There is no way, no how I would use ballistic tips for elk, their nothing more than a glorified hollow point, much like the old bronze points. Their designed for maxium expansion and minumum penetration. Sure theyll work fine if you shoot the elk right in the rib cage, but try driving threw the shoulder with them and chances are youll be in for a long tracking job. I used a 140gr Ballistic tip to shoot a doe one time at 15 yards, shot her right in the shoulder, that deer took off like nothing ever happenend, found here piled up in a thicket a few hundred yards away, the bullet blew up on the outside of the shoulder and just barely threw some bone fragments into her lungs. I used a 140gr XLC to kill a bull ek at 60 yards,that bullet blew threw both shoulders leaving a half dollarsized exit whole and the elk dropped like a rock, that was the last time I ever used ballistic tips.