hello all,
I am a new member to the forum and have been hunting for many years. I am looking to get a new rifle for christmas and ireally likethe 25-06 in Ruger M77 Hawkeye. I have done a lot of reading up on the 25-06 and am very impressed with its trajectory and power out to long ranges. I mainly hunt whitetails,pigs,yotes in GA but recently went on an elk hunting trip in coloradoback in october and hope to go back next year. I know manyhunters say that a .257 caliber is too small for elk but i know if it is put in the right spot it will do the job. I used a short barreled .308 in colorado and had shots of 500 and 600 yds so if i go back i would like to have something that is laser flat. does anyone have experience with 25-06 and what would you suggest about using it for elk.

ps. I am not a fan of the 270 so no one suggest that please.

Just my opinion – a 25-06 is not enough gun to hunt elk with. As you mentioned – with a properly placed shot yes, you can bring one down – but I would never hunt elk with one personally. I’ve seen what big bulls can take…

I shoot a Rem 7MM and it’s always worked well for me. It’s a very versatile gun - I just change up my load for what I'm hunting. Not sure why you don’t like the .270 – but that’s also a great gun.

The .25-06 is perfect for your hunting in GA. I would, with a tough bullet like a heavy Barnes TSX or Nosler Partition, use it for elk at moderate ranges (250yards or less). However, if I could only have one rifle and the probability of a trip out west for elk was realistic, I'd probably go with at least a 7mm caliber. My first choice would be a .280 Rem, with my second choice for elk being 7mm Rem Mag. 7mm-08 would also work well at under 250 yards.

If you actually want to take shots at over 500 yards, then I'd suggest .50BMG and stick with paper or steel targets. But then again, I don't think that shots over 500 yards are all that ethical. Just my opinion.

Mike

i agree about the distance of shots. those were the furthers i have ever attempted and i was not comfortable shooting that far. but what i was shooting at was a 400+ world class elk so i thought i would take my chances.

I use a 338WM for elk. If you're thinking about a combo gun, you might consider one of the .30 calibers that shoot larger bullets and smaller ones as needed. Or maybe this is just a good excuse to buy a few rifles.

I handloaded 120gr HP Hornady's in Win cases with 54gr /H4831SC and Fed Mag primers for my son's 25-06 this fall for moose.He shot a 3x3 bull elk at 400+ yards taking out a rib going in and another exiting.Never made it out of the field ,dead after a 100yard dash.Stay away from the shoulder blades on elk or moose the same as you would with a .270.Roy Weatherby electricuted lots of elk,a zebra and even a rhino with his .257 Weatherby Mag.I wouldn't use this on dangerous game but it's better than a sharp stick! Harold

Sounds a little pie in the sky. There is no such thing as lazer flat. And the 25-06 is not even close at the ranges you suggested. Minimum would be the big 30 caliber's.

The 25-06 is definitely not a long range elk rifle. It ismarginal at best for short range elk shots. A 22 LR will also kill an elk, but that does not make it right. Tom.

The .25-'06 is a great cartridge, & there are a handful of fans who use it on elk, most with 120 grain TSX bullets IIRC. For me, however, it wouldn't bring enough confidence in the field for such game. Whitetails are usually under 130 lbs., and even the "giants" top out at 300 lbs. This is well within the capabilities of the .25-'06.

However, even the tiniest elk start at 500, and they go up from there in a hurry. When I approached the elk I shot last month, my first thought was, "Holy Sh!t!, I just short a short-legged horse!"

There's no doubt the .270 has proven itself in the elk fields, but since you don't care for that cartridge, just add another .007 and get a 7mm-08, or a 7x57 Mauser, or a .280 (which is a 7mm-06, or a .25-'06 on steroids, if you will), or a .284 Win., or a 7mm RM, or a 7mmRUM, or a 7mm WSM, or a 7mm STW, or a 7mm WBY, or... Start your elk quest there. There's nothing wrong with any cartridge from there on up to .375, either.

Here's where you lose me. It's called hunting, not shooting: nobody guarantees you'll come home with a critter. You need to respect the game, and the sport, and yourself, and be willing to walk away from a crummy shot opportunity. When youwound and lose a 400+ bull under such circumstances, or even a cow, everyone loses. IMHO, walking away from a low-percentage shot is the highest expression of our sport. The stories you get to tell will be just as good, because you made the effort to get out there & give your best effort, vs. all those who sit on their couches, or post on the internet forums about, "some day...".

Any of the cartridges listed above will humanely take elk-sized critters to about 300 yards, with a premium bullet, and with a well-prepared shooter. Whatever cartridge you choose, you need to settle on what load you'll be using, then practice a lot, and only from field shooting positions: prone (not too useful unless you're shooting from a concrete pad with no vegetation between you & your quarry), sitting, kneeling, offhand (which may very likely be the only opportunity you get), off a day pack, with a vertical rest (like the side of a tree), etc. If you figure a 10" to 12" kill zone on an elk, you'll know your maximum distance. If you can't put 8 out of 10 shots into a 12" circle beyond 150 yards from any given position, then you don't attempt that shot in the field.

My $.02.

FC

Here's the real deal. . ."Don't swat a bear with a twig". In other words, use the biggest gun you can be comfortable with because the bigger the cal., the less you have to chase the elk. They are NOT white tails. They can run without shedding a drop of blood for miles and even survive mosquito bites like the 25-06.
If your thinking of 25-06 out to and past 500 yards, please stay home.
Consider at least a .308 in 180 gr (recoil energy: 17.5 foot pounds, recoil velocity: 11.9 feet per second). 25-06 in 120gr (12.5 and 10) Not much difference.

Hope this helps.

It would not be my first second or third choice for Elk under any circumstances. It could be workable if you used a TSX or similiar bullet that had high energy retention at 200-300 yards max. You would have to hit him/her between the slats for it to be effective. Most elk don't pose for you when shooting so you probably will have angles and angles mean going thru bone(dense bone)or a lot of animal to reach the vitals. 308,30-06,300 mag caliber(wsm,win,wby,rum) or medium calibers will work the best, if you don't like recoil a 7mm Rem mag or 7 WSM or 7 SAUM will work fine aswill a 270 or 280. Something producing 1800 ft lbs of energy at the expected impact range.Do you have the discipline to let an animal walk if the shot is not doable? Do you have the discipline not to shoot beyond 200-300 yards max?