If hunting for elk with a .338 magnum, having to take typical shots in the Rocky Mountains, what is the best magnification for a scope? Is 2.5x8 too low?

On my model 700 30/06 has been topped with a Leupold VarX-III 2.5x8 for over 25 years. It's taken alot of elk in that quarter century. 2.5X is for poking around in the dark timber. 8X is for that long 300 yard shot across a mtn. meadow. CB

If an elk appears too small to shoot at when magnified 8 times, then it is far, far too far away to be shooting at. Your 2.5-8X is fully adequate for the longest reasonable elk shots.

I've taken elk with rifles equipped with both 2-7's and 3-9's, so your scope sits right in the middle.

Personally, I prefer a higher magnification so I can see exactly where I'm placing my bullet.
I used a 4.5 x 14 to take my elk this year at 332 yards.

My .338 wore a 1.5X5 Leo for ten years.
I recently put a 2.5X8 on it.

There is no way you will ever have a shot too far for 8X, but you can have a shot too close for 4x.
Go with the 2.5 X 8, it's the right size for elk hunting.

quote:

There is no way you will ever have a shot too far for 8X, but you can have a shot too close for 4x.

Well put, especially if your scope is a variable, which will have a more restricted field of view at 4X than a 4x fixed power scope. Lots of elk are taken in the "black timber" where shots can be better measured in feet than in yards. A wide field of view on the low end is important in such situations.

Pretty much all that an "extra power" scope can do for you when hunting elk is to fool you into thinking that the elk is closer than it really is. Not a good thing. Elk are big to begin with and look even bigger, expecially if, as with most of us, your huting experience is mainly with deer. A high-powered scope can help convince you that an elk is only 300 yards away when it is actually at 500 yards. Shooting at an elk 500 yards away and sighting as if it is 300 yards away is guaranteed to result in a miss.

You are aware that Bugle periodically publishes polls taken at RMEF banquets that strongly indicate the first shot at elk - taken by responders who have taken elk - is less than 125 yards?

2.5x8 is fine on a big game rifle.

I do a lot of coyote hunting, and I have a 3x9x40 on the 22Hornet, a 4x12x40 on the 222mag, and a 3.5x10x50 on the 243. My big game rifles all have 3x9x40's on them.

Thanks for the replies. The Leupold 2.5x8 will stay; I was thinking much the same things when I put it on there.