Just my 2 cents.....I have taken both elk and mule deerwith my 270 and never have had any problems. I think the key is how comfortable you are with your rifle and shot placement.

Absolutely. It can't be said any better than that. Good hunters have takes hundreds of elk and deer with the 270. Its enough gun for a person who is enough hunter.

rockymountain hunteris certainly entitled to his $.02 and no particular problem with that part.

However....

IMHOyou can't simply apply your version of it to everyone else here with theentire discussionsupposedly wrapped up in a single, one line post that leaves out major issues, and simplistically proclaim that's just plain it. Otherwise, by your logic, 88% ofthose here who have taken elk with a riflearen't "enough hunter."(Elk Cartridge Preference Poll). Then there are those who indicated they "wouldn't do that with a 270again" and upgraded their cartridges(Killed Elk With Which Cartridges Poll).

For deer, damn near anything will work and work well, move the same rifle over to elk and it does notnecessarily go the same ease.
For some though, I guess, simplistic blanket statements are good, or at least convenient, and don't involve much mental effort.

My gawd....don'tbuy a 25-06 for elk and deer. I'm sure the gentlemen that suggested that has killed a 100 elk and none of them ever left their tracks. In fact I've noticed the guys that carry the smaller cartridges for elk always claim to kill more elk than the last three generations in my family combined. And I'm not gonna sit here and argue about "whether the .270 can kill elk."

Simply put if your asking our opinion you are not very experienced at elk hunting and that's ok. Asking is the right thing to do. The best thing to do is just buy yourself a trusty ole 30-06 and be done with it. Lots of bullet choices, and you can buy em anywhere. On top of that you won't find one person anywhere that will say a 30-06 isn't enough gun and if you are new to elk hunting shooting confidence is everything and the last thing you need to worry about is if you have enough gun. I know if it were me and I just bought a rifle and SOME people were telling me it wasn't enough I'd have that little bit of doubt in my mind.

In the current issue of Outdoor Life, the shooting editor, Jim Carmichael, recommends the .338 Winchester Magnum as his preferred elk rifle, for those who are already accustomed to shooting high power centerfire rifles. One thing that is worth considering, sometimes elkare hunted in territory that is also inhabited by grizzly bears. If confronted by a grizzly bear in, for example, the Thoroughfare area of NW Wyoming on an elk hunt, I think I would rather have a .338 Winchester Magnum in my hands than a .270. I am simply presenting information I have heard others advance and do not claim to be an expert myself.

I'm going on my first elk hunt in SW Colorado (no grizzly bears) in about three weeks and will be carrying a .30-06. If the elk hunting bug bites me, however, I'm thinking that will be a good excuse to add a .338 Winchester Magnum to my battery of hunting rifles.

JamesB = Jack O'connor [8D]

Elkcampmaster= Elmer Keith [8D]

Gentleman we have beat this horse to death, resurrected it and beat it to death again.

My opinion:The 270 will kill elk that is unguestioned, and is a fine cartridge

My choice: I hunt elk with a 338 win mag.

Caveat: My boy shoots a 270 and shoots it well. I would not hesitate to take him on an elk huntwith it. It may be marginal but no more so than him hunting with a magnum that he is scared of.

OBTW I own a 6.5-284 that Ithink would be heep good medicine formr. wapiti.

Its easy to make simple statements when you have seen something happen so many times. I am certainly not knocking anyone who uses something else but the 270 works in the hands of a decent hunter. Seen it to many times to have any doubt what-so-ever.

I also agree 100 percent with Old Elmers big bullet theory. Take a well constructed bullet with plenty of penetrating ability and put it where it has to be and get out your knife. Oh I suppoose thas being to simple again. Sorry, thats the way I hunt. It as really worked out well for me.

I am sure your right about that 6.5x284.

Being simplistic is the problem, ....not the same as simple.
Huge difference.

Simplistic: the reduction of a problem to a false simpleness by purposely ignoring complicating factors.
Typical of abbreviated blanket statements.

There you go. I can't reduce a problem that I have never seen. That being the 270's lack of elk killing power. A bullet of good construction fron 6.5 on up with a SD of at least .260 including the before mentioned 6.5x284 is good elk medicine. Add an impact velocity of 2500 fps and up and you have field dressing to do.YUM YUM.

If a 270win will do,so will a 6.5x284

If a 6.5x284will do,so will a 6.5x55

If a 6.5x55will do,so will a 257wby

If a 257wby will do ,so will a 25-06

If a 25-06 will do so will a 257roberts

If a 257roberts will do,so will a 240wby

If a 240wby will do, so will a 243win

and so on and so on and so on.

The simple truth is that virtually any centerfire cartridge will kill an elk,and has been used to kill elk in the past.What it comes down to is what each of us feels comfortable using,and what conditions we hunt under.