6.5 PRC fail on elk.

[westcoastal]

would have never left the search for that elk, piss poor sportsmanship

blood trails are secondary, give an idea of injury, but unless that elk had wings, he left tracks, and if gimped up, great tracks. have harvested big game for 42 years, never let an injured animals trail and never lost a single one. irritates the F*** out of me, almost every year i come across a dead elk with holes in them, and have had to take walking wounded as well.

 

[Xaevian]

Ive tried to find this for the Hornandy rounds I hunt with but cant.

Hornady doesn't post it, but if you call them, they will tell you the performance envelop for that particular projectile.

 

[pharmseller]

A long range bullet like a Accubond LR or ELDX work better at longer distances so the velocity is correct, they have a thinner jacket to aid in that, Shooting a critter at short distance will literally make the bullet explode on impact.

How do you define short distance?



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[Koda]

Hornady doesn't post it, but if you call them, they will tell you the performance envelop for that particular projectile.

Well that sucks. Ive had terrible luck contacting companies asking for proprietary information so probably wont bother. Factory Hornandy shoots best in my rifle so its what I use to hunt. I have a general idea of its terminal velocity from gun blogs but would be nice to read Hornandys data. At least now I can stop waisting my time digging deeper into their website looking for it....

 

[pigiron]

his rifle is capable of 1/2 MOA at 600 yards.

Sure it is.

 

[HaveGun]

Sure it is.

Don't be obtuse.

This is just over 3" at just over 600 yards...

 

[HaveGun]

2 minute web search found a video of a guy getting 1.5" group at 300 yards with his, so yeah, the rifle is capable...

 

[Bon Sauvage]

 

[tac]

Indeed.

 

[belshawelk]

How do you define short distance?



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100yrds for those bullets is close. I shot a cow at about 120 ad it blew a football size whole out the other side with an Accubond LR. I no longer use them in high powerful guns.

 

[bbbass]

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Something to remember : Bullets can do weird things when they hit flesh.
That said , since the elk was lost , we won't know for sure.

My advice for shooting when hunting , no matter if with a flintlock or with the latest in rifles and cartridges :
Get as close as you can ...and try to get a mite closer...
Know your rifle...
Know your rifle's load...
Know your skill with shooting and stay within it....

Please note that I am not judging anyone here in this thread...I was not present when the actions in OP happened...nor do I really know anyone else's shooting abilities , rifle or rifle loads.
Andy

 

[Member 38805]

As has already been mentioned, even a .22 CF will take elk if the shot placement is perfect, and everything falls together as planned. But things happen that can throw a wrench in the works, and if this happens, then a bigger bullet with enough energy will still bring down the elk, where a smaller bullet might end up in lost game, or animals suffering. So I'll continue to hunt with enough bullet to make up for any bumps in the road, and lessen the odds of wounded elk running off.

 

[pigiron]

My advice for shooting when hunting , no matter if with a flintlock or with the latest in rifles and cartridges :
Get as close as you can ...and try to get a mite closer...
Know your rifle...
Know your rifle's load...
Know your skill with shooting and stay within it....

And don't forget to do your elk hunting from a bench while using a bipod!

 

[Andy54Hawken]

And don't forget to do your elk hunting from a bench while using a bipod!

Wouldn't work for me , which is why I did not have that on my list.
In any event ....No not for me...as that is not my style of shooting or hunting.

Where I live and hunt elk...there is no "need* for a bench or bipod.
The distance for shooting is usually close...100 yards or so...a far shot is maybe 200 yards on the average....again where I live and hunt.

The last elk I got was with a antique flintlock ( circa 1800 ) in .58 caliber....the range was around 80 yards.
I had a good clear shot...the elk was hit , and went down...as I was reloading...he got up...and went about 20-30 yards further and died.

*'Course "need" is very subjective.
Andy

 

[pharmseller]

I shot a 4x4 mule deer buck with a 150 eldx at close to 100 yards. Double lung and exit, DRT, below average blood shot. 7mm-08. My brother used his 7mm Rem Mag with 162 eldx to kill a big fork that year, similar distance, similar shot placement, similar results.

I killed a nice 6x6 a couple of years ago with my 7mm Rem Mag using the 162 eldx. Maybe 125 yards. Destroyed the left shoulder, double lung, no exit. Normal blood shot. He went maybe 30 feet and died.

So in my experience the eldx neither blows up on the near side nor blows football sized holes out the far side.

The key point is, use what you want. I have no experience with Nosler's AccuBond Long Range so I don't talk about it. If you have experience with the eldx I'd love to hear about it.




P

 

[pharmseller]

As has already been mentioned, even a .22 CF will take elk if the shot placement is perfect, and everything falls together as planned. But things happen that can throw a wrench in the works, and if this happens, then a bigger bullet with enough energy will still bring down the elk, where a smaller bullet might end up in lost game, or animals suffering. So I'll continue to hunt with enough bullet to make up for any bumps in the road, and lessen the odds of wounded elk running off.

For me, and me alone, it's not about the size of the bullet. It's about my ability to use what I have to the greatest effect. What I have learned over time is placement trumps "energy" every time, and bullets matter more than headstamps. I don't like recoil, so I have gravitated away from the big boomers because I can't shoot them well. I suspect that I am not alone.

If you can shoot a big cartridge well, that's great, keep doing it. In my world a smaller cartridge is just as effective.





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[Koda]

For me, and me alone, it's not about the size of the bullet. It's about my ability to use what I have to the greatest effect.

Your not alone, this is what I do as I hunt with a smaller caliber bullet... for elk. I do think there is a line to be drawn somewhere, but I put more value on shot placement than size and power.


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What I dont understand about those saying a bigger bore is better, how is a poorly placed 300mag better than a poorly placed small bullet like a quarter-bore?
Ive never had anyone answer that question.


AFAIK there are only 4 kill shots on an elk and only 3 of those are one shot stoppers. Head, neck/spine, heart and lungs. They will run with a lung shot until they run out of oxygen and drop, usually less than 100yds in my experience.

 

[osprey]

I am kind of between camps in this discussion but what I do know is what works for me and I respect what works for others. In this particular case something failed but we will never know for sure exactly what happened as the elk was lost. All that op's brother can do is take his best guess at what happened and try to take steps to make sure it doesn't happen again. If he wants a heavier caliber that is his call. I still say the 6.5 prc is plenty capable of taking elk with the right bullets. I think bullets like the eldx and the accubond LR are terrific bullets.................for deer. For elk I would hedge my bet and use a heavier constructed bullet. I have taken three large mule deer bucks with a 129 gr accubond lr out of a 6.5 creedmoor. It is a great combo near or far. These deer were taken at 50ds, 100yds, and 515yds. The bullet performed perfectly at all distances with no excess meat damage. Oddly enough the only one recovered was the one shot at 50yds. It retained 58% of it's original weight with a perfect mushroom. While I have no first hand experience with the eldx I have seen some examples of game shot with them and they shed too much weight for me to want to use them on elk. Just last night an acquaintance got back from Idaho with a very large cow elk (350# hanging). He used a 212gr eldx out of a 300prc. Range was around 400yds. Bullet was recovered and weighed 80grs. That is a bit excessive weight loss for my taste. Shot was well placed behind shoulder so end result was a dead elk. Nosler regular accubonds and partitions are my go to bullets for elk and I have never lost one. One very large cow and one raghorn bull were shot with a .270 using a 140 accubonds. The cow was shot at 300yds and I saw hooves in the scope. The bull was bedded at 315 yds and never got up after being shot. Bullet performance was excellent in both cases. The bullet was recovered from bull on off shoulder just inside the hide and had 72% recovered weight. The bullet was not recovered from the cow with complete pass through. Obviously these are just my experiences and thoughts on the matter. As always ymmv.

 

[pharmseller]

Your not alone, this is what I do as I hunt with a smaller caliber bullet... for elk. I do think there is a line to be drawn somewhere, but I put more value on shot placement than size and power.


----


What I dont understand about those saying a bigger bore is better, how is a poorly placed 300mag better than a poorly placed small bullet like a quarter-bore?
Ive never had anyone answer that question.


AFAIK there are only 4 kill shots on an elk and only 3 of those are one shot stoppers. Head, neck/spine, heart and lungs. They will run with a lung shot until they run out of oxygen and drop, usually less than 100yds in my experience.

True story, the first bull I killed with the Mighty -08 was a 4x4 bull I killed in the Sky Lakes Wilderness in 2013. It was only 68 yards. The 140 grain Partition put a hole through his left scapula, double lung, and lodged under the hide on the right side. The bull took one step forward, staggered the one step back, and fell over. I didn't even have time to take another shot before he was on the ground.
The scapula is an important structure but it's hardly part of the foundation, like the shoulder socket or big leg bone.





Aside from a CNS hit, he couldn't have gone down faster.





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