Originally Posted by
BillBrasky
... The main reason I was curious about energy and velocity was not so much a concern about deer, where a .308 is more than enough, but for elk. Right now the 180 grain winchester power points work just fine on deer out to about 300 yards, but I'm guessing that will not be the case if I come up on a big bull at the same distance.
There was a time, not so long ago, when a .308 and 150-grain bullets were perfectly adequate for deer. In the years that have ensued, deer have morphed genetically to the point that they are now nearly impervious to anything under a 180 grain bullet launched out of a case with the word "magnum" stamped upon it.
As a kid in SW Colorado in the late '70s, we joked that anything bigger than a .30-06 at Gardenswartz, the Outdoorsman, or Kroeger's was stocked for the elk hunters from Texas who'd show up at La Plata County Airport with a big Stetson on their head and nothing else but a wad of Benjamins in their pockets. Old timers still using their .30-30s laughed at us.
The sad truth is this - using a .308, 150s are perfectly adequate on deer. 180s should be fine out of your 1:10 barrel (my 20" 1:10 likes heavier bullets as well) for elk.
Read less, hunt more.