Minimum Elk Caliber. what do you think it is.

[6mm Remington]

6mm Remington one shot 30 yards with 100 gr. Partition. Entered right shoulder and exited just in front of the left shoulder on the other side. Staggered a few feet and I shot him one more time and he went down. He was dead on his feet but didn't know it.

6mm Remington one shot at 350 yards with a 90 gr. Nosler E-tip. Entered tight behind the rightr shoulder and exited the center of the left shoulder. She staggered 20 yards and went down. My son Jeff's first elk with his 6mm Remington.

 

[Frequently Banned Troll]

25-06 100gr Barnes TSX right down the gullet and he didn’t go anywhere.

 

[Frequently Banned Troll]

These would work just fine if needed, proper bullet placement requires as with all bullets. Both 62 grains going roughly 3kfps from muzzle. This would be my minimum

 

[mtmuley]

 

[Berger230Otm]

Always, the answer seems to be the annoying "It depends on"
Is your elk a bull or a cow?
What angle are you shooting at?
What's the range?
For me 27 - 33 caliber
if my rifle shoots them well and I can get in close I prefer light to medium weight monolithics. If monolithics won't shoot i try mid-weight bonded. Last option if nothing else works, heavy for caliber cup and core.
My go to load is Barnes 150 ttsx in my 300 Win Mag chrono'd at 3075 fps (I know it's slow but it's about the best accuracy I get and it tames the recoil quite a bit) For the data curious: @7,000' altitude, 20 degree temperature and 50 % humidity that bullet is still above 2000 fps.

 

[Berger230Otm]

For the minimum I'd go with a 270 and 130 grain monolithic if I was just told here's an Elk tag and I didn't know anything about the hunt.

 

[Nunjagottam]

Killed most of mine with .270 one with a 25-06 and 3 with an '06. From circles I travel, .243 is smallest I know of anyone to carry in the woods. Saw one go down like a sack of rocks with a .223 once upon a time.

 

[Lmartin5]

25-06 100gr Barnes TSX right down the gullet and he didn’t go anywhere.
View attachment 396630

That is a stud...congratulations!

 

[BAKPAKR]

Always, the answer seems to be the annoying "It depends on"
Is your elk a bull or a cow?
What angle are you shooting at?
What's the range?
For me 27 - 33 caliber
if my rifle shoots them well and I can get in close I prefer light to medium weight monolithics. If monolithics won't shoot i try mid-weight bonded. Last option if nothing else works, heavy for caliber cup and core.
My go to load is Barnes 150 ttsx in my 300 Win Mag chrono'd at 3075 fps (I know it's slow but it's about the best accuracy I get and it tames the recoil quite a bit) For the data curious: @7,000' altitude, 20 degree temperature and 50 % humidity that bullet is still above 2000 fps.

What do you shoot the Berger 230 OTM in?

 

[Austinw8]

At this point in my hunting life I’ve read, watched and now have seen enough with my own eyes to convince me that a modern heavy for cailiber 6mm/243 bullet is plenty for elk within “normal” western hunting ranges (0-500 yards)

 

[oxn939]

25-06 100gr Barnes TSX right down the gullet and he didn’t go anywhere.
View attachment 396630

We'll keep this going. 120 Hammer Hunter

 

[MTGomer]

I like a big gun.

The people that always rail on about proper shot placement aren’t wrong. A 22 will killl an elk. But things can and do go sideways despite our best efforts.

The chance of recovering a wounded elk poorly shot with a 300 is much higher than with a 6mm.

 

[mtmuley]

I like a big gun.

The people that always rail on about proper shot placement aren’t wrong. A 22 will killl an elk. But things can and do go sideways despite our best efforts.

The chance of recovering a wounded elk poorly shot with a 300 is much higher than with a 6mm.

There was a thread on MM years ago where a guy claimed a poor shot with a Berger would anchor a critter anyway. Hilarious. mtmuley

 

[Wind Gypsy]

I like a big gun.

The people that always rail on about proper shot placement aren’t wrong. A 22 will killl an elk. But things can and do go sideways despite our best efforts.

The chance of recovering a wounded elk poorly shot with a 300 is much higher than with a 6mm.

Bullets matter. Same bullet construction in a small cartridge vs large, big one is going to wreck more stuff. But lots of people would use a 308 with a copper and think it would kill drastically better than a frangible 6mm and I dont think that is necessarily true.

From Hornady's available ballistic testing of LE TAP ammo- one is an itty bitty 6 arc shooting a 106 gr from an 18" AR. One is a 165 CX from a 20" 308. If I need to kill something regardless of size, one of those is going to be easier to hit where you're aiming (from a recoil and wind deflection standpoint), spot your impact, and follow up quicker. Terminal damage at least from these tests is close enough to not matter.

Bare Gelatin:


After going through "wall board"

 

[sclancy27]

I like a big gun.

The people that always rail on about proper shot placement aren’t wrong. A 22 will killl an elk. But things can and do go sideways despite our best efforts.

The chance of recovering a wounded elk poorly shot with a 300 is much higher than with a 6mm.

IMO, making a poor shot with a 300 or bigger is much higher than a 6mm for almost everyone.

So, it's a question of diminishing returns of hit rate vs "damage" or whatever you want to call it.

I've shot close to half my elk with a bow, so I never really bought into the "300 Win Mag" or bigger for elk given I'm killing them with a sharp stick going 285 fps with a whopping 85 ft lbs of energy.

 

[Elky Welky]

Only an 800 mm German rail gun can bring down an elk. Elk are otherwise entirely bullet proof, as an infinite number of gun writer threads and magazine articles have said for all time.

 

[MTGomer]

IMO, making a poor shot with a 300 or bigger is much higher than a 6mm for almost everyone.

So, it's a question of diminishing returns of hit rate vs "damage" or whatever you want to call it.

I've shot close to half my elk with a bow, so I never really bought into the "300 Win Mag" or bigger for elk given I'm killing them with a sharp stick going 285 fps with a whopping 85 ft lbs of energy.

Big guns with brakes or suppressors don’t kick. And without brakes or suppressors, they still don’t really kick a grown man that much.

I know of a sheep this year that ran around gut shot for6 days before they could get him killed after shooting him with some gopher plinking caliber.

Having the perfect shot with a small gun sounds nice, but the wind blows, the animal moves, the rest is imperfect, shooter is nervous, breathing heavy, etc. whatever the case may be things just happen.

More people than care to admit are just not as good at shooting as they think or say they are.
I watched one get shot behind the ear this year at 65 yard with a rifle. Fatal shot but he was supposed to be shooting it in the heart.

I too have shot most of my elk with a bow. Not because I think it’s more lethal than my center fire rifle, but because it’s bow season and it’s more fun to hunt with.

 

[sclancy27]

Big guns with brakes or suppressors don’t kick. And without brakes or suppressors, they still don’t really kick a grown man that much.

I know of a sheep this year that ran around gut shot for6 days before they could get him killed after shooting him with some gopher plinking caliber.

Having the perfect shot with a small gun sounds nice, but the wind blows, the animal moves, the rest is imperfect, shooter is nervous, breathing heavy, etc. whatever the case may be things just happen.

More people than care to admit are just not as good at shooting as they think or say they are.
I watched one get shot behind the ear this year at 65 yard with a rifle. Fatal shot but he was supposed to be shooting it in the heart.

I too have shot most of my elk with a bow. Not because I think it’s more lethal than my center fire rifle, but because it’s bow season and it’s more fun to hunt with.