I have killed a few elk with 180 BT's and never had a problem, in fact they have all been DRT. Well my son tried them in his new 300 WSM this year on his bull elk and tried the high in the shoulder shot, this is not a good idea, as his bullet came apart! His follow up shot was a running lung shot that put the bull down in fine fashion. My point is if you use a bullet in this class (non Partition, non bonded, non solid copper) don't shoulder shoot. Shoulder shots to me are for Barnes X, Nosler E-tip type of bullet. For me, I still shoot the lungs because it kills fast and I don't eat lung steak!