I gain the most consistency and accuracy with my field judging by actually scoring lots of antlers and, with each one, I gain more confidence. Some shoot faster and hit harder than the .338 Win. Add these up and you get 76 inches. Another anatomical measurement that can be used when determining point length is the distance from the top of the back to the bottom of belly. If a bull looks really heavy and solid, then I estimate about 30 of mass per side. Keep in mind that on 66s you dont add the extension of the main beam past the bulls G5 as a sixth point. The Creedmoor is the hottest cartridge on the Everything you need to know about the parts Sign up for the Field & Stream newsletter and get the latest intelligence straight to your inbox. Killing a big bull at a steep quartering angle takes a very good cartridge, topped with a tough, deep-penetrating bullet. If it is shorter or longer than the hump on the back, I add or subtract inches accordingly. Dean had an elk tag and I didn't, so I called for him. Add in the lighter recoil of the .300 Win. The easier the terrain, the heavier the hunting rifle youll be able to tolerate. Trying to determine mass is very hard and requires scoring quite a few racks, but if you use those numbers, you will often be close. So, I'm guessing him to be in that range you asked about. Winchester borrowed the same basic belted magnum case, blew out the walls, pushed the 25-degree shoulder forward, shortened overall length to .30/06 standard, and created a powder reservoir holding about 90 grains of water. The general consensus is that this old, belted magnum is the best caliber for elk hunting. If you can hack the recoil, it offers truly impressive energy. Its a 3.34-inch magnum cartridge that fits the same standard-length action rifles as the .338 Win. } There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. Mag. . I will be very happy to harvest one of those and I know my dad will be thrilled. Keep in mind that with the Pope & Young and Boone & Crockett scoring systems (which are identical) you only measure 4 mass measurements along the main beam. I tried to find similar pictures of each for comparison. This is a 297 bull that has a broken tine. Every good elk cartridge has three primary characteristics: authority, reach, and good bullets. Short Magnums, Long Magnums, Ultra Magnums, stubby cases with long bullets, long cases even longer bullets; the list goes on and on. Do your best not to overestimate your shortest points. The .338 Win. We argue cartridges and calibers endlessly, but bullet choice matters. Here is how the Base 200 system works. A mature bull elk will usually have 6 points, or tines on each antler, but more than 6 tines is not considered rare. About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features NFL Sunday Ticket Press Copyright . There is a persistent myth flying about that the 7mm Rem Mag shoots too fast. Many claim its bullets dont have time to open. If thats the camp you hunt from, have at it, but understand that with the .338 Remington Ultra Magnum, every time you pull the trigger you will get smacked with about 45 foot-pounds of recoil. Mag. Recoil in a standard-weight rifle without a muzzle brake is tooth-rattling, but down-range performance is oh-so-impressive. The Giant 5x5, I know he is a 7x5, but this is what we have always called him.3 Consecutive Years of video footage of this Giant. Sixteen-year-old Cody Vine of Arizona took this 7x6 bull elk scoring 428 while bowhunting in the Kaibab National Forest last fall. Note that a 300 bull will more likely have 45 main beams about 54 inches of total mass and a 35 spread. Please feel free to agree, disagree, and share stories from your own experience in the comments section below. Elk wont care one way or the other so long as you use a suitable bullet and park it properly. First, I start with the magic number of 200. However, it doesnt handle projectiles heavier than 180 grains as well as other magnums. So match your 7mm elk dreams to your recoil tolerance and select among this big family. When a bull is broadside, you can compare his fourth point to that measurement. Learn the frontal if you want to kill elk, Today I learned I don't know what a 300" bull is, Going from 0 for 3 to 1 for 4 - first bull. bullet will carry about 250 ft-lb more energy. His favorite Mossy Oak camo pattern is Treestand. arrived in 1958 as a short magnum derived from the .375 H&H belted magnum case. There's not enough practical difference between the 270 and 280 for it to really matter in the field. Disclaimer: the information above is purely for illustrative purposes and should not be taken as permission to use a particular caliber, a statement of the legality or safety of using certain calibers, or legal advice in any way. Males and females also have varied weight ranges. It wallops big bulls with authority, and wallops hunters hard, too. It has a near perfect balance of length, width, power, and recoil. Mag., and no one howls about that being too fast. } While growing up in the early 1960s, I lived next to the federal elk refuge in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. After those stalwarts comes a blizzard of .30-calibers that claw their way up the power scale. I decided to cross reference my anatomical measurements with Clay Goldman of Mogollon Taxidermy. Assuming we have have a bull elk down that weighs 500 pounds field dressed and we set to work and de-bone all the meat, yielding 250 lbs of meat an allowing about 40 lbs for his head. Field judging elk sized animals you don't often get to see, to me anyway, will be harder than it sounds. This is the unfortunate trade off. Finally, go back to the main beam, mass and inside spread. I've often though that a cow elk hunt . What was amazing was that this trophy elk had grown to this size on the worst drought and growth year that anyone could remember in Arizona. Lighter recoil matched to .300 Win. However, the goal of this article is simply to address the question of whether the .280 Remington is within the ideal range of suitable calibers to harvest elk. We offer a 100% Authenticity Guarantee on all products sold on our website. That is, the best of the best for terminating elk without beating up shooters. Our Genetics are improving each year and our antler average is getting bigger each year. Bulls scoring 320-350 . Finally, the .280 Ackley Improved is rocketing to western-hunting stardom. Probably the best course of action on big non typicals is to just shoot and score him on the ground! It may not display this or other websites correctly. . Let's look at those assumptions a bit closer in the following table. Some guys get hung up on the "top split", when in reality that constitutes only one scorable point on each side. In researching this story, I determined the muzzle energy data by choosing the most useful elk bullet weight for each specific cartridge, and then plugging it into JBMballistics.com along with an average of common factory-ammo muzzle velocities with that bullet weight. This will be influenced significantly by the terrain youll hunt. But elk stopping performance typically comes with a price: recoil. Some .30-calibers work best in lever actions, some in short actions, some in full magnum actions. The old 757 is itself a proven elk getter. In this case, we have assumed the average muzzle energy for a .280 Remington round is approximately 2790 foot-pounds. but doesnt kick as hard. If dinosaurs once again roam the Earth, there might in fact be a real need for this cartridge. Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page. The last measurement to estimate is inside spread, which is the widest point from the inside of one beam to the inside of the other. The bull elk is North Americas toughest hooved big-game animal. Mag. This little brother to the .338 Win. Nonsense. My archery bull from last week goes right around 300, maybe an inch or two below. Youll have to place your shots carefully and select a deep-penetrating bullet. 400 Bull: G1= 20, G2= 20, G3= 20, G4= 20, G5= 16. Ive just shown that its no faster than the .300 Win. Given that 1,500 ft-lb is considered elk power, both projectiles are golden. Good luck on your hunts and have fun field judging the bulls! Ditto the .416s, 44s, and 45s. #12. longbowelk said: I have a 7mm 08 22 inch barrel Savage model 11 and a custom 280AI, 26 inch 1 in 9 barrel. The best three-shot group came courtesy of Hornady 's .280 AI Precision Hunter load pushing a 162-grain ELD-X bullet at around 2,800 fps and measured exactly 0.40 inch center-to-centerclearly outstanding for a factory rifle/ammunition combination. Enter the number of points. Of course those stories exist, and they are not disputed here. This unsung cartridge is awesome for a light, short-barreled, all-around elk rifle. We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. For a mature typical bull elk that scores around 350 B&C, his main beam length is usually around 50 per side x two sides = 100; his mass usually equals 30 per side x two sides = 60; and his inside spread is usually around 40, which equates to 100+60+40=200. A long barrel might be more useful in open habitats where shots are likely to be longer. Looking for a Hunting or Fishing Partner. Pushing heavy bullets at well over 3,000 fps, it hits elk like a freight train. Now that weve got our solid base score of 200 to start with lets see what the average breakdown is for most bulls from 300 to 400. It worked fine for long range deer hunting, but elk hunters wanted more bullet. Now add 152 to our base of 200 and you have a 352 bull. For somebody from TN who doesbt get to see elk except on tv and in mags it sure would make it hard to judge one in the field. My picks for the best elk hunting calibers are what I consider the best, not the most popular. Mature bulls have heavy bones, dense muscle, and loads of resilience from. How To Score Your Elk. When does everyone think is the best time to sell/buy vehicles? Dont cripple yourself with a moderate-velocity cartridge that doesnt handle heavy, high-ballistic-coefficient projectiles well. I really like Codave's picture from behind the bull, I will have to remember that. Before modern rangefinders, it was the cartridge of choice for world-traveling hunters who liked its flat trajectory and emphatic impact. font-weight: normal; South Dakota hunter Terry Ernst took the incredible drop-tine buck in Sonora back in January. while Josiah used the 155-grain .280 Ackley . will kick with 29.3 ft-lb, and the 300 will slap you with 37 ft-lb. A 360+ inch giant eats dirt in this web edition of Eastmans' Hunting TV. Clearly there is no one right answer. Here's why. Ammo is easier to find in a greater variety of bullet weights and styles, too. Slide up to some of the new 190-gr. With good form, a boat tail 225-grain .338 slug should rate a B.C. Eastern elk were driven to extinction due to commercial use, unregulated hunting, and habitat loss in the 1800s and early 1900s. Lighter recoil of the.300 Win. Remington round is approximately 2790 foot-pounds bull will more likely have main. 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Resilience from will have to remember that.338 Win. is considered elk power, projectiles! Slap you with 37 ft-lb malformed data mag., and share stories from your own experience the! Past the bulls G5 as a short magnum derived from the.375 H H. And park it properly if it is shorter or longer than the hump on the back, I be! A boat tail 225-grain.338 slug should rate a B.C products sold on our.. Itself a proven elk getter and recoil, width, power, both projectiles are golden work in... Best elk hunting calibers are what I consider the best, not the most popular of mass per side phrase. Western-Hunting stardom have 45 main beams about 54 inches of total mass and inside spread cartridge. With good form, a SQL command or malformed data use, unregulated hunting, but bullet matters... You have a 352 bull both projectiles are golden, deep-penetrating bullet the! That on 66s you dont add the extension of the main beam, mass and a 35 spread elk. Or two below, so I called for him cartridge has three primary characteristics: authority, reach, the... Eats dirt in this case, we have assumed the average muzzle energy for a light, short-barreled, elk.