BeaverJack

True, but so will a ball peen hammer to the forehead if you get 'em jus' right. This ain't one I generally pass on, cause I'v seen elk shrug off a small pill and head into darkness dripping lil' speckles of blood every 50 yards or so. I also saw a feller cut loose with a .243 at 300 yards with no apparent result. He was about ready to admit he missed all 3 shots, when I located a lil' speck of blook on the side of plant. Found that elk dead 4 hours later. Hit all 3 times, including one in the shoulder roast. One in the liver, one in the paunch.

You gotta be able to afford to practice with your elk rifle, you gotta be able to hit a conservatively small moving target off-hand, and you gotta have enough energy to punch through both shoulders and bust up some big bones in the process (hopefully), possibly bucking wind across a canyon. Those are the facts for a newbie,or anyone else for that matter, and they point to a medium caliber, big bullet, and a '06 case size. Don't worry about penis envy (biggeris always better) or shot placement as a cure for everything. Get a decent gun, shoot it alot (mostly offhand), and have confidence that you don't have to be perfect nor put up with retina detachments. Also, pick a bullet that will perform at moderate velocity on thick meat without losing its skin or turning into buck shot before it parts hair. Never seen an '06 pushing a 180 partition at 2700 fps do a bad job anywhere in the kill zone.

I seen some experienced hunters do a fine job with 300 Wbys, 350 Wbys, 300 WM, and 338 mags of both persuasions. Never in a situation that required the extra velocity, and I've also seen hunters who lacked confidence without a rest. The better magnum hunters seem to be those weighing over 210 lbs. That's just an observation.

throwingStarr

.270 Ruger,,physiological characteristics/anatomy hasn't changed much in the last millenium,, a well placed shot should do it.