hardcastonly

I purposely gave very few details in anticipation, of questions, that someone would in all probability,
ask a few related questions about the difference in lethality and related factors.
Id point out most of the guys I hunt with generally hunt the thick timber and steep canyon country ,
shots or even seeing any deer or elk at over 200 yards in the heavy timber, aspen and conifer was very rare, almost improbable,
potential shots at walking or trotting elk at under 70-80 yard or less far more frequent!
I also reload for most of the guys in our hunt club, and generally I select a rather heavy for caliber projectile,
250 grain speer or hornady in the 35 and 338 calibers, 180-200 grain speer or hornady in 30 caliber,
150 grain speer or hornady bullets in 270 and 115 noslers in the 25 caliber rifles
this habit of hunting in pairs helps a good deal in retrieving the elk and transporting it once its down, and if required tracking and packing out or remote areas.
the fact that most of use hunt the area, generally within sight of each other also lends itself too having two witness to the results of a shot.
the first private communication., was as expected asking for more details
well the first two elk I shot were with that 760 rem, the first time I used a 220 grain peters range was about 60 or so yards ,
a broadside heart/lung shot the second used a 190 hornady boat tail that was at about 80 yards also a broad side heart / lung shot,
in both cases a short run of about 50 yards and a collapse resulted, the first two elk I used a 250 grain hornady bullet and the 340 wby
were also shot at ranges under 100-120 yards, the difference was that both fell within a step or two of where they were hit.
now I was in my early 20s so at the time I took that as proof the 340 mag was far superior,
AS I aged and gained more practical experience , I realized that a single shot from both the 30/06 and 340 wby resulted in a dead elk.
I also came to realize by watching my hunting buddies kill elk with a single bullet that the 358 win was racking up a very impressive track record of elk being killed.
I was generally called to do a lot of the field dressing and meat processing, thus I got a good look at the internal damage on the elk.
the wounds were different but both the 340 wby and 358 bullets had exited the elk,
it was rather obvious at least to me that the 340 wby had done greater adjacent to the bullet impact path, damage along the projectiles path,
than the 358 win, but not a great deal different than the 30/06, and to me it was also curious that the 115 grain nosler used in a friends 257 Roberts
(this was back when the nosler partitions looked to be brass jackets and lathe turned) had resulted in noticeably less penetration and internal damage yet
one bull hit at about 180 yards and one shot at about 120 yards had both died after running about 70 yards, again a single well placed bullet had proven lethal.
the larger caliber and heavier projectile had very obviously penetrated deeper and done more damage, but there was the fact...
the elk a buddies dad had shot in both cases with the little 257 roberts was dead!
every bit as dead as the result of considerably more internal damage, my 340 weatherby had done.
there was an obvious difference in the elks reaction and the distance traveled and time between bullet impact and the elks collapsing, all four of us noticed that,
but there was that rather nagging result... all four rifles had killed elk with a single well placed shot!
this obviously threw a wrench into the gears of the idea that promoted the concept that raw power was the key to success.
I was very pleased with and continue too be pleased with my 340 wby, yet It was also clear that proper shot placement with any of the rifles produced lethal results,
and what you have confidence in using related to your personal experiences and what previous results you had seen and what you expected to happen, after a shot taken.
as I went on more hunts I saw the 270 win, 7mm rem mag and 308 win all kill elk rather regularly, even the 444 marlin and 45/70 were proven very lethal in a competent hunters hands.