I've only elk hunted a couple times and of course went home with an unfilled tag both times, but I'm wondering if 530 ft. lb's is enough at 100 yds on an elk. I'm not a round ball shooter, what is the reaction of a round ball on an elk at that distance?
Well that depend on the caliber .
Also shot placement is the key and closer is always better .
That being said , I have taken bull elk at close to 100 yards with a 50 caliber .
With the ball place right behind the shoulder . The ball went through both lungs and off side shoulder , lodging under the skin .The bull don’t go right down . But he also didn’t go more then approximately 100 yards .
But remember that’s with what IMO is proper shot placement for the soft RB .
Basically you want to use the same bullet path that you would use with an arrow
However If you try plowing through a shoulder to get to the H&L at 100 yards , your still going to get to the off side . With a Hard RB you may even go all the way through.
The key to that however is to not spook them . You get their adrenalin pumping and your going to chase for a very long ways to the point the just cant go on any more .
That happens I don’t care what you use.
I have killed bulls with a 30.30 at 175 yards and not had them go farther then 75 yards but I have witnessed them go a better part of a mile in some of the most god offal places with their shoulder broken and 1 lung from large caliber center fires.
Again we can take lessons from archers here . Place your shot . And let things rest for a while . If they don’t think they are being pressured , they will lay down stiffen up , bleed out . Then the work starts .
But if they think they are being pressured, you can hit them again and again . They will keep moving tell no spark of life is left and sometimes I think they can do that even when dead on their feet
Now that all being said . I would have to say in my lifetime of hunting elk every year and filling my tag just about every year . I would have to say 95 % of my shots have been well under 75 yards . Most in the 25 to 50 range .
At that range , with a properly placed shot , I have never had a problem not getting complete pass through with a RB using a charge of 80 grains in my 54 .