Ok, First hand experience. I can only comment on your seasoned hunter using a 30-30 on deer. I have used a 30-30 on deer all my life up until last year. I never had to track any of them. They went down like lightning, even the exteamly long shots reaching nearly out to 200 yards. I got about 10 deer with it using 150 grain power points. Maybe my "good" experiences with the 30-30 have uped it's worth in my mind. I have never had any problems whatsoever with any 30-30 killing anything from blackbear to northern whitetails.

Now, that's the end of my first hand experience, but I will assume based on my experience with elk (limited hunting of them and up close and personal on an elk farm for a while) that the caliber would be fine for hunting elk provided that the shooter do his part and shoot at an appropriate range of out to about 100 yards. With anything if I were "trophy" hunting I would choose a 338 hands down. But for your average shootable elk, I don't see how the 30-30 wouldn't work. I do think of the 30-30 as the minimum for hunting elk, but not totaly out of the question. Obviously you have more experience than I do, so I respect your opinion greatly. These are just my personal opinions and observations.



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