.25-06 enough gun for elk?

[Gr8bawana]

A couple yrs back...a friend of mine was raving about his new deer gun, a .25-06. Now that he's lost 2 deer I don't hear anything about his .25-06. Ive never lost any game with my 30-06.

There is not a deer on the planet that can't be killed with a 25.06. The shooter was most definitely the problem.

 

[old school]

I’m about 4 yrs late to this party but appreciate the info on this thread. I own a Ruger M77 in a 25-06 and it’s a shooting machine on white tails. I’ve never missed or lost a single deer with it. I’ve got a .308 TC venture as well and am debating between which to take for elk.

 

[HeadedWest]

I've killed 51 elk and four moose in 46 years, with a .30-06, .308, .284, 7mm-08, and .25-06. I've never used a premium bullet, and shot them with nothing larger than a 150 grain bullet in the 30 calibers. I have lost none, and none have gone more than 40 yards. I use 120 grain bullets in my .25-06 and 130 grain bullets in my 7mm-08, and elk die just as quickly after being shot with the .25-06 and the 7mm-08 as with the 30 calibers. After helping hunters at sight-in days, I can tell you that most of the people using larger calibers can't shoot them well, and some flinch just thinking of shooting the rifle. You are doing kids, women, and recoil-shy men a favor by introducing them to hunting with smaller calibers, and not handicapping their ability to kill anything up to and including moose, regardless of what those who favor magnums tell you.

Impressive information.

 

[HeadedWest]

bkondeff,

You can choose to limit yourself by whatever measure you want, makes no difference to me.

Still doesn't make "energy" an effective way to measure the ability of a cartridge to kill game at a given distance.

I've shot a couple 3 or 4 critters with a pretty wide range of cartridges that have fallen well below 1500 ft/lbs of energy, including large boned elk.

Don't lose your mind, but I've shot a few where the energy was below 1K.

Killed a deer with a rifle that only has 324 ft/lbs at the muzzle.

So, if energy is the thing that defines killing ability for a cartridge on big-game, how do you reconcile the use of 22 center fires for big-game?

Unethical?

There's a guy that posts on this board a fair bit that has killed a lot of big-game, including elk, with a .220 swift...try telling him that its all about foot lbs.

How about muzzleloaders?

Unethical based on ft/lbs?

Have to touch an elk with the end of the ML barrel to kill one?

Amen

 

[GKimPrice]

I like the 6.5 Creedmoor better than the .25-06 as far as a youth gun goes.

Elk are big critters and the ability to put more than one shot into an elk with any gun is a good skill to have.

To date I've killed 6 cows with a 6.5 CM - I'm of the opinion that a 120 grain etip or TTSX works alot better than anything "140+" - One BIG secret with 6.5 CM, 25.06. etc is to not stretch the distance (which diminishes the effectiveness) GET CLOSER ! It brings the experience closer too ....

 

[jbseamus83]

It worked fine on this one - a single 115 tsx to the chest.

Geez, Greenhorn. Everytime I see a pic of you with an animal, I just shake my head. The number and quality of animals you have killed throughout your hunting life are impressive!

 

[Doublegunner]

25-06 is very good cartridge. Moderate recoil with a flat trajectory. Using a quality bullet it shouldn't be a problem. Although we all spend a lot of time talking about how much Power we need the reality is that any reasonably powerful cartridge with a good bullet put in the right place will get the job done