25-06 and Elk

[nagibson1]

I can't tell you that , as for me the outdated 270 Win and 110 TTSX has done it, along with the 130 TTSX from a boring old 30-06.

I will absolutely prefer the 35 Whelen AI when I head to the elk woods, but am not at a disadvantage with either of the above rifles and loads. However, something about a .358 Barnes bullet that expands to .736" recovered diameter with respect to carrying considerable momentum after impact and what it does to elk from any hard angle presentation, and broadside as well.

Maybe that makes me versatile, having done the same job with different tools. But then again, a guy is lying if he doesn't say he has a favorite hammer in the shed.

This is an overlooked approach. It seems like most guys are seeking higher BC's for long range shooting. But the opposite approach can be really helpful too. Shooting light for bore bullets does something similar to shooting the match bullets- they have a harder hitting surface and expand really fast. They do great "transferring the energy".
When i was starting out I had a 30-06 and was real recoil shy. I loaded some 110 bullets I found from Nosler, and they grouped awesome. Such low recoil. I was prob at 13 lbs. I took a lot of deer with these, and almost all of them fell right there.
The 110 in the .270 isn't going to do the distance the 25-06 will in that weight, but to 250ish, it has expansion advantages that are really good, and the 270 gives you a versatile gun in a key range. The .277 is still an amazing caliber and the 270 a perfectly relevant cartridge for 95+% of hunters. We can't all be European/Canadian sissies shooing metric 6.5's.
I have a 25 barrel that I may put on a 06 I have, but the bullet selection for .25 seems fairly ignored.

 

[nagibson1]

@nagibson1, when you missed animals from flinching, you continued flinching and missing more animals? How many have been "... hitting and the bullet not killing them"?

If you've had enough experience with both issues to make a comparison then you've had some rough times and so have some animals.

No mention of the cartridge however I wonder if what you said just came across differently than what you meant?

Sorry Whelen, I didn't see this.
I've struggled with flinching my whole shooting life. I got started on a steel butt stock Rem 721 30-06 in scrawny puberty, and my dad wasn't much of a marksman with rifles. He liked dogs and birds. So I learned wrong.

When I went to the south I had some better mentors, but no money. I got a .243 savage, but still struggled in a few situations. I've probably wounded 4 or 5 deer that I did not recover. a couple seriously. I've recovered dozens. I don't get buck fever, but I do flinch in anticipation of shots sometimes. Esp if I have not shot in awhile.

I have worked on this with an airgun, lighter loads, and trying to shoot more. I got a .223 this year, and I'll get a suppressor in 2026. But I have not overcome the flinch reliably. I'm really good until I'm not- esp on rushed shots. (less than 7ish seconds to shoot.)

 

[Quandary]

This resurrected thread was a fun read! Ironically I built both a 25-06 Ackley and a 35 Whelen this year. ( the 35 Whelen recoil really isn't bad, its not sharp more like a shove). Both an absolute hoot to shot. Haven't killed anything with Whelen, killed a Muley with the 25 AI a couple of weeks ago in NM. I have a 25 AI load with 133 EHs at 3,250. The Whelen with 225 SGKs at 2,750. Inside say 450/500 I would use either on Elk happily. Beyond that I would never consider the Whelen but the 25 AI? No issues out to a 1,000 or a bit more.