[craigepo]

I just got back from an elk hunting trip. My experience is that you need to hit elk with a large, fast round, as close to a 105mm howitzer as you can get. 7mm mags, .300 win mags, and .338s are a few of the go-to calibers today.

You also need a very good bullet. I hit an elk a couple years ago straight in the chest, 25 yards, with a 150 grain Sierra GameKing. Put a hole through the lungs the size of a Skoal can. That bull went down, then got up and ran. I shot him next high in the withers. He went down again. I heard him doing the "death rattle" breathing. 20 seconds later, he jumped up and ran again. 3rd shot was quartering away, through both lungs.

Personally, I wouldn't go elk hunting with a caliber unless I could find bullets for the gun like Nosler Accubonds or Barnes Triple Shock. If you hit a bull with a solid lead round or any junk round, that bullet is going to go to crap as soon as you hit a big bone, not hit anything vital, and you are going to end up losing a bull. Stated differently, shooting an elk is a whole different ball game than shooting a deer-sized animal. The bastards just suck up lead, then run like hell into the nastiest mountain terrain you can imagine. Then, if you can find them, you get to quarter them and pack them out.