I got a bull elk!
- Thread starter Mr. Hill
- Start date
In AZ the elk rarely have fat going into winter be it a cow or a young bull. We grow them lean here (AZ lacks water
) but the bull my wife shot 2 weeks ago was incredibly lean and I couldn't believe how small his body was. He was not a huge bull but certainly mature and his body should have been bigger. I think he'd been rutting more than he'd been eating 
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Congrats Mr. Hill! Looks like you had a great hunt!
IndependenceRanch
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Hunting isn’t always about harvesting an animal. It’s about the camaraderie, friendships and unique life time experiences. This is a great story and one you can retell, again and again.
The guys in camp were great. Even after I gashed my scalp by catching a tree branch while I was bending down to stomp a yellow jacket that was crawling towards my elk head. A little cut on the head makes a lot of blood! Nothing serious, but I received endless jokes about attack-trees, tree branches, bashing myself, etc. from the rest of the guys in camp.
It was a lot of fun, and that bull elk was the first good thing to happen to me in a long time, and I'm very thankful for it.
It was a lot of fun, and that bull elk was the first good thing to happen to me in a long time, and I'm very thankful for it.
Use a bonded bullet for elk (at a minimum)
Just to clarify: I'll be switching to, at a minimum, a bonded bullet for elk; the 165 grain Sierra Gameking btsp barely managed to fully penetrate the elk on the first shot. The exit wound was very small and the bullet may have keyholed on the exit. I'm going to try some of the premium bullets, too, and I'll use whichever is the most accurate round through my rifle. A simple cup & core deer bullet isn't enough for elk IMHO.
Just to clarify: I'll be switching to, at a minimum, a bonded bullet for elk; the 165 grain Sierra Gameking btsp barely managed to fully penetrate the elk on the first shot. The exit wound was very small and the bullet may have keyholed on the exit. I'm going to try some of the premium bullets, too, and I'll use whichever is the most accurate round through my rifle. A simple cup & core deer bullet isn't enough for elk IMHO.
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I used a 140 grain, 7mm-08 Federal Nosler Partition. Double lung. Broke a rib going in, base of bullet exited. Exit hole very small, as the mushroom separated from the base. But the far side lung had a 1" hole.
I wish there was more blood. But the partition did it's job.
I don't know how these animals run 40 yards after a double lung shot, but they do.
I wish there was more blood. But the partition did it's job.
I don't know how these animals run 40 yards after a double lung shot, but they do.
Well Mr Hill, I won't say "I told ya so".....but -------
If you need some better elk ammo just let me know. My offer will stand next year too.
You will find that "cup and core" bullets are fine for elk IF the cup is thick enough. In most .308" diameter bullets I know of, that means 180 grain and heavier, but not all. I have had seen good results with Remington Core Lokt in 165 gr, and their 180 do well too. So do the Winchester 180s and even their 150 gr power points, but a fully expanded 150 gr 30 cal is about 55-58 cal in frontal area, and at about 125 grains (after shedding 25 grains in it's journey through the elk) they hold together well, but sometimes don't get out the other side.
I have never stopped or seen stopped a 150 grain Remington 270 in an elk however. I believe the thicker jacket is a big part of the answer, and also the fact that a fully expanded 270 is about 50-52 cal and it's just enough smaller that the frontal resistance is slightly less, so it penetrates more. That's just my guess as to why I have not ever seen an elk stop one, but the part that is not theory is that they go through elk even when I have hit heavy bones That a fact.
Also keep in mind the solid expanding bullets (Xs and GMXs) made by Barnes and Hornady as well as the Partitions made by Nosler.
I have 42 years of elk hunting behind me. I have killed a lot of them myself and seen probably 5X more killed by other hunters, with all kinds of bullets from many different guns. I speak from experience, not theory.
Today we have more good choices of elk bullets then we ever have in the last 100 years.
In my opinion as both a hunter and an ex-guide, any bullet/cartridge that doesn't exit the elk is not what you want to hunt them with, and with a 308 Winchester there are quite a few loads that will give you good exits and bone-breaking potential, so there just is no reason not to use them.
Happy hunting and good luck for many years.
If you need some better elk ammo just let me know. My offer will stand next year too.
You will find that "cup and core" bullets are fine for elk IF the cup is thick enough. In most .308" diameter bullets I know of, that means 180 grain and heavier, but not all. I have had seen good results with Remington Core Lokt in 165 gr, and their 180 do well too. So do the Winchester 180s and even their 150 gr power points, but a fully expanded 150 gr 30 cal is about 55-58 cal in frontal area, and at about 125 grains (after shedding 25 grains in it's journey through the elk) they hold together well, but sometimes don't get out the other side.
I have never stopped or seen stopped a 150 grain Remington 270 in an elk however. I believe the thicker jacket is a big part of the answer, and also the fact that a fully expanded 270 is about 50-52 cal and it's just enough smaller that the frontal resistance is slightly less, so it penetrates more. That's just my guess as to why I have not ever seen an elk stop one, but the part that is not theory is that they go through elk even when I have hit heavy bones That a fact.
Also keep in mind the solid expanding bullets (Xs and GMXs) made by Barnes and Hornady as well as the Partitions made by Nosler.
I have 42 years of elk hunting behind me. I have killed a lot of them myself and seen probably 5X more killed by other hunters, with all kinds of bullets from many different guns. I speak from experience, not theory.
Today we have more good choices of elk bullets then we ever have in the last 100 years.
In my opinion as both a hunter and an ex-guide, any bullet/cartridge that doesn't exit the elk is not what you want to hunt them with, and with a 308 Winchester there are quite a few loads that will give you good exits and bone-breaking potential, so there just is no reason not to use them.
Happy hunting and good luck for many years.
SAKO2, I do, but only in the 308 Winchester and the 30-06.
However the 30-06 can drive them fast enough to cause them to come apart in big mule deer at closer ranges, (150 yards or so) so I think I might look for something a bit tougher for elk. On deer they are fine, but you may loose a bit more meat then you's like.
The flat base is better then the boat tails, but neither is what I would choose for elk. If that's all you have you'll be OK if you shoot well, but I think they will come apart pretty badly.
I have a 300 H&H and I use 200 grain Nosler Partitions in it. It is a death-ray and those bullets always give me exits. I am sure the 300 Win will do the same with them.
Or any of the solid expanding bullets will work well too, but may are so expensive that practice is almost impossible.
With the Nosler 200 gr I can and do use the 200 gr Speer as my practice bullet with the same powder and charge, and that gives me a bullet that I can shoot at things at various ranges and angles with all year, and when I go hunting I load the Partitions and I have no new info to try to remember.
I gave some of the Speers to a friend who shoots them in his 300 Win Mag and he told me that they were just fine on elk too, but I have never killed anything but deer with them.
I prefer the Nosler Partitions, but if I had the Speers along for the trip I would feel OK about the 200 grain spitzers as elk rounds. On the deer I have killed with them I have never had a failure. All of them were big bodied bucks and all had good exits with no fragment found inside. Something I can't say about their 180 grain bullets, and as I said, the Speer 180s I used were from 30-06 and 308s and they still came apart a bit more then I like.
So if you like Speer I would recommend you just jump up 20 grains. I don't think the 20 grains of additional weight is doing all that much, but I suspect the jacket of the 200 grain 30 cal may be a bit thicker than their 180s. Just a guess, as I have not sectioned them and measured as of this writing. But I like them better.
However the 30-06 can drive them fast enough to cause them to come apart in big mule deer at closer ranges, (150 yards or so) so I think I might look for something a bit tougher for elk. On deer they are fine, but you may loose a bit more meat then you's like.
The flat base is better then the boat tails, but neither is what I would choose for elk. If that's all you have you'll be OK if you shoot well, but I think they will come apart pretty badly.
I have a 300 H&H and I use 200 grain Nosler Partitions in it. It is a death-ray and those bullets always give me exits. I am sure the 300 Win will do the same with them.
Or any of the solid expanding bullets will work well too, but may are so expensive that practice is almost impossible.
With the Nosler 200 gr I can and do use the 200 gr Speer as my practice bullet with the same powder and charge, and that gives me a bullet that I can shoot at things at various ranges and angles with all year, and when I go hunting I load the Partitions and I have no new info to try to remember.
I gave some of the Speers to a friend who shoots them in his 300 Win Mag and he told me that they were just fine on elk too, but I have never killed anything but deer with them.
I prefer the Nosler Partitions, but if I had the Speers along for the trip I would feel OK about the 200 grain spitzers as elk rounds. On the deer I have killed with them I have never had a failure. All of them were big bodied bucks and all had good exits with no fragment found inside. Something I can't say about their 180 grain bullets, and as I said, the Speer 180s I used were from 30-06 and 308s and they still came apart a bit more then I like.
So if you like Speer I would recommend you just jump up 20 grains. I don't think the 20 grains of additional weight is doing all that much, but I suspect the jacket of the 200 grain 30 cal may be a bit thicker than their 180s. Just a guess, as I have not sectioned them and measured as of this writing. But I like them better.