Elk knockdown

zacii

zacii

Beginner
Mar 5, 2015
113
1
What rifle cartridge exists that will, with consistency, knock an elk down. I mean like Thor's hammer knockdown DRT.

Or does it not exist?

I've never been fortunate enough to take an elk. But I'm wondering if such a cartridge exists that will hammer an elk like my .308 did to my antelope.



Sent from the edge of my galaxy
 
Short of 50 BMG I can't think of one that would do it every time.

It's all about shot placement. Make a bad shot with that .308 and you'd be tracking for miles. Make a good shot and they're DRT. It's the same with an elk.

Many subscribe to the "bigger is better" theory with elk, tending towards the magnum 300s or the 338s. However, even those can have elk run off if the shot isn't in the right spot.

I have a 338-378 Weatherby that the previous owner used for crop deer damage hunts. He found this was the only rifle that would give him DRT kills on deer after trying the 30-378 and 300 Weatherby prior to the 338-378. Frankly I think it was overkill by far, but he got what he wanted.

I've seen whitetail run off up to 100 yards when both lungs and their heart are well ventilated, and elk are just very large cervids. They run too, and sometimes a lot further.
 
A bad hit with a heavy bullet or a high-stepping bullet is still a bad hit. A hit to the spine, even when the bullet is small, will drop an elk immediately. In short, there is no one bullet that will guaranteed knock down an elk. Well, maybe a 20 mm canon. :shock:
 
For the sake of argument, let's say all cartridges in question are properly placed shots, within reasonable distances.


You're telling me that a hit from a 400/450 Nitro won't obliterate both shoulders and knock it down?


Sent from the edge of my galaxy
 
zacii, nothing using "hunting" ammunition will obliterate both shoulders on large animals like elk and moose. However if both front shoulders are broken, then said animal will most likely collapse on the spot. If the animal is hit in the spine it also typically collapse, but a "body" shot elk will most typically run or walk away. A large variety of cartridges, with proper bullets are capable of breaking both front shoulders and rending the animal unable to move, but nothing is guaranteed, and perfect shots seldom exist in the real world. I know of few hunters that will profess to "never" making a bad shot, it will happen sooner or later.
 
As the guys have said a bad shot is a bad shot. One of the best things to eliminate that is practice, practice and more practice. Another thing is to know your own capabilities :wink:.
I think we have all made some bad shots over the years.

Blessings,
Dan
 
Z" I'm with elkman on this one, most the other ones too. This will be my 48th elk season, I've seen an awful lot of well hit elk wander off and some go right down. I shot one with my 577NE, through the lungs, that ran over 100 yards.
Hopefully you'll hunt them some day.
 
All the elk (10) I've shot in the vitals with my 375-358STA and 416 Rem. took a total of maybe 5 steps. About 8 of those didn't move, they just flat collapsed. Big bullets and big calibers flat kill stuff.

Moose are a totally different animal. I don't think you could consistently crush a moose with anything less than a 50BMG and bullets that expanded quite well. I shot my last moose, a cow, with 300gr TSX's in my 416 Rem. going 2960fps at the muzzle. She didn't take more than a couple steps before I hit her again but she barely flinched on the first shot. This was only about 100yds.
 
As mentioned, shot placement is king. The 338 RUM does a great job of putting an elk down right now.

JD338
 
salmonchaser":f7503sau said:
Z" I'm with elkman on this one, most the other ones too. This will be my 48th elk season, I've seen an awful lot of well hit elk wander off and some go right down. I shot one with my 577NE, through the lungs, that ran over 100 yards.
Hopefully you'll hunt them some day.
Click to expand...

That had to get your attention! Blast an elk with an elephant gun, and it still runs off! Good grief.

Guy
 
Guy Miner":18cafvrk said:
salmonchaser":18cafvrk said:
Z" I'm with elkman on this one, most the other ones too. This will be my 48th elk season, I've seen an awful lot of well hit elk wander off and some go right down. I shot one with my 577NE, through the lungs, that ran over 100 yards.
Hopefully you'll hunt them some day.
Click to expand...

That had to get your attention! Blast an elk with an elephant gun, and it still runs off! Good grief.

Guy
Click to expand...
Thus we can see, elk are more tenacious than elephants.

Sent from the edge of my galaxy
 
Elk assuredly have a will to live. Track one or two that should be dead and you gain a new appreciation of tenacity.
 
+1 on JD's comment. I've hit a number of Elk with my .338RUM and a 225 grain Partition or a 225 grain Pro hunter and found the Elk either drop right there or about 10 steps later. Shot placement is the key without a doubt.
 
It does seam that there are many fine "elk calibers" out there. The problem is that all elk don't die the same, even when the bullet goes where the shooter wants it to. Some drop even when a marginally placed shot is made, and others run off with 1/2 their head shot away.

Use enough rifle for the job at hand, employ your best hunting skills and just maybe you'll have fresh elk steak for your evening meal.
 
My 378 wby works wonders!

So far out to 778 yards.
 
I'm not an elk hunter, but I've seen moose taken as well as a bunch of large caribou.

Put a bullet through its lungs and don't worry about it. You're not going to impress elk or moose with anything short of a field gun. I've seen moose take 3 .375s through the boiler and he never even flinched. I've also seen one pole-axed with a .308 in the neck.

Shooting for the spine or head is tricky work though- just go for a double lung and let the inevitable happen.
 
Guy the 577 was just one of those things. We had hunted all day and we're heading back to the house when a whole herd wandered down into the BIL's alfalfa. I had brought the double along for just such an event. I slipped out of the truck down an irrigation ditch and popped up about 40 yards from a raghorn. Intentionally shot him behind the shoulders. One rib going in, one going out. The exit wound was relatively small. The old guy who gave me the rifle commented the soft points were designed to penetrate north to south on lion and Cape buffalo and he figured it had just started to expand.
Me I am a firm believer in breaking the near shoulder, leg, get lungs and heart and keep shooting until they are down.
 
...elk aren't really a DRT proposition, they seem to have a tenacity that pales other critters. I've shot a lot of elk w/ a 7mmRM, some went down immediately, some ran a few yds., I've shot quite a few w/ a .300 WSM, some went straight down, some ran a little ways, I've shot a few w/ a .325 WSM, some of them dropped in their tracks, some of them managed to run a few yds. A lot of 'em were dead before I got to 'em, but I don't remember offhand any that were dead before they hit the ground like deer...
 
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