30-30 for ELK???

[cam69conv]

BANDWAGON TIME......As MOST everyone has stated what tha heck caliber do you think has taken more elk over the last 50 years? The 30/30 is the MAIN weapon STILL TO DATE in canada...You know canada, home of the largest game animals in North America, Ask 80% of the guides in Canada and Alaska if they would say a 30/30 is ok for a hunt...."Why SUUUUREEEEEE thats what I carry to back up all those pitiful shooters with those Magnums that think just cuzz its a magnum then all they gotta do is hit it and its dead" !! Is what you will hear. Is it the absolute best round for an Elk? Maybe Yes Maybe no...THAT has to be added into this little formula I came up with back bout 36 years ago when I was 10.... Can you hit the target with it? Are you CONFIDENT in it? Do you know its limitations? Thats basicly all you need to know.... A 30 caliber is a 30 caliber. Now Granted all these ole Magnum loads have thier place. But are they needed on a shot less than 150 yards on a COW elk that will weigh no more than 400 to MAYBE 600 (if she is REALLY fat) on the hoof??? HECK no. That old 30/30 will MORE than do her job as long as YOU DO YOURS. GOOD luck on ya hunt...Lord knows ya already lucky gettin Drawn in Pa onna Elk hunt (lucky "censored") 

[DaveShooter]

Not to get on the ole soap box. #1 congrats on winning a hunt. Friend it is all about shot placement , and common sense. A friend of my familys paid us a vist from Africa when I was a small lad. He was a surgions son  whom they would go to the bush and use a 22 cal rife in long rifle and down an elephant One shot up close through the eye into the brain. Yrs ago the little 32-20 harvested many a white- tail deer and god only knows what else in 4 legged critters. 22lr have harvested all kinds of living game that aren't running anymore. Ha Ha. #1 shoot or get insome range time try some of the new horandy 165 grain leverlution loads or what ever else your rifle likes and have a good time as well as a great hunt. Sometimes again it is common-sense I don't listen to all the hype from gun writers. Use what you can afford and what the good lord gave ya. Again have fun.
Dave Shooter;D

[T.R.]

My first 3 elk were taken with a Winchester 30-30 and open sights.  As a kid, I hunted with my Grandad throughout the foothills of the Bighorn Mts. of north-central Wyoming.  Grandad did not read much of anything except the local paper.  He did not know anything about ballistic charts or energy figures.  But he did know a lot about elk and their favorite wallows and feeding meadows.  Grandad had several decades of hunting experience with his 30-30 and knew how to shoot straight!

The modern elk hunter armed with a 30-30 carbine faces the same handicaps of 111 years ago.  That is, shots much beyond 150 yards or so should not be taken. Grandad instructed me to always shoot twice. This is a fairly easy technique to master with any rifle type; the lever action is especially suited for a quick second shot!  Two 170 grain softnose bullets through the lungs will get the job done quite well. 

Good hunting to you.
TR