i personally would never hunt elk with a 45. 45's don't have good penetration power on elk. just last hunting season, a guy i know shot and elk and it ended up not being a very good shot, so he went up to the elk to finish it off with his 45, and EVERY SINGLE bullet literally bounced off of the elk from 5 yards away. except for one, and that stoped at the rib. not even joking!!!! their were bald spots were he shot it in the vitals and he even was tellin me how he could see the bullets reflecting right off the elk. so after that all happened, he grabbed his rifle and just finished it off with that. in my personal opinion, i would not use a 45 for hunting, cause were i live in northern idaho their are big bears, big mountainlions, and big elk, so i wouldn't want to even take that chance. i have even herd stories of people shooting charging bears with 45's were i live and the bullets reflecting right off their skulls. if i was you, i wouldn't risk it by hunting with a 45. i would go with a 44, 454, 460, or maybe even a 357.