Cow elk rifle

[Robg2]

I’ll be the fly in the ointment. My <unnamed person who must be obeyed> hit a calf elk in the paunch with a .270. She was using good ammo: Barnes copper.

Once elk are hit poorly they become tougher than hell. She hit it a few more times in good spots, but that elk took a while to die. And it was just a calf. You can bet an adult would have gone a long way with a .270, and even more with a .223.

 

[Hams42]

I’ll be the fly in the ointment. My <unnamed person who must be obeyed> hit a calf elk in the paunch with a .270. She was using good ammo: Barnes copper.

Once elk are hit poorly they become tougher than hell. She hit it a few more times in good spots, but that elk took a while to die. And it was just a calf. You can bet an adult would have gone a long way with a .270, and even more with a .223.

I've had the same thing happen with a 7 mag though. Bad shots a bad shot.

 

[Robg2]

I've had the same thing happen with a 7 mag though. Bad shots a bad shot.

I knew someone would say that. Yes, bad shots are bad shots, but they are worse with smaller calibers.

 

[brockel]

I’ll be the fly in the ointment. My <unnamed person who must be obeyed> hit a calf elk in the paunch with a .270. She was using good ammo: Barnes copper.

Once elk are hit poorly they become tougher than hell. She hit it a few more times in good spots, but that elk took a while to die. And it was just a calf. You can bet an adult would have gone a long way with a .270, and even more with a .223.

Depends more on the bullet you use. An all copper would be my last choice in bullet on a paunch shot. A bullet that rapidly sheds weight will do you more good in that situation like a Berger, hornady eldm or eldx, nosler ballistic tip, Sierra tmk. Have seen more than a few people bailed out by bad shots with rapid expanding bullets. Have also watched people have lots of rodeos with controlled expansion bullets not driven properly. In my circle we’ve seen animals die quicker from first shot to hitting the ground with bullets that come uncorked vs controlled expansion bullets.

4 years ago buddy and I were cow hunting. Came up on a herd. I already had an elk in the freezer so I let him shoot first. He put three 200 grain accubonds started at 3200fps right behind the shoulder of his cow. She still went 75 or so yards. After his first shot I got on mine and my cow took one 140 grain Berger started just over 2800fps and stumbled 30 yards and tipped over.

 

[Hams42]

Depends more on the bullet you use. An all copper would be my last choice in bullet on a paunch shot. A bullet that rapidly sheds weight will do you more good in that situation like a Berger, hornady eldm or eldx, nosler ballistic tip, Sierra tmk. Have seen more than a few people bailed out by bad shots with rapid expanding bullets. Have also watched people have lots of rodeos with controlled expansion bullets not driven properly. In my circle we’ve seen animals die quicker from first shot to hitting the ground with bullets that come uncorked vs controlled expansion bullets.

4 years ago buddy and I were cow hunting. Came up on a herd. I already had an elk in the freezer so I let him shoot first. He put three 200 grain accubonds started at 3200fps right behind the shoulder of his cow. She still went 75 or so yards. After his first shot I got on mine and my cow took one 140 grain Berger started just over 2800fps and stumbled 30 yards and tipped over.

I quit using accubonds for this exact reason. I started loading Hammers last year and I am switching all of my guns over to them. Similar to bergers but better IMO.