Oldtimr

Don't blame it on the outfitter, you are the one who makes the decision to pull the trigger. The responsibility for wounding is yours, and yours alone!

Ridge Runner

IMO core lokts are junk, but still, there are only 2 reasons why your not hitting the vitals,
1) your shooting farther than your abilities
2) your rifles either not sighted in properly, or not accurate enough
if your not hitting vitals, why would you think another bullet would help? gutshot animals can cover a lot of ground, and till their last breath they will flee the danger
RR

Big Uncle

I think the 160 grain premium bullets are about perfect when fired from a 7mm. You can not go wrong with the good old Partition or A Frame. I am currently shooting most game with AccuBonds but when it is time for elk I reach for the Partitions. I have never recovered a Partition from an elk, and I have killed a bunch of elk with them.

If you choose a mono-metal premium bullet I think you would be best to go with a lighter bullet as they need a certain amount of impact velocity to do their job.

I know what you mean about guides insisting that you shoot when you normally would not. Some guides only want to do it their way and are not considerate of the client's wishes. It really might be time to find a new outfit and see new territory anyway.

Good hunting.

super_hunt54

Outfitters heavily encouraging long range shots are 90% of the time trying to get their "success rate" percentage up. Outfitters/guides that do that without taking into consideration of the clients skills at long ranges should have their licenses revoked.

100% correct. It always boils down to who's on the trigger.

Except for the "corelokts are junk" statement (they have downed more game than probably any other bullet made) RR is spot on.

To simplify things, bring your shots into your abilities of range and stop believing that a better bullet will make up for a gut shot hit. It wont. Plain and simple. A gut shot Elk can go a LONG way and they will generally leave little to no blood trail.

Ridge Runner

sh54 note the IMO, had 3 episodes with corelocts that did not make sense, yes they work most of the time, but those 3 times they were junk, now how often should a bullet work right to be classified as not junk? 99%? 75%? try some accubonds out of 75 deer I've taken with them they all act the same, not 27 out of 30
RR

Oldtimr

I have killed a whole lot of deer with the 150 grn .308 win Rem corelokt, most of those deer went right down and those that didn't did not go beyond 20 yards. There is nothing wrong with corelokt bullets, if you don't put a bullet from any manufacturer in the right spot they will have less than desirable reults.

super_hunt54

Used corelokts for quite a few years out of .30/06 and my trusty old .30/30 and whatever I shot hit the ground. That's from whitetail to Moose. Granted I use a better bullet now from the Hornady lines but that was more for accuracy than from bullet construction. My old rifles just like them better.

Ridge Runner

that was not the case with the situations I had, if they weren't in the right place I would have wrote them off as operator error, it ain't my first rodeo either.
RR

HatchieLuvr

Ain't an elk alive that could take a 160 TSX (Barnes VorTx ammo) in the boiler room and keep rolling for more than a moment or two. That bullet in a 7mag will out penetrate ANY other bullet mentioned yet!

flags

If you hit the liver the elk will be dead in just a few minutes due to massive blood loss. If you're gut shooting them then it don't matter what you hit them with. Even a 458 Win Mag or a 505 Gibbs in the guts will mean a long and tough tracking job.

MY SUGGESTION IS DON"T TAKE A SHOT IF YOU ARE NOT SURE YOU CAN HIT A VITAL AREA NO MATTER WHAT YOU ARE SHOOTING!!!!!!