30-30 Elk Youtube = none

HillDogAU

FNG
Joined
Dec 6, 2020
Messages
9
Location
Australia
Gday,
regular Youtube viewer here, search for alot of rifles an cartridges an hunting particular game... now i thought here would be a nice place to ask...

Why is there very little Videos of guys taking on the challenge of hunting with the 30-30 for iconic game like Elk??

i seen one ling winded sponsor galore advertisement central video on a guy hunting Moose with a 30-30 in Alaska.......... i wondered why no one has done so with the Elk?

a few guys hunt the odd deer rifle season with lever 30s an post videos....

i enjoy a old classic lever gun hunt, any cals, 30-35-38 -44s etc


keen too see if theres any oit there im missing.
 
Joined
Oct 16, 2017
Messages
737
Location
Upper Michigan
I’ve always wanted a lever gun for nostalgic reasons. If you were to kill an elk with one I’d watch it. Sounds kinda cool to me

Gday,
regular Youtube viewer here, search for alot of rifles an cartridges an hunting particular game... now i thought here would be a nice place to ask...

Why is there very little Videos of guys taking on the challenge of hunting with the 30-30 for iconic game like Elk??

i seen one ling winded sponsor galore advertisement central video on a guy hunting Moose with a 30-30 in Alaska.......... i wondered why no one has done so with the Elk?

a few guys hunt the odd deer rifle season with lever 30s an post videos....

i enjoy a old classic lever gun hunt, any cals, 30-35-38 -44s etc


keen too see if theres any oit there im missing.
 
Joined
Oct 5, 2018
Messages
2,042
Location
Colorado
I shot this cow Elk a few years ago with my 1950 Marlin 30-30. It was a fun hunt, I shot her at 35 or 40 yards in dense timber so I feel like the 30-30 was the appropriate rifle for that scenario.

Why more people don't use them for Elk? It's harder for one thing. The typical rifle shooter's range is about cut in half (or even less) compared to more popular calibers. Screenshot_20210101-061158.png
 

87TT

WKR
Joined
Mar 13, 2019
Messages
3,565
Location
Idaho
Nothing wrong with them as long as you can keep your shots under around 100 yards. They shoot like a rainbow at much over that. Most of the rifle seasons are later in the year and the elk have been pressured and rut is over or almost. Elk are pretty tough critters and I feel they deserve the respect. Same reason I won't shoot at an elk with my bow at 100. I shoot that far in practice every day but but not that much energy left at that range and too much chance for error and a lost/wounded elk. All we need promoting people to go out with a 3030 for "a challenge". Better off with an inline ML with a heavy conical bullet than a 170 grain out of a 3030.
 

87TT

WKR
Joined
Mar 13, 2019
Messages
3,565
Location
Idaho
The challenge is getting close enough.
Don't get me wrong. I have a thing for lever guns. I own four centerfires. A Win mod1894 3030. a Win m94 32 Win Special, an 1895 3040 Krag and a Savage M99 300 Savage. I would use any one of them and feel confident within their range.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Oct 5, 2018
Messages
2,042
Location
Colorado
The challenge is getting close enough.
Exactly. Unlike Archery or Muzzleloader, one typically isn't going to be bringing Elk closer with calls during (most) rifle seasons. I find it a huge challenge to stalk within 100 yards of pressured Elk in crunchy snow and leaves.
 
Joined
Feb 17, 2013
Messages
2,326
If you are a timber hunter then fine. But don’t be tempted when you see that beautiful iconic elk standing somewhere at 170 yards. You need to maintain a bow hunter mentality. You gotta do more than just poke a hole in them and hope.
 

Usi05

WKR
Joined
Jan 7, 2019
Messages
1,464
Location
Michigan
Most every guy I know that would use a 30-30 doesn't even know what Youtube is.

And why would using a 30-30 be any more of a challenge than any other rifle? Use the right bullets and the elk will drop like any other rifle.

Love the first part of this post. So true.

People (myself last year) get so caught up in caliber. Watched a bull take one round from a 6.5 at around 120 yards and it stopped him right there.

After going down this rabbit hole last year before going .308 I’d say to find something you shoot well and know your ballistic info to know what your ethical range is.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

nphunter

WKR
Joined
Jul 27, 2016
Messages
1,942
Location
Oregon
I’ve probably shot close to a dozen elk with a rifle before starting to bow hunt 10 years ago and the furthest one was under 200 yards. I know I could kill an elk with the 30-30 at 200 or less without a doubt. Just never packed it elk hunting because I have other rifles I’ve chosen to take.

I do pack my old model 94 as a truck gun. I’ve killed deer and coyotes with it, it’s a 94 produced in 1909 and has a factory flip up leaf sight that is marked 50/100/200. If I ever decide to get back into rifle hunting for elk I would love to kill one with it.

I would think a lot of people up in Northern Idaho use them for deer and elk. That’s what I’ve packed while deer hunting up there. 100 yards would be a long shot in most of that country.

I do feel like a lot of people get caught up in long range shooting nowadays. I built a 280AI about 5 years ago and have it dialed in at 1K. Out of the 6 elk and 5 deer that it’s killed most have been between 100 and 150. My wife has the furthers shot at just over 300 and I was trying to get her to wait because the elk were walking up hill quartering toward us, she had a good shot so she took it. Most all of our animals could have been killed with an open sight 30-30 for sure. My son shot his bull this year at 98 yards.
 

mavinwa2

WKR
Joined
Sep 11, 2018
Messages
549
Location
Res WA ST, winter>Gilbert AZ , NR>AZ, UT, NM, CO.
took my first bull elk at age 10 with the family heirloom Mdl 94 in Win 32 special. At a range of 40 yards. One neck shot, down it went.

for old times sake, took it out one day on a WA general rifle spike only elk hunt. Left the 300WM in camp. This spike taken at 105 yards, same old heirloom Mdl-94, same Williams peep sights. Win 32 SPL 170gr Silvertip cartridge. 1st shot behind shoulder, bull ran toward me but on my right side. 2nd shot in neck at 60 yards to finish the beast.

One lucky rifle...but I prefer my 300Win Mag w/custom loads & Nosler 200gr Partition. But often take out the ol' family heirloom out of gun safe to clean, handle and think of memories....or if I need to get lucky and fill a spike bull general tag.

2016.32 win spike bull.JPG
 
Last edited:

ttucci16

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Apr 21, 2019
Messages
148
took my first bull elk at age 10 with the family heirloom Mdl 94 in Win 32 special. At a range of 40 yards. One neck shot, down it went.

for old times sake, took it out one day on a WA general rifle spike only elk hunt. Left the 300WM in camp. This spike taken at 105 yards, same old heirloom Mdl-94, same Williams peep sights. Win 32 SPL 170gr Silvertip cartridge. 1st shot behind shoulder, bull ran toward me but on my right side. 2nd shot in neck at 60 yards to finish the beast.

One lucky rifle...but I prefer my 300Win Mag w/custom loads & Nosler 200gr Partition. But often take out the ol' family heirloom out of gun safe to clean, handle and think of memories....or if I need to get luck and fill a spike bull general tag.

View attachment 247816
Knowing the odds of killing a true spike in Washington, and then doing it with a 32 lever action, I would say that elk is more of a trophy then some of the bigger 6x6 + elk i see coming out of other states.
 

5MilesBack

"DADDY"
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
Messages
16,121
Location
Colorado Springs
I’ve probably shot close to a dozen elk with a rifle before starting to bow hunt 10 years ago and the furthest one was under 200 yards. I know I could kill an elk with the 30-30 at 200 or less without a doubt.
Bingo. I rifle hunted for 25 years and the farthest one I ever shot was "maybe" 225 yards. I can't even think of many opportunities where I would have had a chance to shoot one further. The challenge is not in what weapon you're carrying, the challenge is in "the hunt". Even if I was carrying a rifle during archery season, my shots would still be the same distance at 30-50 yards.
 
OP
H

HillDogAU

FNG
Joined
Dec 6, 2020
Messages
9
Location
Australia
LOL, some classic responses, but still.... No Elk 30-30s on Youtube.

my channel i have some .375 Winchester in a model 94 , put to good use on Sambar deer...

Those who speak of traditional lever gun hunting as a "bow hunt" mentality..... Spot on...
It IS the hunt and the Challenge.
 
Joined
Oct 5, 2018
Messages
2,042
Location
Colorado
LOL, some classic responses, but still.... No Elk 30-30s on Youtube.
It's probably a good thing that there isn't a social media trend of this. Most people don't have the discipline or the skill to get close enough to shoot Elk with a 30-30 or other open site lever guns, and those that do probably use Archery equipment instead.

As much as I dislike the long distance hunting scene, a bunch of Insta-Hunters running around with 30-30's and Lever Evolution Ammo trying to hit Elk at 200+ yards would be way worse.
 
Top