Tom was over last night and over coffee we got to talking about next year and a combo mule deer and elk hunt hes planning, he brought over a 270 win BAR rifle he has used for at least 30 years ,and wanted to know if I wanted to buy it or knew anyone that might as he wants to buy a 300 win mag, because he was under the absurd impression a 270 win he has used for decades would not effectively kill elk?
( I don't know if I convinced him but a 270 win , loaded with a decent 150 grain bullet,
will certainly be more than effective if he shoots accurately)
he brought up the fact that I generally used a 340 wby, and asked me why?
I explained I really trust that rifle, after using it for 40 plus years,
but its certainly not the only good choice,
Id previously used a 30/06 and it was 100% effective and lethal,
but it had not nearly the same immediate effect,
there has been a noticeably more impressive reaction when you hit elk with a 340 wby
,and I've had excellent results so I stick to using it or the similar 375 H&H.
that I did not see with similar hits using a 30/06,
on my first two successful hunts using that 30/06 with 220 grain bullets,
that the guys mentoring me swore were ideal.
(keep in mind the area they/we hunt shots over 125 yards are rare!)
both rifles and cartridges were lethal with one shot.
but in my experience, you don't get the same reaction to nearly identical hits
while I fully agree its consistent and accurate shot placement,
not power that will be far more important to being successful.
but as always hitting the games vitals consistently from field positions with your rifle of choice,
and knowing the games anatomy is critical to getting good results
over 5 decades I've generally taken the effort to to spend at least a couple days and most years several weeks making out of state hunts,
I really prefer hunting elk in COLORADO, but many years , available time, previous obligations,
and lately the cost, and difficulty in getting a license in an area I prefer to hunt have limited that option.
So I have on some years been restricted to hunting mule deer in , CALIFORNIA, IDAHO, WYOMING, or whitetail deer , in FLORIDA, ALABAMA, GEORGIA, TEXAS.
I've
generally made these hunts with two to three other guys that split the transportation costs involved as we drive out in one or two trucks from FLORIDA where I live, and yeah its about a 42-47 hour drive from FLORIDA to COLORADO and a bit longer to WYOMING depends on weather, traffic , road construction, etc, and what vehicles we take, the guys driving etc.
we generally camp in tents for the 7-9 day season time frame we have available.
over the decades I've seen a rather wide selection of rifles and cartridges being used, and I can assure anyone reading this that ,
I have been paying a good deal of attention during the hunts and resulting field dressing
procedure's, I've seen several elk killed with a 257 Roberts and 100 grain speer hot core and 120 grain grand slam bullets ,
and 6.5mm Swedish Mausers with Hornady 140 grain interlocks
(hardly magnum cartridges)
and I've seen plenty of big game killed with a 270 win, 30/06 and 308 win, so you certainly don't need a magnum to be successful.
one guy I hunted with for 20 plus years used a marlin 45/70 ,using handloads,
cast bullets that weight 350 grains and moving at only about 1700 fps
and had zero issues putting game in the freezer.
I've generally used a 340 wby and 250 grain HORNADY bullets or a 375 H&H with 270 grain HORNADY bullets
my late hunting partner used a Browning BLR in 358 win for decades loaded with a 250 grain hot core, speer bullet,
and one of the most popular cartridges and rifles, used by the guys I hunt with is,
is the 7600 remington in caliber 35 whelen, using the same 250 grain speer bullet.
if your worried about the rifle you have, DON,T be,
as long as you can learn and practice being able to consistently place your shots in about a 3" circle,
shooting from a field position at 100 yards ,
you'll generally do OK if you spend enough time actually hunting vs sitting around camp.
don,t worry about needing a long range flat trajectory, while thats great,
if you have that rifle and useful , its not generally required as most of the big game has been shot at well under 250 yards,
its the skill, knowledge , and experience in the field,
and persistence of the guy holding the rifle,
more than the cartridge selected that maters
heres a brief bit of info on a past hunt.
one old geezer that taught me to hunt , back in the early 1970s,
used a 257 Roberts in a pre 1964 Winchester, for decades.
he used to constantly joke about my 340 wby,
and how I used to have to carry several extra pounds of rifle weight,
when his Winchester was all that was needed.
he killed more than his share of deer and occasionally an elk.
I helped him drag or pack out several, over several decades.
on one occasion we were sitting on the edge of a clear-cut,
that had started to re-grow and there were lots of 3-5 foot tree-lings,
over several acres.
a legal 4x4 elk slowly entered the area we watched over,
the old geezer only had a deer license that year.
so I was sitting with my 340 wby using the bi-pod on a large fallen log,
with the crosshairs held on the area higher than, but just over the bull's heart,
and a bit behind his shoulder, I waited as he slowly advanced,
when it became obvious he was the only legal bull elk we had seen in days.
I estimated the range at about 170 yards.
when I fired, the elk dropped like a demolition on an older building.
he just dropped in place,
the older guy looked at me and said...
..damn , that was impressive
..I've never seen any elk convinced so fast that he was dead before.
most elk I shoot want to consider the matter,
think it over ...... maybe cover 40-50 yards.!
then conclude I was right!
kid that was impressive!
" that made my day "
read these links
http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...ange-calibers-for-elk-are-not-mandatory.1275/
http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/elk-hunting-tips.1095/
http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...splitting-hairs-on-cartridge-selection.16404/
http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...for-a-decent-hunting-rifle-for-deer-elk.1133/
http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...t-mass-and-caliber-how-much-is-required.4607/
http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...om-friends-over-your-choice.10059/#post-73827
http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...ng-for-in-an-elk-rifle.2368/page-2#post-73104
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