[fabsroman]

Starr,

You probably should have posted this thread in the "Rifles" or "Elk" forum because there is bound to be more knowledgeable people lurking around in there. Truthfully, I don't lurk in Almost Anything Goes too often, but there hasn't been any activity in my forums for a little while.

Wahnie is about right on the choice of cartridge for elk. I have never hunted elk before, but I wouldn't go with anything less than my .300 Win Mag. with 180 grain Barnes X Bullets. The bullet is really important when hunting the larger animals. You don't want a bullet that will come apart easily. For instance, I once shot a deer with my .300 Win Mag at close range using Remington's Core-Lokt bullet and there was no exit wound because the bullet completely disintegrated before it reached the other side of the animal. You want a bullet that will deposit a bunch of its kinetic energy in the animal, thereby causing massive tissue damage, but you want to ensure that it stays somewhat intact going through bone, muscle, tendon, etc. and that it comes out the other side and leaves a pretty nice exit wound. My bullet that blew apart caused massive tissue damage where it entered the deer (i.e., the top left shouder of the deer and the exit wound should have been in the stomach) and it broke its entire shoulder. The deer didn't suffer much at all, but it was a button buck which is a small whitetail. I would be a little worried to use that bullet on a large whitetail buck, much less an elk of any size.

Technically, a .22 would probably kill an Elk, but you would never find it and it would be a very slow and painful death for the animal unless you shot it in the brain. If you hit it in the brain, then everything is just fine.

If you decide to get one of the magnum rifles, try to get a heavy one or add weight to it (i.e., a cartridge belt) so that you won't feel the recoil when practicing with it. If you are worried about the extra weight when hunting, take the bipod and cartridge holder off.