Elk Hunting with the 300 BLK. What bullet would you choose?

[Omega]

You go ninja man, I swear there are no bigfoot where I live cause the rednecks popped them with 22s. The CC Lehigh shot supersonic is one bad dude. In theory, as TBM said, it could work. If I get a chance to shoot one of these magnificent and tasty critters, I'll use my 7mm mag - lights out -hopefully.

Can't let the bigfeet get established ,might start signing up for welfare.
Have you ever been out west?the times I've went there were muleys everywhere by the road and Elk grazing in the pastures by people's houses

Oh yes, they are everywhere until the first shot rings out. Out by where my Godfather lives, Blanca Co, they used to have large herds in the fields most of the year except hunting season. They fed them during the hard winters and droughts so they got used to being there.

[Mako181]

IMHO Using a 300 Blackout on Elk would be something only a skilled, patient, dedicated and ethical hunter should attempt. I would recommend that if you are going to pursue this that you do a lot of early prep work. The following IMO would be my recommendations and what I would do to prepare.

First, work up a sane, sensible but stout load for your weapon. To be perfectly honest, I would be working up a load with the Nosler 150 Partition designed for the 30-30. You should be able to get this bullet very near and possibly a bit over 2000 fps but I have had this bullet work out of my Contender down to 1700 fps. I have used it on hogs & whitetails and only recovered 1 bullet that was a perfect shroom. Using this bullet in an AR may cause feeding problems but you will never know unless you try and then a little bit of work on the feed ramps may solve the issues. (Don’t attempt unless you know what you are doing!!)

Second, practice, practice & more practice! You should be able from any position you will use hunting to hit a target the size of a baseball at your maximum range after running a couple of wind sprints to simulate your body’s reactions to the conditions of the hunt. Whatever the range is that you can consistently hit the baseball size target will be your maximum range. Just remember that if you can do this prone, sitting or kneeling with or without a rest it doesn’t mean you can do it offhand! In addition know your games Anatomy inside and out! Stay away from shots that may hit large bones or need to penetrate long distances, upper spine shots, heart & lung shots that destroy vital organs will be your best shots with minimal calibers/cartridges. Much like Handgun Hunting but you are using a small caliber that expands vs a large caliber that will be a large entry wound to start with.

Third, Scout your hunting area, Scout your Game Trails, Use a Trail Camera and Establish your ambush areas and clear brush and twigs from your lanes of fire, there is no such thing as a brush busting bullet. Be Dedicated to harvesting your game cleanly!

Fourth, be your own worst critic and be able to pass up any shot that is not on this side of IDEAL. If there is ANY QUESTION in your mind – Don’t Pull The Trigger!
I have established somewhat similar guidelines for myself and handgun hunting and using small cartridges for deer where I live in NC. So far I have cleanly taken 4 deer while out after squirrel with my .22 LR. It is LEGAL HERE IN NC. All were Instant DRT on the spot head shots through the ear or the eye socket. All were under 25 yards with a rifle that will shoot one hole groups to point of aim from 15-35 yards. I have also taken deer with Handguns in 7MM TCU, 6X223, 30-30, .308 Bellm, .357 Mag, .357 Max .41 Mag, .44 Mag, .45 Colt, 45-70 and my current Hunting Handgun is my Glock 20 10MM. Even though we start out the season being able to harvest 6 deer most years I only get 1 because of my imposed limits. I started Handgun Hunting in the late 70s and I have lost several due to my impatience and once I put limits on myself I have not lost an animal since. I would rather go without then loose an animal due to my actions.

[Boedy]

I think anyone that has hunted the Oregon Coast range knows the last thing you want a elk to do is run much after the shot. The Cons of a underpowered round out way the pros of the 300 Blk compactness by a mile. I have hunted Elk for many years and wouldn't go below a .270 on a big bull. I've seen elk soak up a lot of lead from some big calibers and keep on rolling. And when they are rolling in that heavy ass coast jungle it is very easy to lose the trail and or end up in the bottom of some nasty canyon wishing you hadn't dropped the cap. I use a Tika T3 lite in .270 WSM when I hunt the coast.

[blaster]

^ what he said. an elk is a large animal to have to carry up hill. I love my 300 Blackout AR and it has taken some big hogs. some when I can pick my shots and be paitent, dropped in their tracks. others have soaked up as many as 5 130 gr. 300 BLK rounds before dieing in some deep swamp. the difference between an elk and a hog is a hog is a varmit and it don't matter if you don't want to spend the next few hours dragging it out of a hot mosquito infested swamp. just leave it for the buzzards & gators. an elk is a game animal and must be recovered at all cost both legally & ethically. a crappy shot with a marginal caliber usually means a long blood trail. that is bad enough in the flat land. in the mountains it can be Hell.

[Omega]

^ what he said. an elk is a large animal to have to carry up hill. I love my 300 Blackout AR and it has taken some big hogs. some when I can pick my shots and be paitent, dropped in their tracks. others have soaked up as many as 5 130 gr. 300 BLK rounds before dieing in some deep swamp. the difference between an elk and a hog is a hog is a varmit and it don't matter if you don't want to spend the next few hours dragging it out of a hot mosquito infested swamp. just leave it for the buzzards & gators. an elk is a game animal and must be recovered at all cost both legally & ethically. a crappy shot with a marginal caliber usually means a long blood trail. that is bad enough in the flat land. in the mountains it can be Hell.

+2 I have tracked elk for as long as 7 hours in mountainous terrain in my younger days; now it would probably take me twice as long so my shots are much more planned and will pass on any questionable equipment in one of those hunts.

[blaster]

the only way I would purposfully use my 300 BO on elk is if I were ONLY going to take head shots. the little 300 would drop them in their tracks . it would be hit or miss (unless you clip an ear like I did with my 7 mag. once) with no tracking.