ORIGINAL: thndrchiken
I thought the 06 had too much bullet drop past 200 yds?
I would think so too if you are buying a gun specifically for elk and nothing else.
I would say step it up to a .338 or .300. then you can have the confidence to take the longer shot which it seems like a lot of the elk hunters out west do very frequently.
sure the 30-06 will work fine, but if its solely for elk, I would think you would want a little bit more knock down power at the further distances. unless there are recoil issues or something of the sort, i would see no reason not to get a little flater shooting caliber.
If you are sighted in at 200, and you see one at 300, or 100, or 400, youll have to adjust more for the shot with the .30-06 then with the 300 mag, which leaves more room for error.
Thats just me though.