Otis-when using conventional lead core bullets heavier bullets do penetrate better.This is not always the case when using premium bullets such as barnes x,failsafe,partition,grand slam and many others.The premiuns penetrate well even in the lighter weights.We rarely recover 140 gr partitions even from elk and moose and prefer the flatter trajectories of the lighter bullets as most of our hunting takes place in open fields and mountainous terrain.Since the lighter bullets are performing so well for us we see no reason to change.I feel for you on the cost of an elk hunt as myself and a few good friends get together every year on another friends ranch for our annual elk hunt which costs us very little.It is not a traditional mountain hunt as we wait on the edges of fields to shoot the elk as they travel to their bedding areas but we do enjoy the get togethers and do kill several elk each year.I actually don't even hunt moose near where I live.I do all of my hunting much further south on private land or in remote mountain areas or zones where very few tags are issued in order to avoid the crowds.