Gun for Elk Hunting in Thick Timber

[SouthernCharm]

Browning BLR in 325wsm

 

[Caseknife]

Your '06 will work fine, just keep your scope on the lowest power.

 

[KBC]

Is it douchey to even build an AR for hunting? I never see them out in the field and like the look of traditional hunting rifles but couldn’t I custom build one at a proper caliber, semi auto for follow up shots, and a red dot with a magnifier in case I have to take a 300 yard shot? Just brainstorming here.


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I was building an AR10 in .308 before the turd banned them in Canada. I figured it would be my best bet hunting in grizzly country and it not being legal to carry a pistol.
Please build one for me

 

[S-3 ranch]

Hard to beat a .375 ruger with 235 or 250gr TSX on elk in timber or more open country , that 9.3 is a great elk round also

 

[Pharmseller]

Realistically, your 30-06 is fine. As others have said, dial your scope down.

Not a big bull, but if you look at the environment it’s pretty tight. Not reprod tight, but I shot him at 68 yards only because I couldn’t see 70.



One 140 grain Partition from a 7mm-08. He took a step forward, a step back, and fell over.



Shoot them through the lungs, you’ll be fine.






P

 

[egreen4257]

Appreciate everyone’s input, I had my scope down to 3x, I guess it was more of an issue of how fast I’d be able to scope in and take a shot and was looking for something more ergonomic and faster to have a follow up shot. But tbh I should just focus on being a better hunter and not spooking them, I was in a really dense spot with deadfall everywhere so didn’t know if Id be better suited with another load out. CNElk had a good point, I can just look for a different area. I was just hoping I could find something close to a one size fits all but that doesn’t really exist.


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[cnelk]

^^^ I killed elk in that unit 25 years ago.
Back then it was much easier to hunt.
Seriously, look for a better area without all that deadfall.
You’ll have a much better experience

 

[Luke S]

A suppressor is really nice in close hunting because you don't have to worry about getting ear pro on at a moments notice. I lost some hearing from missing that once and I don't want a repeat. If you can legally have one where you hunt I'd spend money on that before I change rifles or scope.
As far as scope... I would keep a scope not a red dot or something like that. If a bear was charging yeah I'd change it up. But in timber you might actually want a bit of magnification to see the target between tree branches.
Last bear I shot was a black bear behind the house. He was peaking out of the bushes so I dialed my scope up all or most of the way to 9x and shot him.

 

[AZ_Hunter]

Is it douchey to even build an AR for hunting? I never see them out in the field and like the look of traditional hunting rifles but couldn’t I custom build one at a proper caliber, semi auto for follow up shots, and a red dot with a magnifier in case I have to take a 300 yard shot? Just brainstorming here.


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12.5” 6.8 with 120gr MZK handloads. 1-6x LPVO on 1x. Bull was walking at 30-40 yards and got hit with 3 rounds in the lungs in probably 1.5 seconds. Went to his knees then rolled over and kicked a little bit. The combination of technique, 1x, suppressor, adjustable gas, low mass carrier, and 3.5lb flat face trigger allows me to stay in the scope and shoot fast…and accurately…

If that’s douchey, then I’m a huge douche.

 

[WCB]

You could just get a more compact type rifle with a 2-7x scope on it or whatever. IMO if you can't hit an elk moving in Timber with the rifle you have and different setup is not going to help you. Just my 2cents. Practice moving shots is the only way to get good at it...How...start predator hunting and there will be plenty of opportunity.

If it is thick timber I don't see a follow up being an issue as you'll probably one have one shot anyways.

 

[Wolfshead]

I’ve never hunted Elk.
(You guys that do talk about like us up in the Northeast talk about whitetails.
It is a dream of mine, maybe someday.)

I do hunt the think stuff, and started out with my Remington 700 in 30-06 with a 24” barrel.
It worked, but was heavy, (3.5-10 x 40 ) and long for the thick woods.

I have since gone with a Tikka T3x lite compact in .308 win for my woods walking, and the thick stuff. It is much lighter, and so much more agile.
It has a Vortex (say what you want, but it has been great) 1.75-5 x 32 scope, usually on 1.75.
It is also about 3/4” longer than my model 94 30-30.
It is a pleasure to carry all day still hunting, and you can see how thick it gets where I am.
I know a lot of people on here kid about the Tikkas, but I am so impressed with mine! Accurate, agile, smooth action, very nice trigger….
And, you can paint the stock!
AKBorn has some good advice about practicing, and I would recommend that as well. Joe DiNitto talks about how he practices, and it’s very similar.
I also practice while at the range with my rifle unloaded and just getting a target acquisition.
I pull up my rifle, and see how quickly I can find whichever target as quickly as I can. I practice from 25 out to 200. Anything beyond that I feel I’ll have time to take my time getting on target.
No shooting just acquiring, and then starting over….

 

[Shraggs]

This was my route to bigger game timber hunting. Browning BLR in 358 win. In theory my hand loads will be effective at a quarter mile, but haven’t had a kill at that range to validate actual tissue damage. That’s old pic of a 2-7, currently a swfa 1-6 sits on it. It’s great scope and works ideally as vissioned but my belief in fast acquisition say for bears or elk, not sure
I’ll stick with it. 24mm objective is limiting in the already dark timber. I’m leaning towards swfa 3-9, or the fixed 6 —- or a 8 fixed with 50mm if Ryan ever gets it made…

I grew up using a lever action. And often doing deer drives. As a kid it was what everybody did in my parts. They are old habit for me. If new to them I’m not sure it would offer any realistic speed advantage without a lot of practice. For whitetail I use a Winchester 94 in 32 spl.

Regardless, In the timber, I treat it more like archery in terms of range and catching the animal brief moment static. Except for any type of predator situation I don’t try to hit a moving animal in tight timber. Just be practiced in how you’ll estimate range and having a shooting position when an animal stops.

Honestly the rokslide special - the original version tikka tx3 in a 223 with 77 GR tmk hand loads and a fixed 6 and preferably chopped with a suppressor would easily meet all your requirements and then some. Like most have said, if you change your scope youre already there, but there is something to be said for very low recoil if a second shot is needed from a standing position.

 

[ropeup79]

A pistol in 41 mag, 10mm(if legal), 44, or bigger can work well in tight timber. Anytime I’m still hunting timber I have my Blackhawk Bisley 45 Colt ready.

 

[cnelk]

Honestly the rokslide special - the original version tikka tx3 in a 223 with 77 GR tmk hand loads….

This isn’t legal in Colorado where the OP was hunting.

 

[squirrel]

You could get some help by visiting a store but you will do a lot better by increasing your skills at the game of elk in the timber.

If you are after a bull...
He will almost always be stationary for a brief few seconds upon the jump from bed to determine how best to follow his cows. Focus on the one not moving and try as best you can to determine legal bull status, its not easy, dont try to count points look for the 6" brow and shoot quickly if its there. Like Kenny Rogers said there's time enough for counting when the game is done.

Learn to squawk like a raven's croak. If they jumped due to noise or movement (not scent) you can instill indecision with a couple croaks as they stop to decide if the threat is real. It's a Hail Mary but it does work in the thick stuff, same for a squirrel chatter/bark.

Same guy who taught me the raven trick swore by a BAR in 06 because after the BOOM the elk often stop as they have no idea where is the safe direction to run, they pause to let the lead cow decide (sometimes incorrectly) then bolt. BUT as soon as they get the click of you working the next round in they have you 100% pegged and will bail directly away from you at unreal speed. Harold's rifle was loaded for #2 while the shot blast was still covering the sound of the action reloading. But he sure did whine about how heavy that boat anchor was at the end of a day of elk tracking.

Harold poached a lot of elk and was very good at the game, he often filled two tags on one "flush" of the herd in the dog hair timber we both hunted. Back then I hunted with a long heavy BBR in 7 mag, and he was right on the sound of the reload spooking them every time in the exact worst direction. My only hope was that my one shot had been effective.

Harold is long dead so you guys can untwist your panties before hitting a single key.

 

[Shraggs]

This isn’t legal in Colorado where the OP was hunting.

Thanks cnelk, my bad forgetting Colorado

 

[EdP]

If you look at all the posts from guys that said I use this or that, they are using different calibers. The thing in common they mention is the low end power of their scopes. In the event a quick follow-up shot is needed, I would want something fairly flat shooting like your 30-06 so as to not have to consider holdover due to an animal running 50 yds or so. Something like a Marlin .444 is a great handy woods gun and packs a punch, but not what I would want due to the ballistics. A suppressor would be nice for the noise reduction but the extra length could be troublesome in woods country. Like others have said, I think you already have the right rifle. Maybe you should consider changing the scope.

 

[5MilesBack]

I've killed a lot of elk in the timber and blowdown quagmires. I always used my regular bolt 30-06 or 7mag rifles with 3x9 scopes. Closest shot in the timber was about 8 yards. It was more of a self-defense shot from the hip.

 

[Grundy53]

Appreciate everyone’s input, I had my scope down to 3x, I guess it was more of an issue of how fast I’d be able to scope in and take a shot and was looking for something more ergonomic and faster to have a follow up shot. But tbh I should just focus on being a better hunter and not spooking them, I was in a really dense spot with deadfall everywhere so didn’t know if Id be better suited with another load out. CNElk had a good point, I can just look for a different area. I was just hoping I could find something close to a one size fits all but that doesn’t really exist.


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Yeah. You're on the right track. Work on your still hunting skills. If they are moving to fast to get a shot on 3 power then you probably shouldn't be shooting.

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[Pharmseller]

Yeah. You're on the right track. Work on your still hunting skills. If they are moving to fast to get a shot on 3 power then you probably shouldn't be shooting.

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Running game is safe from me. I’m not good enough to hit vitals when they’re moving out.




P