Long range rifle caliber for elk and whitetail

[ghunter3]

I am looking for a caliber suitable to take a elk down at 500 yards ethically and still hunt whitetail with blowing them in half. What are your alls thoughts on this and personal experiences?

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[WeiserBucks]

Civilians can't own firearms or ammunition capable of blowing deer in half, trust me I'd have one if I could.

 

[menhaden_man]

Check out 6.5 creed or 7 mm-08. Lots of love for those rounds on here. 30-06 also has lots of offerings that gives a lot of flexibility.

 

[Spoonman]

300wm, 7mag, 28 Nosler, 300wsm, and plenty more but these are calibers that have ammo available everywhere.

 

[fightthenoise]

I too hate it when my whitetail blow in half

 

[elkguide]

.300 Win Mag fanboy here.

 

[BFR]

I’ve been using a 30-06 for 60 yrs now with 165 grain bullets at 2900 FPS. I’ve dropped elk in their tracks at 550 yds a few times and once at 650, that one took 4 steps before dropping. I usually try to get closer but age and situations sometimes dictate otherwise.

 

[Backpack Hunter]

Personal experience would be that 30-06 or 6.5 Creedmoor will work well. My thoughts are that there a lot of other calibers that would work just fine.

 

[ghunter3]

I am strongly leaning to the 7mm mag but the 6.5 is also a really good caliber. So many options but not enough money to get them all.

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[Billy Goat]

Civilians can't own firearms or ammunition capable of blowing deer in half, trust me I'd have one if I could.

You get a nice tender "good eating" as we call them southern deer you can dern near split them with the wrong bullet and placement.


But it's sure nice putting a whole deer in the smoker on the back porch.

 

[Brendan]

Depends how much you want to overthink it. If you want to be boring as hell, tried and true, and kill pretty much everything on the continent with one gun - get a .30-06, shoot good ammo, practice, and forget about it.

Otherwise, pretty slim pickings. Only about 3-4 dozen chamberings that could work fine

 

[Wapiti1]

30-06. 165 or 180 grain loads. Enjoy having one rifle that will do it all. Runner up is a .300 Win Mag, but I don't know your recoil tolerance.

If you wear a flat brimmed hat, you should look at a 6.5mm world instead. The 30-06 is not for you.

Jeremy

 

[Jimss]

I have a 300 WSM that I've shot everything from elk, whitetails, antelope, sheep, mtn goats. black bear...the list goes on!

It's nice having 30 caliber options for different bullets with a rifle that hardly kicks any harder than a 270...and can still reach out and touch animals!

 

[180splitg3]

As someone who is mainly a bowhunter I am enjoying this thread! I would like to purchase a "do it all" rifle for hunting out west in the future...

 

[Mr Drysdale]

7RM or 300WM

 

[KoolBreeze]

7-08, 280, 280ai, 7mm, 300, 270, 270wsm, 300wsm, 308, 30-06, ..... All capable, pick one. I'm partial to 280 myself.

 

[wind gypsy]

Pick one between 7/08 and 30/06 that tickles your fancy.

 

[Sled]

shoot a bonded bullet and no bones...any caliber mentioned will keep the whitetail intact. for frangible projectiles you'd do better with a 6.5 or 270. but you'll still want to avoid bones. you might want to stick with bonded or solid copper for elk with the smaller calibers.

enjoy your new rifle

 

[Sled]

I am strongly leaning to the 7mm mag but the 6.5 is also a really good caliber. So many options but not enough money to get them all.

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i have seen a lot of whitetail fall to the 7mm rem mag. again, the ones that got shot thru the lungs were better eating than the leg breakers. as for elk, the 7mm is well suited.

fwiw, my new short to mid range elk gun is a suppressed 6.5cm. still have the 7mm mag for the longer ranges.

 

[manitou1]

6.5 PRC, 7mm Rem mag, .280ai, .280, 30 06.
All done with manageable recoil and 5po yd elk rifles.
.280 only if you plan to reload, imo.