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I'm so old, these days I'm hunting for a place to take a nap.

My M77 Ruger in .270 with a Leopold 2X7 scope remembers how to kill deer and elk. Low recoil, flat shooting, accurate as heck, very fast bullet retains energy... Deer and elk don't know it isn't a magnum. They just go down.

IMHO you don't need two rifles.

Cheers.

PS. It's been said that more deer have been killed in the US with a .22lr than any other caliber. Probably true when used with a spotlight.
 
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Two-seventy!
 
To give a real answer I have lots of different guns for specific needs.

cow elk or bull elk. Rocky Mountain open canyons or Roosevelt. Shooting cross canyon or thick woods. 500 yards or less than 200 yards.
doe or a mature Buck. Open country whitetail or hilly mulie. Or hunting the non eatable blacktail in thick crap. Sure you could do it with one but why. Do you use the same boots for all those hunts in snow and heat? Do you only own one vehicle? I believe in caliber specific guns for different hunts.
 
I just sacrificed a .270 (donor gun) to build a 280 Ackley.
So I guess I'm not a .270 fan or a Jack O'Connor reader.
:)

OP, if you are going to use just one rifle for a while for deer and elk, it's hard to beat the good ol' 30-06.
It is the quintessential, all-purpose chambering if there ever was one.


Edit:

Jack O'Connor is known for being a strong advocate for the . 270 Winchester but the last custom rifle he owned was a . 280 Remington Ruger M77. ... He did, however, influence my preferences in rifles and their stock designs.

Maybe ol' Jack wasn't that bad of a guy after all.
:D
 
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Why would anyone choose .308 over .30-06 ? Asking for a friend....................
Tell your friend:

Obviously, for the shorter action, which gives you a shorter/lighter rifle at only a slight cost in performance. As well as the previous availability of military surplus ammo.

How's things out your way Squatch?
 
Thanks to @deadeye for posting the links to a subject that's been covered many times before.
However, there is some great reading in those threads, so what the heck.

I'm still going to say the same ol thing, 30-06. If you have only one rifle, it's the one.
That said, I killed my deer last year with a 30-30. It was a close shot, as I knew it would be. (treestand)
This year I'll likely be doing the same thing and I'll be using a 35 Remington.
I have options and for hunting from a stand the distances are short. If I was going east for elk where the shots vary and can be pretty long, I wouldn't use either of those and would revert back to the '06. My favorite has been re-chambered to an Ackley Improved and can reach 300 Win Mag velocities from a 22" barrel. I've not shot anything besides 180gr bullets out of it for ages.

My wife had two Savage 99s, one in 243 and the other in 308. I'd swap the shortened buttstock from the 243 to the 308 for elk. The Savage 99, no matter it's history is a freakin hunk of steel to pack around and the recoil in 308 wasn't something he liked at all.
I covered both bases with a Ruger 77MKII Compact in 7mm-08. She killed an elk with it before she did the same to a deer. There's nothing "flashy" about that cartridge, it just works. If recoil is an issue, the 7mm-08 will be your friend.
 
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My wife had two Savage 99s, one in 243 and the other in 308. I'd swap the shortened buttstock from the 243 to the 308 for elk. The Savage 99, no matter it's history is a freakin hunk of steel to pack around and the recoil in 308 wasn't something he liked at all.
I tried out a 99 in .308... took several shots with it and did NOT like it at all. Kicked my in the chops like a mule.
 
.54 round ball has worked very well for me on both deer and elk...and other critters...:D

That said...
For modern cartridge guns I like the .30-06 , .30-30 and .45-70 cartridges.
And before someone pipes up that , the above cartridges are "old"...ya gotta remember two things :

One , I mostly shoot muzzle loaders...so these choices are cutting edge and high tech..
From my point of view...:D
Two...even if they are "old" , they all have many bullet styles and weights to chose from....so its easy to find one that works for how you shoot and what you want to hunt.

Along that last line of thought....being "old" those choices also have a long history of development...so any "bugs" or flaws with the bullet design , have probably been worked out by now.

And with all that said...
Something to consider here is "getting to really know you rifle and how you shoot it".

By this I mean...lots of practice.
Practice off the bench , in the field during hunting conditions....
Learn to shoot your rifle , when you are hot and tired...or cold , wet and tired...in poor light , after carrying it all day...in the rain , etc...
And being able to shoot your rifle 'without a thought"...as in muscle memory.
Overthinking a shot will cause a miss.
Andy
 
.

And with all that said...
Something to consider here is "getting to really know you rifle and how you shoot it".

By this I mean...lots of practice.
Practice off the bench , in the field during hunting conditions....
Learn to shoot your rifle , when you are hot and tired...or cold , wet and tired...in poor light , after carrying it all day...in the rain , etc...
And being able to shoot your rifle 'without a thought"...as in muscle memory.
Overthinking a shot will cause a miss.
Andy
one word,
Appleseed.
 
I believe in having two rifles - one for deer and one for elk
The reason why is that I believe that each rifle should shoot one load so there is no guessing as to last load it was sighted in with. Once you find a great load that a rifle shoots well and does what you want don't go messing with a good thing. Odds are a good load for elk is not the best load for deer and visa versa.
 
My thoughts if I were starting all over again hunting big game in Oregon/the West:
1) Start with a deer cartridge that is relatively soft shooting, but effective on deer out several hundred yards. 7mm-08 and 6.5 Creedmoor are two good examples and there are others. Personally I'd go with 7mm-08.
2) Get a bolt action rifle that is on the lighter side, taking advantage of that soft shooting cartridge and being a pleasure to carry all day. If they were still building them, the Barrett Fieldcraft would be my pick, but generally try keeping it under 6.5 lbs for the bare rifle.
3) Spend an equal or greater investment of time considering the right bullet - frankly, it's more important than the cartridge decision. Personally I now go with lighter weight monolithic (solid copper) bullets traveling faster, but at a minimum understand the importance of bonding, controlled expansion, and penetration for lead core bullets.

When you've got your deer rig all set up, work with just that rifle for awhile. You can use it on elk out to around 300 yards (again, having carefully considered the bullet), so there's no rush to buy an elk rifle. If after awhile you'd like a rifle capable of taking elk at longer distances, go through the same process knowing that the increased power will mean more recoil, a heavier rifle to moderate that, and some additional thinking on bullet.
 
here is the biggest problem with gun guys, we over complicate some stuff. for your question about caliber and were dragging you down the ballistic and bullet well :D I spent my most fun years hunting age 12-25 hunting the coast range and cascades in SW Oregon. I killed a lot of deer and a few elk with a REM 788 in .308 that my Dad gave me for my 14th Birthday. It wasn't pretty and the mags are bubblegum but it shot straight and was absolutely deadly on anything you can find in the Oregon woods short of a Squatch! I shot Rem Corelokts in 150 or 180 grain and you can go on line and get the bullet drop info that will put you minute of pie plate out to 500-600 yds with practice and good optics using factory ammo. there is a lot of choice in ammo out there but I would take corelokts hunting today without any worry about performance. If you like it you will seek out the intricate stuff. I think taking the bolt out and walking through the woods practicing pointing it and finding things in your scope with a natural point instead of searching only comes with alot of doing.
 
Upon what do you base this statement?

Edit for clarity, not being confrontational, just trying to understand how you arrived at your conclusion.
To me a good bullet for elk provides / requires deeper penetration which will provide less expansioion and over penetration on a less dense body such as deer. This penetration on a elk will probably go straight through a 150lb deer body. If nothing else by using a less well constructed bullet you have to give greater thought about the shot you will take on an elk. The bullet like previously stated is important to the job at hand.
 
To me a good bullet for elk provides / requires deeper penetration which will provide less expansioion and over penetration on a less dense body such as deer. This penetration on a elk will probably go straight through a 150lb deer body. If nothing else by using a less well constructed bullet you have to give greater thought about the shot you will take on an elk. The bullet like previously stated is important to the job at hand.
Thank you for your reply.
 

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