the THF before you get a new one ripped. I wouldn't know where to start on your post above about the thick BS in that post. So, I'm just going to add you to the list of ignored posters.

This makes reading THF much better sometimes.

OK, the .30-30 is the best elk caliber of all of them out there and I am full of BS.

Yes, I need the break.

I'll tell this true story:

My brother had never hunted elk but we booked a trip together. He asked me several questions about clothing, gear, bullets, etc.

I did my best to tell him what I thought.

He lets the trip slip up on him and doesn't get most of the stuff. Wears heavy cotton canvas stuff, crappy boots, etc. - and suffers for it. Did his stuff "work"? Yeah, it "worked". He didn't die. He was just miserable - freezing, with blisters, etc.

I remember him specifically calling me when he was buying bullets - asked which ones were best and I gave the usual well-constructed bullet options. But, hey, Winchester PowerPoints were only $15 bucks so he bought them for his .30-06.

Gets a great opportunity on a big 6x6 bull on the 4th day. 120 yards away broadside. Shot was a little off and hit directly on the shoulder. Bullet didn't penetrate well. Some blood but a lost (and likely dead) elk. He was sick. I was sick. We all were sick. He will likely never kill another elk. It still haunts him.

He could have been the guy posting this thread wanting to use his cheaper bullets. Most would have advised him to use a different bullet. Some (as on this thread) would have advised that a 165 grain SP will kill any elk deader than hell. It's picking your shot, "shot placement", blah, blah blah. And they would be right.

But that's not the point. The point is he just might get in a situation where the well-constructed bullet could mean the difference between an elk or no elk. If so, he would regret not giving himself the best chance/margin for error. He did get in that situation. And paid dearly for not having given himself the most opportunity/margin for error.

I just don't want the OP to be in the same boat. I like him, so it's important to me he not be. (Which is the only reason I didn't let this go a long time ago.)

Hope that's clear as mud.

Didn't read the thread, just the first page or so before things went the usual route.

The 7Mag, 160 partition combo is the easy choice, and the partition is the best big game bullet ever made. There's a reason every bullet maker compares their best stuff to a partition.

Original poster, Jgraider just gave you the info you need to get squared away and ready to go kill an elk.

Experience is what you get when things don't go the way you planned.

160 gr Nosler Accubond in my 7 mag worked well on a big cow elk a few years ago. If a bull would have been on the menu, I'd have brought a 300 win or 35 Whelen. Never been after bear, but from the people I've talked to about it.....7 mag with a bonded bullet would be plenty. Lots of black bear are killed every year with deer rifles. Not saying the 257 won't get it done, by any means. But I'd prefer a bigger diameter bullet and more weight than 110-120 gr.

I'm all about using a good bullet. At least a bonded or some partition style

You see a bear in New Mexico or Colorado you are going to be very underwhelmed.

Agreed....bigger/heavier bullet for the elk. Lots of black bears killed every year with WT rifles.

The only elk i have ever killed was HF with a 308 and while it did the job. I take a 300WM to Colorado.
Any of the rifles mentioned will kill elk, 7 mag will do it better though IMO. my concern is that while 257 would kill a bull, it might run down to the bottom of the ravine before it died.

1. 30-06
2. 30-06
3. 30-06

Ok well I own none of those.





















And if I did I wouldn't take it

I feel confident that I could kill an elk with any of your listed guns given a decent shot within my range capabilities. I have shot a 270 win all my life, I bought a 300 wby for my planned elk hunt however it has been postponed a while. I'm planning on shooting 200 grain partitions if I ever make a go of it.

I would carry your 7mag and 160 grain nosler partitions without hesitation.

That's probably what I'll end up carrying.

After I thought about it some I carry the accumark for miles out in west Texas and it does get heavy. The browning is quite a bit lighter.


I got some 160 grain Speer deep curls to shoot

Though I said above in this thread the 257 will cleanly take elk and it will, the weight of it is a drawback and the 7mm does offer not only heavier bullets but also more frontal diameter. I would take both on the hunt and have the 257 as backup. I well remember one hunt where my primary rifle a 7mm-STW suffered from a broke Leupold scope that no longer held zero in cold temps after the trip from 70's to single digits. The Nikon on the 350Remington Mag I took as a backup rifle served me well on that hunt (elk and mule deer).

Just saying it is good to have a backup rifle, never know when or why it might be needed

True

I'll throw in another vote for the 7 mag with Partitions. I shot one for several years and killed quit a few deer with it. I was very pleased with the performance and probably should have kept the gun. If it wasn't a heavy Sendero I would have. I'm actually looking at a 7mm WSM at a local pawn shop and trying to talk myself out of it. I already have some 7mm Partitions, powder, and primers, just need the dies and some starter brass. If I wasn't funneling everything into a trip already it would be in my safe right now. Either way, good luck on your trip.