There are many good cartridges for elk hunting anything in .270 win. or above would be a good choice as long as you realize the limitations of your choice of cartridge. If you go with a cartridge on the small end, say .270 win. then shot placement, bullet design, and range are more important than if you were to choose a .300 Wby.. Some of the more popular rounds are the 7mm Rem. mag., 30-06, .300 Win. mag., though there are many others to chose from. I reccommend using premium bullets such as Nosler Partitions, Barnes X bullets and I would sight in for 200 yds.. I would also reccommend lots of range time practicing at various distances so that you know for sure what your bullets performance will be and your more confident with it. As for scopes, I would choose Leupold. In optics you really get what you pay for. Hope this helps and good luck.