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Thread: 300WM and Elk walk in hunt

  1. #1
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    300WM and Elk walk in hunt

    I have a question about elk hunting with a 300 WM. I am going elk hunting in Colorado next year and I'm probably going to be shooting my 300WM. I really like the ELD-X factory round and also shoot it in my .308 and 7mm08. The Hornady factory 300WM is a 200gr ELD-X round. I'm not positive where we are hunting so I'm not sure about what distances I can expect to be shooting at. I know the 300WM is more than enough gun but it would also give me the ability to take a good animal out to 500 yards easily. I shoot a lot out to 600 yards now with my .308 so I'm not worried about taking game at that distance. My buddies are shooting Tikka T3's in 6.5CM. I'm tempted to take my 7mm08 and shoot that. It's a Win Mod 70 Extreme Weather. The only issue I have with it is that if I see a shooter bull at 400-600 yards and can't get any closer it's not enough gun at that distance. 300 yards and in no problem at all. Although the 7mm08 weighs about 1 1/2lbs less than my 300WM so walking all day will be a lot easier with that rifle.

    So if anyone has had any experience with the Hornady 300WM 200gr ELD-X I'd like to hear about it. If there is another factory round that may be better I'd like to hear those recommendations also. What do y'all think about the 7mm08 for elk? I'd be shooting the 150gr ELD-X in that caliber.
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    As a bow hunter and rifle hunter who has hunted elk in CO, I’ll go out on a limb and say that there’s not many situations where you won’t be able to close off a couple hundred yards to get within 300yds and seal the deal...unless we’re talking NW CO where it’s fairly flat and sparse.

    If you’re humping the rifle around for any length of time especially at elevation, and there’s any concern with the weight, then take the lighter rifle. It’s more than enough gun with good shot placement. Figure out just how much hiking you’ll be doing with the rifle, and make the decision based on that.

    On a side note, I’ve heard of mixed results with the ELD-X bullet on elk. Everything from ice picking through, to shallow penetration grenading, to perfect mushroom and penetration. Using a bonded or full copper round like Barnes may extend your effective range. Just depends which camp you’re in expansion vs fragmentation.

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    https://youtu.be/Cfd3XkHDaDA Randy Newburg discussing elk calibers. He used 7mm-08 a lot. If you like elk hunting or “western” hunting his channel is worth subscribing to.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ironman8 View Post
    On a side note, I’ve heard of mixed results with the ELD-X bullet on elk. Everything from ice picking through, to shallow penetration grenading, to perfect mushroom and penetration. Using a bonded or full copper round like Barnes may extend your effective range. Just depends which camp you’re in expansion vs fragmentation.
    I'm reading the same thing about the ELD-X also. I've had very good results in my .308 and 7mm08 with it but that is on deer. Big difference between deer and elk.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Watrdawg View Post
    I'm reading the same thing about the ELD-X also. I've had very good results in my .308 and 7mm08 with it but that is on deer. Big difference between deer and elk.
    Yessir. There’s not a lot that won’t work on deer

    Despite my bias for bonded expanding rounds, I’ve heard of more consistent results from the ELD-M version and is what I now use in my 6.5CM. I haven’t used it on elk yet though.

    A great resource for anything Western hunting related is Rokslide(dot)com. I’ve been a member there for several years now and have learned a ton over the years. Also a great place to pick up lightly used gear if you still need to round out your gear list.

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    Thanks for the info about Rokslide!
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    Sample of one but a friend used the factory 200 grain 300 WM load to take a nice 5x5 bull at 640 yards last year.

    +2 on Rokslide. Another good one in longrangeonly(dot)com

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    For the WM the 215 Berger on elk is about the only bullet I use these days. Bros over on LR only has 100s of elk down with the WM and the 215 Berger. As long as it's under 3k fps your golden. The jacket is thicker on the 215 and holds together really well and has devastating results. From 50 yards to well over any distance people should be shooting game at... 1200+.

    If shooting a 180 or 200gr pill, I still pick the Nosler Accubonds. Not the LR ones. Just the standard Accubonds. I've shot many elk with those pills with very, very good results. I Still shoot those pills out of the WSMs.

    I would NOT use the 30cal ELDM pills on elk. I know some 6.5 guys who use them on deer, but I have not heard the same with the 30s. The 215 Berger hybrid is about the sweet spot for the WM, so I personally wouldn't want to risk using the 225 eldm on a elk.

    The last two bulls I shot were inside 200 yards, and the majority of shots are. If you are on the Western slope and hunting open sage brush and scrub oak, there is no doubt you may have a 500 yard shot opportunity. I would run the win mag with 215 Berger's. That's my opinion.
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    I just finished reading a 33 page thread on Longrangehunting about the Berger 215's and talk about impressive! One thing I got from the thread was that the OP BROZ felt this was a 500 yard and out round. He did take an elk at 200 yards and it basically liquified the vitals of the elk but didn't exit. He didn't start seeing exit wounds until the 500 yard range or so. Although everything he shot was DRT. This was an old thread that was started back in 2012. Very impressed with how this round did. He was shooting handloads and the velocities were a good bit faster than factory loads. I'm probably wrong but I would think that with factory loads and the velocity being about 200fps slower than what BROZ had done his handloads up for that 500 yard and beyond distance he said would decrease a bit. Regardless I'm going to have to get a couple of boxes and see how my rifle shoots with them.

    As far as the Hornady is concerned aren't the ELD-X bullets different than the ELD-M bullets? I thought they had a thicker jacket than the ELD-M's
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  10. #10
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    JW,

    I figured you’d chime in and glad you did.

    What round would you feel comfortable with for 6.5CM that also has good BC for long range accuracy? This would be for elk sized game.

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