RIFLE RECOMMENDATION

[JLROOT]

Mikeydon, WELCOME to Muleymadness!

For me, I use either my 30.06 or .270 and either one is sufficient for both mule deer and elk.

Wow, someone else uses a .270 for elk!!! It's all I use and it works great for deer and elk. As was stated above, it's all about shot placement.

+1

+2

[ABert]

I grew up in a family of hunters and the ONLY caliber used was .270. Same thing we all hunt with to this day. I still have a couple boxes of Win. FailSafes in 140gr, which is no longer made. Once those are gone I'll have to find something else. Oh, we have taken a number of elk and deer over the years. And if you are worried about the .270 being to small for elk, check my sig!

[dan walker]

I use a 7mm mag for deer and it would be a good choice for elk also.It may depend on what you can stand as far as recoil is concerned. If you find that you flinch with the recoil then you might be better off using something like the 270.You did not mention if you are shooting long range or short range.I have found that the most important thing in a gun is how it feels when you shoulder it and fire it.You will do a lot better with a gun that you are comfortable with and the recoil does not bother you..Bullet placement is the key and if you can do that,,, any legal calibre will do the job. You can place the bullet where you want easier is you are comfortable using the gun.

[Bear2]

Sorry, do not want to hijack this thread, but I am new to this site and have not been able to figure out how to start a "new thread".
If the targeted species were muleys and pronhorns, what would be the preferred calibers?
I have a 3006 and larger, but woundered if my tac driving 243 would work.
Please advise

[wingmaster36]

I've use 270's, 7mm Rem mag, 308,30-06, 300 Weatherby, and 338 win mag. I now use the 7mm Rem mag for everything. I have found it to be very accurate and has plenty of gas to reach out there. I killed a 6 point whitetail last week at 325 yds crossing a pasture and the week before that a 8 point in the timber at 90 yds with a neck shot (which was all I could see). I just have confidence in that cartridge. The recoil is conciderably less that the 300 and 338. All of the modern cartridges with the right bullet would work.

[wingmaster36]

Sorry, do not want to hijack this thread, but I am new to this site and have not been able to figure out how to start a "new thread".
If the targeted species were muleys and pronhorns, what would be the preferred calibers?
I have a 3006 and larger, but woundered if my tac driving 243 would work.
Please advise

IMO yes. However, I would prefer a 260-270 class for a big muley, but the 243 with a good bullet in the lungs will reduce the biggest one ever into a meat pile. I would also like to give the 257 roberts/ 25-06 rem a little love here also.

[TheSwampThang]

Dropped my 4x4 elk at 200yards with my 270 no prob....shot placement

[Larry]

If you already have a gun in any of these cal. and you shoot it well you should stay with what you have and put your money into optic.
I have killed 9 or more elk with a 270 but I've killed a number of the with 358 norma and 375 H&H and a few cal's in between.
You scope and Binoc. with the binoc's being use more than anything is were to put you money.

As for deer and antelope I killed them with all the same cal's as elk.

[Twitch]

I also use a .270, and I have never had to track deer or elk run after I have shot. If you have proper shot placement, a .270 will kill most big animals under 300 yards.

[3fingerbrown]

This is a subject which everyone has a different opinion about, so there's really no "right answer." Here's my opinion:

If you want to hunt only deer and antelope, I would recommend the .270WSM. Its very popular in this category for good reason, low recoil and shoots amazingly flat.

If you wanted to do both deer and elk with the same rifle, in my opinion the .300 win mag is the way to go. It is the perfect "in between" rifle for dual species use. You can load this with 130 grains that will shoot flatter than anything for open country antelope, or go up to 200 grains to take down an elk or smaller black bear. The .300 win mag is the most versatile caliber in my opinion. I don't like the newer cousin the .300WSM, simply because it doesn't add any velocity.

The best rifle in the $500 category is the Savage model 114, in my opinion. But as always, to each his own. Good luck.