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He ate good.
And we got him out whole!
My dad's biggest bull so far.
P
And we got him out whole!
My dad's biggest bull so far.
P
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This ^^^Elk are tough critters and I prefer a cartridge that has what it takes to break bone.
I usually keep my Mouth shut when this discussion comes up, which cal. for new shooters, recoil sensitive, and kids. I have always been a YUGE fan of the "little".243 and wouldn't have any trouble using it on Elk as long as I did my part and used good ammo. The one that always strikes me as being way off the mark is the mighty .270 I almost never see any lovin on that one, and in my experience, Just about the best wind shooter, up hill, long range sheep killer ever made. I think the 7 mm mag gets all the glory in that world, but the ol .270 is just as good and is almost as good as the Aught 6 for all but the toughest shots. In certain situations, I would actually pick the .270 over the others. Ye Ol' 7 mm-08 always gets lumped into the Kiddies/girls and beginners rifle club but it's a great shooter and works very well when a person takes the time to get to know the limits of that round. My Wife usually uses her Tikka T-3 .243 for most of her hunting, but has found the Ruger M77 Hawkeye in .30/06 to be her favorite rifle for every thing, But she always has the Tikka as a back up, and she shoots it better then most guys that claim to be "experts"Ever notice how people describe the 7mm-08 or 270 or even 243 as being "good for beginners and women"? I figured that any cartridge adequate for big game in the hands of less experienced or recoil sensitive shooters would be borderline overkill in the hands of someone who really knew what they were doing. That is why Ive always described the 243 as an "expert's cartridge".
I like the 338wm a lot but to call it the best cartridge for bear and elk is foolish. If I had to go into thick brush after a wounded grizzly I would argue that bigger is better. In my opinion there is no one best but quite a few great cartridges depending on the environment. I think the rule is determine your needs and then define your tool to fit that needThe .338 Winchester Magnum is arguably the best Elk and Bear cartridge in the world!
Today's bullet selections has blurred the lines on what is considered "enough gun" for big game hunting.
Even better might be what bullet style to use when discussing cartridges
Today's ultra modern bullet designs can be tailor made for just about any need, and they are so precisely made that flight performance and ballistics are way beyond any thing ever possible before now! What was the Gold Standard in performance back then is now considdered practice ammo now days! Look at the old Remington Cor-Loketd, a very fine design that did a marvelous job pf putting meat in the freezer, would you even consider using that bullet today?I'm skeptical todays modern bullets make 'that' much of a difference... todays improved bullets are all based on the old spitzer designed late 1800's, essentially a copper jacketed lead core soft point... a breakthrough for its time no doubt. Nowadays we have more options in ballistic tips, hollowpoints, etc... but the basic spitzer shape and weight is the same. So whats the practical difference between a rifle round from 1920 and today...? (pick any other mostly overlooked caliber)
I think a lot of the "best caliber" debate is a mixture of technology slowly replacing folklore. Back in the day it was just simply a rule of thumb: the bigger the target the bigger the gun needed. Sound logic if you had to hunt large Grizzly and your only choice was a lead only bullet. However what we've learned heuristically over the years is that bullet placement is what matters. But the old rule of thumb still permeates gun culture even today most often cited as an excuse for poor marksmanship.
heuristics are a very inefficient way of learning things...
I said 30-06 for a lot of it's versatility - However there is another HUGE benifit of that round...
There are literally dozens of boxes of hunting rounds in EVERY store that sells bullets the day before hunting season starts.
That is NOT the case with some of the less used cartridges.
If you think ahead a few months or load your own then that's not an issue but I've seen the sporting good stores the day before opening day on big game. It reminds me of the day before Valentine's Day and a bunch of dudes crowding around the last few crappy cards and getting flowers from Safeway lol.
Today's ultra modern bullet designs can be tailor made for just about any need, and they are so precisely made that flight performance and ballistics are way beyond any thing ever possible before now! What was the Gold Standard in performance back then is now considdered practice ammo now days! Look at the old Remington Cor-Loketd, a very fine design that did a marvelous job pf putting meat in the freezer, would you even consider using that bullet today?
Add in the advances in powder's and the quality of factory loading's or even better, hand loading practices and equipment we have available to us, and it's never been better then right now!