.308 for Elk

BUENO. What scope are you using? I had a 1986 Bushnell 2.5-8x40 for years. Upgrded to a Vortex Crossfire 3-9x40 with the multi-plex 2 years ago. Not real happy with the HUGE dots!. Would love to have something in the 3-16x with moa lines instead of dots.
Leupold 2-7x
 
Good point. I have been shooting 165gr Sierra Gamekings for years because my gun loves them and shoots postage stamps at 100yds (MOA).
Keep using those, you're golden.
BUENO. What scope are you using? I had a 1986 Bushnell 2.5-8x40 for years. Upgrded to a Vortex Crossfire 3-9x40 with the multi-plex 2 years ago. Not real happy with the HUGE dots!. Would love to have something in the 3-16x with moa lines instead of dots.
You're gonna want a better scope. Look at the Trijicon offerings for less expensive stuff but there's a LOT of good scope talk here on RS if you use the search feature.
 
The .308 will work just fine on elk. My grandson carries a .260 Remington and a previous hunting partner carried a 7mm-08--neither cartridge was severely limited in effectiveness with elk. I would load a premium 165/168 grain bullet that gave me decent accuracy and go hunting. I've worked up loads for several people that were using the .308 Winchester for elk, and they appear to have brought home the game. Fine cartridge that will work just fine.
 
So....how many of you hunt elk with a .308?

There isn’t a critter on god’s green earth that’ll walk away from a 168 Amax in front of the diaphragm, as long as it hits above about 1800 FPS.

I'll second the recommendation for the 168 Amax. I've been impressed with what I've seen on a buck, a cow and a bull so far. Only a small sample size personally but a lot of good data points on this forum. There's a thread with some good .308 examples here:

Post in thread 'Kill pictures from cartridges above 6.5 Creed???' https://rokslide.com/forums/threads...artridges-above-6-5-creed.387099/post-3946766
 
308 is a fine choice. Skip all the so called "premium" hunting bullets that are super tough and make really small holes in game. Gamekings are great for killing stuff at 308 velocities.
 
I have hunted whitetails with my .308 Browning BLR since 1986. Now that I live in the mountains of Colorado and I am transitioning to Elk hunting I was planning on moving to a bolt 7prc or 7rem mag but budget will not allow me to do it this year.

So....how many of you hunt elk with a .308?

My plan for this year was to continue to use my .308 but keep shot distance to 300yds. I have downed whitetails at 300 yards with my BLR but with these bigger bodied elk, would you feel comfortable shooting them at 300yds and in?

They work great. I shoot 165grn nosler accubonds and they kill elk quick.


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Good point. I have been shooting 165gr Sierra Gamekings for years because my gun loves them and shoots postage stamps at 100yds (MOA).
Just keep using this combo and shoot confidently. My biggest bull was killed with a 308 somehow he didn’t seem to realize it wasn’t a magnum or prc and died anyway.
 
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