I will be carrying a 300 H&H in the elk woods this year. Very comfortable with this choice. Now it's time to start tuning! Enough gun, and enough bullet with either a 165, or 180 A-Frame, a 180 Sierra GKHP, or a 165 TTSX.
Can't wait!

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Originally posted by Crazyhorseconsulting:

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"reasonable".

I guess I am too simplistic on this, but I believe your individual choices are just as valid as my individual choices, but the difference between our choices may vary widely.

I do agree with what you've said here! I know for a fact that somedays, just getting out of bed can change my mind about what gun I choose to hunt with.
I will say, the only 4 guns I've ever elk hunted with have been my OM70/.270, 7-08 Mod 70 EW, 280 AI, and 300 WSM. Sometimes it's a "game time decision" but all of them have been guns I really liked, and had total confidence in.
Aren't we thankful for not having to be a "One Gun Man"!

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Aren't we thankful for not having to be a "One Gun Man"!

Rifle calibers are much more alike than they are different. Any reasonable choice of caliber with a good bullet for the intended game will work just fine. I used to shoot a 300 mag.(elk) or a 7x57 (deer) when hunting in the lower 48. Now I use a 7 mag or a 30/06 (elk hunting). I can't tell any difference. I'm sure that a 308 w/ 165 partition or a 7x57 (loaded to modern pressures) with 150 partition would work out just fine.

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velocity is like a new car, always losing value.BC is like diamonds, holding value forever.

Amen!

The trouble is diamonds have the intrinsic value equal to their industrial value for knife sharpeners and rock bits, a retail value that completely dependent on manufactured hype, a resale value of next to nothing and BC changes with velocity and has everything to do with preserving that velocity.


Diamonds do have a real "That'll shut her up value" but its hard to put a price on that.

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How much gun, Is enough gun?

I want to register my strongest possible criticism of Grumulkin for using "not enough gun."

If one uses a .458, a 470 or 500 Jefferys on small Texas white tail he will have less meat damage and hardly any blood shot area, if you just keep it off the shoulder..The 243, 22-250, 270 etc. and its ilk will bloodshot a whole side of a deer in many instances. You only hear that kind of talk from very inexperienced hunters.

All that said if you use a proper bullet of proper construction you will not ruin a lot of meat, but the animal will generally make more tracks before he expires, so tracking skills and blood letting bullet make all the difference in the world. Example is a 200 gr. Nosler or 220 gr. Sierra on Whitetail kill pretty well and don't destroy the deer, whereas a 125 gr. will mush one up real bad..velocity is the culprit...

I'd say most of todays hunters definatly prefer to smash a deer for a quick clean kill, but most have not eaten enough deer to have developed a taste for wild game and destruction of meat is of little concern. Most seem to make dry sauage out of venison and give it to all their friends..A fact I have noticed being in the hunting biz for a long time..Nothing wrong with that, and its nobodys fault, just a fact of life style an enviorment..My grandkids that live in Texas don't much care for deer meat and neither does their mother, My kids grew up eating it, as have my Idaho grandkids and they not only like it they absolutely require it or piss and moan constantly. Saving all the meat is a criteria around this casa..therefore my choice is usually a harder or middle of the road bullet for whatever caliber I use. Depending on where I hunt, I prefer the 25-35 or 30-30 for Texas whitetail from a blind to a 100 yard feeder and can eat right up to the hole..For mule deer I mostly use the 180 gr. Nosler partition in my 30-06, same for elk, although I have used many other calibers, but again a middle of the road bullet is used in most cases. 160s or 175 gr. in my 7x57, 180s in my 308 etc. they don't go far if they run at all but at any rate there will be decent blood trail.