My elk hunting may not be the same as yours. I don’t live where they do, so my elk hunting takes planning. Trying to be in the right place at the right time, always for a limited time. I don’t hunt elk every year, but our wapiti offers a classic Western hunt, so I can’t stay away too long. I took my first elk in Montana in 1972, my most recent in the fall of 2024, and a couple dozen in between. I’ve taken some nice bulls, often been happy with a raghorn. And I’ve been beaten many times.
That’s part of elk hunting. Going in, you know you might get beat. I’ve hunted in amazing camps where everybody got elk, as well as the reverse. In ’23 I was in a great camp with good people. No snow, thirty degrees above normal, no elk moving. Six of us in camp, no shots fired.
Most elk hunting is hard, long hikes in rough terrain, often at altitude. It’s tougher when you get beat, because the effort continues until the last minute of the last day. I want to carry a rifle chambered to a cartridge that I’m certain will work. On the biggest bull I’m lucky enough to run into, on any sensible shot.
Many of you will not agree with my choices so let me be clear. On elk, I’m a bull hunter. Cows are tastier than bulls, but I usually have venison in the freezer. I’m not a meat hunter on elk. I’m not necessarily a trophy bull hunter; it depends on place and time. All elk are strong and hardy, but bulls are bigger and tougher than cows. Elk grow until full maturity, so a 10-year bull is bigger and tougher than a three-year-old five-point. 800 pounds is not unusual, and a half-ton possible.
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Western hunters take elk somewhat for granted. Eastern deer hunters headed West for a first elk hunt are often seeking the largest animal they have ever taken. Three times larger than a good-sized buck. Almost no jurisdiction has a legal minimum for elk separate from deer, but common sense must apply. Also, let’s keep this discussion in the context of hunters hoping for a big bull, not looking to fill the freezer with a succulent cow. It’s a different deal, with luck coming down to one chance. That doesn’t necessarily mean a long shot. It means that shot, at whatever distance, must be certain, and certainly effective.
For hunting bull elk, forget the .22 centerfires, 6mms, and .25s. Then, there’s a big margin: The 6.5mms and .270s. With the sheer size, we need to look beyond the paper ballistics of velocity and energy and consider the penetrating qualities of bullet weight. I frown at mild 6.5mms like the .260 Rem and 6.5 Creedmoor with 140-grain bullets.
6.5mm fans are mentally reminding me that the ballistically similar 6.5×55 Mauser remains popular among Scandinavian hunters for European moose, similar in size to our elk. Yes. But not with 140-grain bullets. The early 6.5mms made their bones with long, heavy-for-caliber 156 and 160-grain bullets. Slower, not as much energy, certain penetration. That’s what many Finns and Swedes still use for moose…and they keep their shots close.
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In the short actions that usually house the milder 6.5mms, we are restricted to bullets in the 140-grain class. So, step up to the faster 6.5mms: 6.5-.284 Norma up to 26 Nosler and 6.5-.300 Weatherby. These have more velocity and energy, but most of us are still shooting 140-something-grain bullets. I’m not frowning deeply, but I’m not smiling. Last year, in that lucky 100-percent elk camp, the longest shot was taken by our lone lady hunter, about 400 yards with a 6.5 PRC and 143-grain bullet. Cleanly down with a great shot. Great shots often circumvent potential problems. On elk-sized African animals, I’ve seen too many situations where 140-grain 6.5mm bullets barely got the job done. I have an accurate .264 Win Mag. Although ballistically identical to the 6.5 PRC, the .264 is so unpopular now it’s nearly dead. I love mine, would like to take an elk with it. If I did, I wouldn’t smile until my elk was down. I’d worry, because I don’t believe 140-grain bullets are heavy enough for elk-sized game.
Which brings us to an all-time favorite cartridge, the .270 Win. Wife Donna and I have both taken multiple wapiti bulls with our .270s. They’ve gotten the job done, but always with concern, never with a confident grin. Again, a matter of bullet weight. With traditional 1:10 twist, older .270s max out with 150-grain bullets. Although they are faster and deliver more energy, this also applies to the .270 Weatherby and .270 WSM. I’ve hunted elk and elk-sized game with both and I see the greater impact of increased energy. Even so, I worry about lack of bullet weight. Because diameter, Sectional Density (SD), and bullet construction play such major roles, we can’t put a precise number on it. For elk, I don’t start smiling until I have a bullet in about the 160-grain class.
So, while I’m not suggesting they represent absolute minimums, for serious bull elk cartridges, the “new” .270s—6.8 Western and 27 Nosler—with faster twists and bullets up to 175 grains, are my tipping point for breaking into a big smile. 7mm fans are nodding, and pointing out that, since the 1890s, 7mm cartridges have been capable of handling 175-grain bullets. New Fast-twist numbers, like the 7 PRC and 28 Nosler, effectively utilize even heavier bullets.
A word about distance. The touted advantage to the new extra-heavy low drag bullets is that they fly so well at long range. An elk offers a large target and is highly visible in open country. People are shooting elk at greater distances than I’m likely to. Just because you have the capability doesn’t mean you must use it, or that the circumstances will allow it. I shot my ’24 bull with a 7mm PRC, 175-grain ELD-X, at 75 yards. Up close or far, bullet weight matters. Want to hunt elk with a 7mm-08 or 7×57, load it up with heavier bullets and keep ranges close. Want to be ready for any shot you are confident you can make, stick with heavier bullets and go to a faster 7mm.
Or step on up to .30-caliber. With 180-grain bullets, both the .308 Win and .30-06 are awesome elk cartridges. They don’t have the range of the faster cartridges, but much elk hunting is done in country that doesn’t offer long shooting avenues. I’m happy hunting elk with a .30-06. Not necessarily happier with a .300 Win Mag or faster .30. However, higher velocity and flatter trajectory give more confidence if a longer shot is offered.
When I was younger I had “magnumitis” worse than today. Bad enough that I’ve taken several elk with .375s. Dramatically effective, hardly necessary. There is a place in elk hunting for the mediums, above .30 and below .375. The greater frontal area hits harder, and if you add bullet weight, better yet. However, to keep velocity and thus trajectory at the same levels of a fast 7mm or magnum .30, you get into more recoil than many of us are comfortable with.
Mild in recoil and hitting like a freight train, the .35 Whelen is a great elk cartridge, awesome for bugling bulls full of adrenaline. Just hold your shots to reasonable distances. I hunted elk with the 8mm Rem Mag back in the early 80s, when it was new. In the 90s and early 2000s I did most of my elk hunting with a super-accurate 8mm Rem Mag. Hard-hitting and flat-shooting, I loved it…until it got too heavy to carry. Just to remind everyone it’s not the arrow, it’s the archer, with that rifle I missed the best elk I ever had a chance at. It was also (I think), the only elk I’ve ever missed.
Because of both cartridge and bullet selection, above .30 the .33-caliber is the most likely choice. You don’t have to have one, but across the entire spectrum, I’m hard-pressed to think of a better elk cartridge than the .338 Win Mag. With bullets from 200 to 225 grains, trajectory and recoil are similar to fast .30s with like bullets at similar speeds. That .030-inch difference in bullet diameter makes a huge difference in dropping big animals. My old friend Jack Atcheson Jr., a Montana elk hunter, is a .338 guy, uses his for almost everything. As Jack likes to say, “the .338 numbs them.”
The several faster .33s shoot flatter and hit even harder. If you can handle them. I had a long fling with the .340 Wby Mag, awesome cartridge. I retreated to the .338, much more pleasant to shoot. The .338 is wonderful, but it is not essential. Somewhere between the new .270s with heavier bullets, the faster 7mms, and the versatile .30s are cartridges that should make any elk hunter smile.
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