I am going elk hunting for the first time, however being a women, finding an adequate caliber that will not kill me with recoil may be the trick; that, and being fitted correctly for it.
What I keep hearing is 30-06 is the way to go for elk, however I am very interested in hearing what experienced hunters have to say. I was originally going to look into 7mm-08 or 270, but now, I'm not so sure.
I am hoping to hear some good advice in one of these hunting forums.
One things for sure, I don't want to leave an animal wounded and on the run. If that means I should go with 30-06, I'm willing to bite the bullet... so to speak. I believe I might be intimidated by anything with more punch, which, I'm told, the 7mm mag has.
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The 7mm-08 with the proper bullets will do fine for elk. If you can handle the recoil of a 270/30-06 then by all means go with one of those. It's not really the caliber but how well you can shoot it and proper bullet placement that really matters.
The 270 Winchester, 7mm-08, 308 Winchester, 6.5X55, etc... will all kill elk very effectively. I have taken 5 with my .270 and 1 with a 7mm Rem mag. My father uses a 7mm Rem mag, my brother uses a .308 Win, one friend that shares the camp uses a TC encore pistol chambered in 7mm-08 and another uses a 30-06. The dead elk have never noticed the difference between these cartridges. The vast majority havve been one shot kills with jsut a few getting a follow up shot just because it the opportunity for one was offered but wasn't needed.
Use a good bullet like a Barnes, Nosler partition, TBBC, Accubond, etc... etc..., put it where it is suppose to go and you will be fine with any of those cartridges you listed out to about 300 yards.
Of course a 30-06, 300 mag, 338 mag etc... will allow you to take stronger quartering shots and still get through muscle, bones, liver, etc... but if you are scared of the gun it isn't going to do you a darn bit of good to use it.
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What is best caliber for elk hunting?
