Advice from an Old School Hunter

[CJ6]

There's probably been more big game (elk, moose, bear) taken with mil-surp cartridges than any other (8 mm Mauser, 30-06, 6.5-55 Skan.). The guns were reasonable, so most could afford them. They were more conservative in their ranges and knew how to use them and how to hunt.

 

[alintx]

Rat pretty much nailed it. I'm totally comfortable to shoot elk with my 7-08 to 450, with 140 GR bullets, but I can hit a baseball at that range every shot, and I'm very selective on my shots. It's not the arrow, it's the Indian! If getting his teeth knocked loose every time he pulls the trigger gives him more confidence, more power to him, but it has nothing to do with lethality! If your have reservations, load 150gr bullets, but I've seen several fall with one dose of 140s leaving at 2880! My favorite was the combined technology silver tips, but nosler will work too. Been tempted to try 120ttsx

 

[JB10]

I have had talks with a friend about this kind of stuff. To him the bigger the better. Told him about my wifes cousin that shot an elk at 300 yards with a 300wm using a 230gr bullet. Extremely accurate rifle and shooter. Nailed the elk good and it ran off never to be recovered. Crap happens even with experience. I bought a 6.5 prc for elk and deer but have yet had a chance to use it on an animal. Took it on my daughters elk hunt last year but had no luck. Had her used to 400 yards max and hoped for closer opportunity. My father in law used to hunt muel deer with a 223 years ago. I asked him about that small on deer worked good? He said it sure does when hit in the neck. Rhats where he always aimed to drop them and not waist meat.

 

[DShortt]

Seems I remember reading in history books that a species was driven practically to extinction using a rimmed cartridge and iron sights. That particular species commands respect for it's toughness as well.

Guess it's a good thing no one told Buffalo hunters they needed more gun.

 

[Lefty2506]

While I hunt, I don't hunt Elk, but I'd agree with most everyone here. Regardless of what animal you're after, there's a lot more that goes into the equation than exactly what cartridge you're using.

In you're friends defense, if I were in a situation where I planed on taking one or more Elk every year with my rifle\, and I were a very capable shooter (which I am), and I could handle recoil well (I do), a 7mm Mag would probably be on my short list of choices. On the other hand, if I were mainly using the rifle to hunt Mule Deer and Whitetail, and I hoped to be able to hunt Elk some day with my rifle, a 7mm mag wouldn't be on my list at all, but a 7-08 most certainly would.

 

[snert]

To answer your question, yes, I have seen the "recoil" mentality. I am 60. When I was 12 and a budding PA deer hunter, the general concesus I heard from "deer hunters" was that it took at least a 270 to kill a deer. a thutty thutty was ok, beacuse that 170 round nose hit like a sledge! A Magnum was better, unless it was a 264 Winchester, and it sucked. Oh, and a 308 was a pipsqueek 06 for sissies...blah blah etc etc.

I guess they were right if you consider shooting a deer six times in the butt, legs and guts a good kill...after all , the recoil of the eargasplittzenludenboomer said it was a deer slaughtering machine.

What I learned in my 30's was that a 55 grain Vmax fired from a 220 Swift into a deer's chest at 200 and under resulted in a dead deer EVERY time...and I have 26 kills to affirm that. Is it my choice for shooting whitetails? No. I used it very selectively to cull deer for farmers. I prefer my 357 Herrett for whitetails. But hey, that's a pistol and God knows you can't kill a deer with a pistol!

I hope you hear me and my eye rolls as I write this. The fact is, bullet energy COUPLED with bullet design, steered correctly to the vitals results in a clean kill. Period. Recoil is a byproduct of a multitude of factors. And it is only tangentally a consideration, and certainly barely a measure of what it takes to kill an elk effectively. But your expert is certainly correct in his own mind. No sense in listening though. a 7-08 will suffice, using a properly constructed bullet, administered into the proper place, within the range a sensible shot would certainly hit its mark.