Originally Posted by
jerry d
Well here's my situation,i'm going to be retiring soon at the ripe old age of 54.I'll be moving to Tennessee so once i get settled in i what to do an elk hunt out west.It will an outfitted hunt.So because of the price of hunts i might only be able a few hunts in my lifetime or maybe only one.So i'm not going to go out and buy a dedicated elk rifle.
I own 2 centerfire rifles,a rem.700 in 243win. and a marlin336 in .35rem.But god willing i plan on doing plenty of whitetail hunting. So what would you guys suggest as a rifle to be used primarily as deer gun but also capable of taking an elk? My first thoughts were a 308 or a 270 either gun will most likely be a winchester model70.
The 308 or 270 would serve you well on both ends without a doubt.
But as many point out, going on a trip away from home requires a backup. Nothing worse than spending all of that $ on a hunt and have a weapon or equipment failure end the trip...I have been there! For my Whitetail trips to Northern Michigan I carry the Tikka T3 Stainless Lite in 270 WSM topped with a 3-9x50 Nikon as my primary weapon, along for the trip is also my Rem 700 BDL in 270 WIN topped with a 3-9x40 Swift. When I go west to elk hunt (almost every year) the Tikka is still the primary weapon, the secondary changes to y 308 Win (Sav Mdl 99 topped with a 4-12x50 Bushnell Elite 3200) or my 7MM RM (Rem 700 DBL topped with a 3-9x40 Swift). I have only ever had an equipment failure once on an eastern Oregon muley hunt, I was glad I had a backup for that trip.