I imagine I could’ve taken him with a 30-06 but I’m glad I had more
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How did that taste?
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Didn’t eat the grizzly. Not sure most people do but I was told the meat was most likely not good as his diet was poor. It was a spring hunt and we could tell from the condition of his coat that he hadn’t hibernated. State of Alaska estimated he was about 15 yrs old with rather poor teeth for his age. His poor teeth probably the reason he hadn’t consumed enough food to put him into hibernation or torpor.
Now I have had black bear and it can be quite tasty if the Bear has been on the right diet
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People find it hard to understand the power and speed of a grizzly bear. Realize while bear spray is a popular solution, pushed by the park service and its rangers, imagine for a minute an angry mother sow charging you at 35 mph. She’s running fast enough to outrun a quarter horse in a quarter mile. By the time she is within range of bear spray ( even considering perfect wind conditions ) just her momentum is enough to bring her the rest of the way to her target (YOU)
When friends excitedly tell me they are visiting the mountain west and possibly doing some hiking, I ask them if they can tell the difference between black bear and grizzly scat, telling them that knowledge may be very beneficial during their hike. When they reply “NO”, like they almost always do, I tell them grizzly scat contains bear bells and smells like pepper spray 
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So staying on topic and hoping to put elk in the freezer not grizzly. (If grizzly is a threat, then 9mm could get the job done in a pinch. So could the trusty 454 Ruger Alaskan.)
Anyway, I don’t think you would get laughed out of elk camp with a 45-70 and it’s 1873 black powder technology. What about the 38-55 Winchester?
Curious what the opinion of using a .308 win with a Barnes Vor-Tx 168 gr TTSX Bullet?
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I think the Barnes bullet might be the right choice for using a 308 elk hunting, but I have zero experience with elk.
I’ve seen two whitetail taken with Barnes X bullets and both ran a comparatively long distance. One was from a 22-250 in Texas and the deer sprinted over 100 yards and disappeared into cover. Took another hour to find and got lucky seeing white belly hair. Not much blood trail. Similar story for the second one taken with a Grendel. But cant speak about the blood trail because it was raining, after sunset and approaching dark and storm getting stronger. Didn’t find that one till daylight. I’m not a believer in them yet.
I apparently don’t have the confidence you do in my 9 mm. It took four shots from my 375 H&H, from a rested position, at 50 yards to put my grizzly down
The last elk hunt I was on I took a 45-70. It was a browning falling block and I had it loaded a little hotter than the ammunition you can buy over the counter. As I was hunting without optics, I limited to my shots within 200 yards
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What bullet did you load in your 45-70? 405 grain or something fancy? I wish I could find some Reloader 7 powder…
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That’s a beauty! Makes 1873 look like a modern cartridge.
I’ve never shot a rolling block or falling block. I’m afraid I will fall in love if I ever do. Thanks for sharing.
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I haven’t done any reloading for that rifle in maybe 20 years but next year Illinois is allowing straight walled Cartridges for our Whitetail season so I may be back in business
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I used this exact setup on my one and only elk hunt. Can’t say that I was completely satisfied. I was 50-75 yards away and the elk slipped in mud just as I pulled the trigger so I missed the heart by a couple inches but the bullet did go through booth lungs. The elk only made it about 75 yards before it dropped but it took me awhile to find it since the area was in thick juniper with lots of elk tracks all over the place and the blood drops were small, few and far between.
The exit wound was fairly small. I suspect the petals on the bullet bent back very quickly due to the higher velocity hit at the shorter range. Think this made for a narrower wound channel and the small exit hole. Still haven’t decided what I’m going to use next time if I ever get drawn for another elk hunt.
But that is a sample size of one so take it for what it is worth:)
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We have used 7mm magnums with 160 grain Nosler Partitions for years. In our experience it is a very effective combination. My father used a 300 Win Mag with 190 grain Partitions succesfully. On the other side of that coin, one of my coworkers at a previous job hunted every year for elk with a 243 Winchester and 100 grain bullets. Shot placement is everything.
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I like .338, but my actual hunt was 45/70. Range a touch over 150. No problem. I’d use the same on Bison or other large/dangerous critters
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What load were you using in the 45-70?
Thanks
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Buffalo Bore hard casts
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Believe they were 300 grain (305?)
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When hunting elk in Colorado I used the 7mm Remington Magnum firing old 175gr Cot-Lokt - never let me down.
For many of us ‘locals’ it was either the 30-06 or the 7mm Rem Mag. Why? Largely commonly available ammunition that ‘everyone’ used.
Are there bigger, better, stronger, faster, … cartridges - yep.
I was actually switching down to use .308 180gr but I moved out of state.
If a person is a good shot under adverse mountain field conditions smaller calibers might be used, but check the minimum legal caliber laws for your state of elk hunt.
For me the 7mm Rem. Mag never failed to do its job if I did mine - neither did the 06. Most shooters used 180-200 gr bullets in the 06.
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