I use a 30-06 with reloaded Barnes bullets. The past two years I've been using the triple shock. I use 150 grain bullets. Every elk I've shot, the bullet has passed completely through the elk. My shot ranged from 100-300 yards. I've shot 7 elk with the -06. Two dropped in their tracks, and five ran off. None of them went farther than 75 yards. All were front shoulder hit.
IMO, you don't need to go with the big magnums to kill an elk. One of my hunting partners shoots a 300 Weatherby. He's had elk run off after they were hit in the shoulder too. I really didn't see much difference in the caliber's ability to kill an elk. Besides, his shells cost about 4 times as much as my reloads do.
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