Found this posted over on the TFF where I guess they need cheat sheets like this.

cool chart.

There’s a lot more choices these days but I pretty much agree with it as far as the ones listed.
Except for the moose - moose die easy. You don’t need a cannon for them.
Plus IMO the .338 Win is probably the best elk caliber made.

Interesting chart. I agree with it for the most part, with the exception of the .444 Marlin and .45-70 being listed at the end for black bears but not brown bears. They are both certainly better than the .300 Win Mag for close range grizzlies. I also agree that the .338 is a great elk round.

I think people tend to highly underestimate the .30-30 … I've seen a lot of Elk find their end by being on the receiving end of that round. I personally wouldn't hesitate to take an Elk with a 30-30 unless it was illegal to do where I was hunting Chart is a pretty good general guideline though.

The current trend is to shoot elk with smaller calibers Nog, not big ones.


No need for a .338 any more, now that Prometheus gave us fire and the 6.5 creedmore

Not bad.

I think that chart is somewhat dated, but still glad to see my old 300 Savage isn't completely forgotten.

I'm stickin' with my .338, if I ever get up the gumption to chase those stinky elk again. I think I might have mentioned a couple hundred times before, I anchored a ginormous eland with one. (Spined him. Pure luck.)

'Really would like to live my life out without buying another boomer, but if I trip over the right .375 H&H, or even a .300 H&H, who knows. I guess I'm a retro guy.

I would agree for the most part...except the 444 and 45/70. I would figure that both calibers would work well for Grizzly and Moose. Also, I use the 45/70 for deer quite a bit. It works well with surprisingly little meat damage.

If I read this chart correctly, my .300 Win Mag is the most versatile round known to man appropriate for any and all game in North America except varmints.

(But then again I already knew that).

move that 30-30 down the line a little more...

Why wont a 300 win mag work on varmints?

It certainly would, but it’s impractical, I suppose.

Simple mistake so I'm sure you won't mind me correcting it for you!

According to this, the 338 win is the 12th best round for elk, 6.5 creedmore is #1.

https://www.fieldandstream.com/12-best-rifle-cartridges-for-elk-hunting#page-14

Fake Chart

The 6.5 CM listed as the number 1 elk cartridge raised an eyebrow, but then noticed that the chart is arranged by size and power, smallest to largest.

You want to know the answer? (In my Jack Nicholson voice), "You can't handle the truth!" LOL!!

Ok, so the real answer is.... the best round is the one you can get on target every time! A deer doesn't care if it's shot with a 6.5 CM, 300 WM, 270, 25-06, of 50 BMG sucking the eye balls out..... If you can shoot it proficient, then that's the best caliber for you. Just have enough gun and proper bullet for the job at hand. And real nice!

Lol you are tougher than me. I don’t mind a little recoil but any Wby .300 and above makes me sit up and take notice.

.338 Win has “push”, not “pound” recoil.

It’s not an elk gun. It’s just the rage right now. Probably on some list somewhere as a Cape Buffalo gun.

Yeah, I’m ready for all the posts about how a .243 can kill elk, blah, blah, blah....I don’t care.

If I needed something bigger, I’d go with a 35 Whelen. Probably.

Until the turn of the 20th century, Eskimos hunted polar bears with .22's. Then we went up there and informed them that a .22 wouldn't kill a polar bear. They shrugged and we sold them 30-06's. True story (allegedly). Go figger!

30-06...the ever living king. Yes it drops, yes it loses energy, but it will always be there as a top choice in a killing game round.