Newbie wanting to get into hunting.. recommendations, please!

[annabelle]

.270 is a fine round ,but is a deer round in my book. .300 WM is a min. ELK round in my book. Friend's father used .270 for Elk. Although,he was a former Texas State champ. at 600 yards.

[Fronty Owner]

most of the country deer. Im not sure about some of the big northern deer at long shots.

[annabelle]

I would get a good reloading book, or look up the calibers you are interested in over the internet. This will give you a good idea of bullet drop at various distances and bullet coefficients ( hitting power) for specific bullet weights and types. A .270 should be fine for you(for white tails and muleys), I would not recommend a " long shot" of over 300 meters until you get very talented as a marksman......remember.....a one shot kill is what you are after.

[Don M]

A 270 is just short of enough gun for Elk, IMO.

Even the 7mm mag is not enough for me. I shot an Elk in 1999 that took 3 rounds to knock down with a 7mm mag. All 3 in the lungs. He just stood there and finally rolled over after a few minutes. I had stopped shooting, thinking something was wrong with my rifle when he rolled over. When we arrived, he was hit all 3 times. The bullet was mostly blowing straight through him. Hornady Custom loads.

Since then I went to a larger caliber for Elk. 416 Remington, 30" tube, 300 grainers at nearly 3000 ft/sec. Or a 338 Edge, 30" tube, 300 grainers at nearly 2900. They now drop right there with a single well placed shot.

I had a guide/teacher that used a little 243 win. for Elk. He had to lung shoot and wait them out every time. No thanks. I hated leaving them until first light on evening hunts.

The new 300 RUM is a great factory gun with ballistics that are better than the 300 Weatherby (one of my favorite all time rounds ) I killed a great 4X5 Muley in 1999 with my 300 Weatherby. For the RUM you can buy factory reduced loads that perform like the 30-06 for deer. The RUM has 3 power factor loads from Remington. 30-06, 300 Win Mag and full on 300 RUM for Elk, Bear, etc.

The RUM cartridge has no belt like a Weatherby. Giving it an advantage in accuracy, in theory anyway. I still shoot my Weatherby past what many guys would with great accuracy. So who knows in real world.

My vote is a 300 RUM for all kinds of game. Just pick the load for the game and go.

[soulezoo]

Justin, lots of sound advice and opinions given, but I didn't read just what you were going to hunt in what areas/conditions? This makes all the difference in what you get.

Sure, the one gun does all is tough to do... and a .270 is close to that... but I would not be hunting elk in WY with one where shots can be long. You have to be close and shot placement critical for that. Sure, Jack O'Connor extolled the virtues of the .270 for decades. But it isn't even an inherently accurate round; but, accurate enough. It is not for some reason.

If you are hunting whitetail in dense woods, a .30-30 is enough gun. If you are looking at deer/varmint mix a .25-06 is an outstanding choice. (I still have publications insisting the ol' .25 was the best deer round) Going up you pass the 6.5, .270 and 7mm... remember that bullet selection is everything for the game you are hunting and all those will do the job. For long distance muleys and elk and bigger, I have a couple of .300 wbys and love them.

[MarineOne]

I'll chime in since I used to go hunting back east on my grandparents farm in PA.

The .270/7mm rifles are great for 300 yards shots on decent sized white tails with a good home load. You could also use them on elk, but you'd need to shorten the distance considerably ..... and if you've been elk hunting its difficult to get within 300 yards of most elk, especially those in the Pacific Northwest.

You really have to go big when it comes to elk, not only because of their size (1100 pounds or more for a healthy one) but because of the distances involved in bagging a smart animal. Elk spook much easier than white tails, and can smell you at much farther distances ...... they are truly a superb animal to hunt.



Kris