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I can't tell you that , as for me the outdated 270 Win and 110 TTSX has done it, along with the 130 TTSX from a boring old 30-06.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

 

[3855WIN]

Son shot at raghorn three times with 257 WBY, hitting it twice. I handed him my 300 WBY and he shot it two more times. I believe the 257 killed him, but keep shooting, right?

 

[Quandary]

Son shot at raghorn three times with 257 WBY, hitting it twice. I handed him my 300 WBY and he shot it two more times. I believe the 257 killed him, but keep shooting, right?

Right! What bullet where you using in each rifle?

 

[bmart2622]

Ive killed more elk with my 257 Wby than I have my 300 Ultra mag

 

[Southpaw1331]

I don’t have anything to add to the discussion but just wanted to point out that I just read all 14 pages of it and enjoyed it.

 

[3855WIN]

Right! What bullet where you using in each rifle?

120 grain Nosler Partition and 180 grain NP

 

[Deadfall]

When people lose elk to a big magnum it’s because elk are tough, when they lose elk to a 6.5, 25 or 6mm it’s because the cartridge is to small. It’s how the game is played…..

Amen

 

[Jon C]

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.

Picked up a 9.3x62 and 6mm arc this year. Carried the 9.3 in Colorado but no luck. Gonna try to break them both in deer hunting this year in WI.

 

[cbuck516]

A 25-06 was the only rifle I had ever owned before I started elk hunting. I believed it was insufficient for elk based on my understanding at the time and the many hours of research I did before my first hunt. Big critters require big bullets, right?

My first elk fell to a 150gr ABLR from a 270Win placed in the crease on a broadside shot at 100 yards. When that elk ran 100 yards without producing any sort of blood trail, I was convinced I needed more power. I then bought a 300 PRC and shot my next elk at 100 yards through the heart with a Hammer Hunter 199gr. Surprising me, that elk ran at least 40 yards before toppling over. The internal damage was excellent and I was happy to be able to eat all the way up to the bullet hole with the mono bullets.

My next elk was taken with a 25-06AI at 200 yards with the Badlands SBD-2 110gr. The wounding capacity of that load was impressive and produced far more damage than the 300PRC the year before, but I did hit heavy bone. That little bullet had no issue blowing through the humerous and continuing its path of destruction before exiting the opposite side. That large cow elk made it a total of three yards. I was very hesitant about using 0.257” bullets on elk before this experience, but after seeing the results first hand, I was pretty convinced that they were more than adequate.


My next elk was taken with a different 270Win @ 440 yards with a Hammer Hunter 124gr. This yearling cow ran about thirty yards, leaving a significant blood trail, before eventually tipping over and sliding down the hill. Impact was a perfect double lung hit with evidence of fragmentation.

Having seen wounding capacity in various calibers at various speeds, I was curious to explore the lower limits of bullet speed to see if the performance I had observed on elk with my 25-06AI would change significantly at a certain velocity. I had hoped to fill my bull tag this year with my 25-06AI and my late season cow tag with my 18” 25CM, both using the newly released Hammer 107HBC. However, I killed my bull during the last few days of archery season and never got to see how that bullet performed on a bull. I did get to see a cow fall to the 107HBC and I was very pleased. I had a perfect broadside shot at 200 yards and hit in the rear of both lungs, also catching the front of the liver. I somehow managed to thread the bullet between ribs on both sides and it never hit any bone. The cow took a couple steps with her leg in the air as if I had hit her in the shoulder then collapsed and slid down the hill.

Of all the above mentioned elk that I have killed, the ones shot with a 0.257” bullet have travelled the shortest distance. I have still not captured a bullet inside an elk at any distance, but I have found petals. I will continue to use 0.257” bullets on elk as I now have a better understanding of how various bullets behave in various critters. I value bullet selection and shot placement over bullet diameter.