your 6.5 CM/elk experience

[tim tarras]

They wear level 4+ armor.

Good thing I shoot level +5 arrows then.

 

[IDVortex]

Good thing I shoot level +5 arrows then.

I'll have to upgrade my arrows and look at using different heads this year.

 

[Jason Snyder]

Maybe I need to upgrade to RPGs.

 

[Ryan Avery]

I agree with you on learning good shooting habits with lighter calibers. But that should be a stepping stone to the next caliber up for the animal you want to hunt. If you want to only hunt deer, antelope or elk in non pressured private land, then stop at a 6.5 cm, at an effective range, for all your needs. Pushed General season Public land Elk are tougher ( adrenaline does wonders) and after seeing a few elk killed the last 3 decades, calibers from .243 to .375’s, I will stick by my comment of needing a minimum of 7mm caliber on average ( your max yardage is according to the 7mm cartridge/bullet you choose) for elk.
In my post above I stated “new hunters that didn’t have a mentor to tell them to grow a set of balls” ( their father, grandfather, best friend, uncle, whoever you respect and push’s you that has years of experience hunting elk) knowing what it takes on average. They push you to shoot the same way with a 6.5 cm as with (for example) a 300 win mag in the same weight rifle! Not just stop at a 6creed or 6.5 cm because the bigger caliber has more recoil and can’t shoot as well. You practice to use the correct caliber for the job, so you shoot it just as well as a smaller caliber!

What boolet must I shoot out of the 7mm to kill this public land elk?

 

[nobody]

I agree with you on learning good shooting habits with lighter calibers. But that should be a stepping stone to the next caliber up for the animal you want to hunt. If you want to only hunt deer, antelope or elk in non pressured private land, then stop at a 6.5 cm, at an effective range, for all your needs. Pushed General season Public land Elk are tougher ( adrenaline does wonders) and after seeing a few elk killed the last 3 decades, calibers from .243 to .375’s, I will stick by my comment of needing a minimum of 7mm caliber on average ( your max yardage is according to the 7mm cartridge/bullet you choose) for elk.
In my post above I stated “new hunters that didn’t have a mentor to tell them to grow a set of balls” ( their father, grandfather, best friend, uncle, whoever you respect and push’s you that has years of experience hunting elk) knowing what it takes on average. They push you to shoot the same way with a 6.5 cm as with (for example) a 300 win mag in the same weight rifle! Not just stop at a 6creed or 6.5 cm because the bigger caliber has more recoil and can’t shoot as well. You practice to use the correct caliber for the job, so you shoot it just as well as a smaller caliber!

Well gents, lock the thread. In the meantime, I’m gonna go buy a 300 win mag and put another round through the big 6 point I’ve got shoulder mounted in my front room that I killed with a 6.5 creed. He was a “pressured, public land” full rut bull that was full of adrenaline, so I’m pretty sure he’s probably not quite dead even though he’s been hanging up since 2020.

All joking aside, how many animals have you killed/seen killed with the 6.5 creedmoor and all its adjacent brothers/predecessors (6creed, 243, 25-06, 257 Robert’s, 260 Remington, 270 Winchester, etc.)? Animals die ONLY through 1 of 2 ways: oxygen deprivation, or central nervous system interruption. And if a guy can put a properly constructed KILLING bullet through either the heart, lungs, or the central nervous system (high shoulder/spine/head/neck) through his 6.5 creedmoor, the animal won’t know the difference. Foot pounds of energy don’t matter if you “dump all the energy” into the grass bag or into the spinous process, there’s no “margin of error” that will make up for poor shot placement. There’s not a person on this planet, again contrary to popular belief, who shoots a 300 RUM or Win or 7 rem mag or [insert magnum cartridge here] as well as they’ll shoot a lower recoiling round. A guy may shoot them well, but they’ll ALWAYS shoot less recoil better. On top of that, the vast majority of hunters don’t shoot enough to be anywhere near as proficient as they think they are every year, which further exacerbates the issue.

So, no, more gun isn’t more better. It doesn’t kill them better, it doesn’t give you “the ability to punch through the dreaded elk shoulder” any better, and it doesn’t allow you better “margin of error” for bad shots. In fact, the single worst kill I’ve ever witnessed was my dad’s moose in 2003, which soaked up 9 rounds of 165 grain partitions from his 7 mag at 250 yards. Dad was digging through his backpack looking for any more ammo after round 9 because the bull just wouldn’t drop, and about a minute after the last shot (and about 5 after the shooting commenced), the bull finally tipped over. It’s only an example of 1, but to me it shows that magnums are not the “end-all be-all” that Elmer Keith wanted everyone to believe. They’ll kill for sure, but they kill stuff the same way that any other cartridge does: by putting holes in the front half of animals.



To the OP, I’ve seen multiple elk and mule deer killed in 2 different states over several years from 25 to 500-ish yards with a 6.5 creedmoor and its adjacent brother, the 270 Winchester, all with 140-143 grain projectiles from both Hornady and Berger. Only 1 required a follow up shot, none of them traveled further than 25 yards or so, and one of the mule deer (shot at 225 yards with a 143 grain ELDX) exhibited the single most impressive exit wound I’ve every seen, a 5 inch diameter hole with daylight visible all the way through as he ran 25 yards from left to right in the snow on Colorado 3rd season in 2022 before dying. Left a blood trail so impressive that Ray Charles could’ve followed it. I would happily carry a 6.5 creedmoor for everything until the day I die, and don’t regret dumping my own 7 mag to do so.

 

[Ryan Avery]

Well gents, lock the thread. In the meantime, I’m gonna go buy a 300 win mag and put another round through the big 6 point I’ve got shoulder mounted in my front room that I killed with a 6.5 creed. He was a “pressured, public land” full rut bull that was full of adrenaline, so I’m pretty sure he’s probably not quite dead even though he’s been hanging up since 2020.

All joking aside, how many animals have you killed/seen killed with the 6.5 creedmoor and all its adjacent brothers/predecessors (6creed, 243, 25-06, 257 Robert’s, 260 Remington, 270 Winchester, etc.)? Animals die ONLY through 1 of 2 ways: oxygen deprivation, or central nervous system interruption. And if a guy can put a properly constructed KILLING bullet through either the heart, lungs, or the central nervous system (high shoulder/spine/head/neck) through his 6.5 creedmoor, the animal won’t know the difference. Foot pounds of energy don’t matter if you “dump all the energy” into the grass bag or into the spinous process, there’s no “margin of error” that will make up for poor shot placement. There’s not a person on this planet, again contrary to popular belief, who shoots a 300 RUM or Win or 7 rem mag or [insert magnum cartridge here] as well as they’ll shoot a lower recoiling round. A guy may shoot them well, but they’ll ALWAYS shoot less recoil better. On top of that, the vast majority of hunters don’t shoot enough to be anywhere near as proficient as they think they are every year, which further exacerbates the issue.

So, no, more gun isn’t more better. It doesn’t kill them better, it doesn’t give you “the ability to lunch through the dreaded elk shoulder” any better, and it doesn’t allow you better “margin of error” for bad shots. In fact, the single worst kill I’ve ever witnessed was my dad’s moose in 2003, which soaked up 9 rounds of 165 grain partitions from his 7 mag at 250 yards. Dad was digging through his backpack looking for any more ammo after round 9 because the bull just wouldn’t drop, and about a minute after the last shot (and about 5 after the shooting commenced), the bull finally tipped over. It’s only an example of 1, but to me it shows that magnums are not the “end-all be-all” that Elmer Keith wanted everyone to believe. They’ll kill for sure, but they kill stuff the same way that any other cartridge does: by putting holes in the front half of animals.



To the OP, I’ve seen multiple elk and mule deer killed in 2 different states over several years from 25 to 500-ish yards with a 6.5 creedmoor and its adjacent brother, the 270 Winchester, all with 140-143 grain projectiles from both Hornady and Berger. Only 1 required a follow up shot, none of them traveled further than 25 yards or so, and one of the mule deer (shot at 225 yards with a 143 grain ELDX) exhibited the single most impressive exit wound I’ve every seen, a 5 inch diameter hole with daylight visible all the way through as he ran 25 yards from left to right in the snow on Colorado 3rd season in 2022 before dying. Left a blood trail so impressive that Ray Charles could’ve followed it. I would happily carry a 6.5 creedmoor for everything until the day I die, and don’t regret dumping my own 7 mag to do so.

You ruined all my fun

The gun mags have made so many FUDDs for money!

Great post BTW.

 

[Mtnmilsurp]

2 cow elk this year with a Barnes 127 LRX at 2755fps muzzle velocity out of a 6.5x55 (OG 6.5)

- 181 yards double lung down in its tracks at one shot
- 385 yards high double lung down in its tracks at one shot


Edit: these were public land cow elk (cervus publicas) not the private land variety (cervus domesticus)

 

[IDVortex]

I mean... at 210 yards, she didn't realize she wasn't shot by a non magnum?

 

[nobody]

You ruined all my fun

That’s what my liberal cousins all say, and is the reason I’m no longer invited to family events

 

[nobody]

I mean... at 210 yards, she didn't realize she wasn't shot by a non magnum?

You better run out to your freezer and put another one in her, just to be safe.

 

[IDVortex]

You better run out to your freezer and put another one in her, just to be safe.

Can't, I own no magnums.

 

[Telford29]

One spike, three cows with 6.5 creedmore. One at 150 yards. The other three were just over three hundred yards each. These were all with hornady presicion hunter factory ammo. No tracking was needed on any of these kills.

 

[nobody]

Can't, I own no magnums.

Dude you’re effed

 

[IDVortex]

Dude you’re effed

Time to hangup my gear, and not even think of doing a spring bear hunt with it or a mule deer hunt now. Pretty much shooting a 22lr.

 

[Shō[t]gun]

I mean... at 210 yards, she didn't realize she wasn't shot by a non magnum?

Must have been on private..

 

[RWT]

This one circled the drain quickly. Looks like the Mods will get to go on a troll hunt.

 

[IDVortex]

Must have been on private..

Yup. Private land, elk ranch. Requested the animals to have the softest skin and zero body Armour.

 

[HappyHuntr]

Pretty much shooting a 22lr.

If only it was a 22 mag. I. think those get you through level 2 armor.

 

[HappyHuntr]

But hey, I'm just some random guy on the internet...

 

[joehew89]

This super scientific graph explains it pretty well!