Do you hike alot or do you mostly hunt from a tree stand or other stationary hunting? If you move a lot and have to carry then the weight of the rifle, which helps reduce felt recoil, can be an issue. If you hunt from stationary positions then get a heavy rifle, it'll help a lot. Either way a good recoil pad is a must. If you have to carry I'd say 7mm-08 if not then I'd say a heavy rifle in .270 or even .270WSM since you also want to hunt elk and the extra oomph may come in handy.