The 308 will work fine for elk. Use a good 180 grain bullets and limit your shots to about 250 yards. Jim Zumbo who has killed more elk than most people will ever see has an artical in this months out door life about elk rifles. He says the 270 with 150 gr. bullets is his minumum. He then lists the 30-06 7 mag 300 win mag 300SAUM and lists the 338 as the Max in his opinion. The 308 is in that class. His new favorite is the Model 7 in 300 SAUM.