I dont need to read anything cause Ive been hunting all my life. Ive hunted elk quite a bit too as well as many other big game animals in USA, Canada, Africa. Shot placement is the only thing that means anything once a adequate round/rifle is chosen, .270 Win on up. You keep talking about these "situations" youv been in when the .308 isnt enough yet you dont describe them, "fancy that". An experienced rifleman with a .308 will cleanly take an elk while a bonehead with a .338 Weatherby can cleanly cripp one at 200 yrds.
My last Elk hunt I spent an entire day helping to track down a cripp that some goofball in my party shot in the rear end from 125 yrds with a .300 Weatherby. We never got the animal. When we were sighting our rifles the first day I saw how scared this guy was of that .300 mag I told the head guide to please put my spare 3006 in his hands. Or a .270, or a .308.
Go to Africa and they think Americans are nuts with all their talk about "kinetic energy". They know that all that matters is chooseing an adequate caliber/bullet and then placing it in the animals boiler room. Ive been reloading for over 40 years so theres nothing new you can really tell me about the differences between the .308 Win and 3006. You know in all those decades of hunting you are the first person Ive ever met who describes the .308 Win as "inadequate" for Elk hunting.
Again I never said inadequate, and I love theses personal attacks..Hummm. I was clear that its my point of view. Its a debate thats as old as the calibers themselves. If you have been out that much then would you want to tell me how you don't have different shooting situations? I'm interested in that.
I hunt in a very diverse area. Heavily(dense trees), Open area(Long range possibilities), Elk at a dead run in the trees(snapshot), bedded down, hell I got one sleeping once. Some a .308 would have been fine. My last one I dont believe it would have been.
Example: 437 Yards(did the range find when we went back to drag it out) at the top of a clearing crossing left too right. He was on the trot crossing. I put my 400 yard marker(in my Burris FullfieldII) just inches under the top of his back. I panned my sight off the animal to the right( I shoot with both eyes open) and held steady(I was laying down with my pack as a rest)I waited until he came into the edge of my scope and pulled the trigger. The round hit him at the base of the neck and hit his uphill shoulder blade(furtherest from me). The round stopped at the shoulder blade where the leg joint socket is(Thats about 2" above and infront of the Heart BTW.). Its a 30-06 Nosler Accubond 180grn loaded at 2700ft per/sec. The bullets impact shattered its spine due to the KENETIC ENERGY stored. It dropped immediately. No suffering a clean kill. The Energy stored at that range is apx 500ft/lbs less from a 180 grn .308. Would a .308 have done the job, possible but I know that the 06 Does and will. I don't like to see animals suffer at all. Ive been taught that and have taught it to my kids.
That is the most time ive ever had for a shot in my years hunting up there.
What I am saying AGAIN is, I prefer the stopping power of the 30-06 round over the .308, .270. 7mm, etc. Ballistics don't lie. I like the added insurance. I have a good friend in Alaska that grew up hunting here in Montana and hes told me many times the shooting is easier than we have it here where we grew up hunting. I think he means is that Mostly theres more time for the shot due to the larger animal population and LESS Hunting pressure. Again thats HIS point of view, yours may be different.
I thought this was a great tool that Burris put out...
http://www.burrisoptics.com/pdf/BALLPLEX.pdfPlease HUNTING in AFRICA, Thats a totally different debate.
Tootles
KAM
