Rounds for the Round-Horned Elk

By rights, it ought to be called only by its Shawnee name, waapiti, referring to the patch of pale hide on the animal’s rump. “Elk” was something that Englishmen, sent to Virginia to “discover, search, find out, and view such remote heathen and barbarous Lands,” concluded to name the “stately and splendid deer,” in the descriptive phrase of one Theodore Roosevelt, when they first encountered it. The wapiti was then indigenous to North America from littoral to littoral and from what is now Florida north to the subarctic of Canada; and colonists in doublets, with likely scant knowledge of the natural world, coming as they did from a small agrarian island on which there were no true elk and with Virginia lying well south of the historic range of the moose, imagined they were looking at the animal they had heard only rumors of: the palmated elk that inhabited the forests of Scandinavia.

By rights, it ought to be called only by its Shawnee name, waapiti, referring to the patch of pale hide on the animal’s rump. “Elk” was something that Englishmen, sent to Virginia to “discover, search, find out, and view such remote heathen and barbarous Lands,” concluded to name the “stately and splendid deer,” in the descriptive phrase of one Theodore Roosevelt, when they first encountered it. The wapiti was then indigenous to North America from littoral to littoral and from what is now Florida north to the subarctic of Canada; and colonists in doublets, with likely scant knowledge of the natural world, coming as they did from a small agrarian island on which there were no true elk and with Virginia lying well south of the historic range of the moose, imagined they were looking at the animal they had heard only rumors of: the palmated elk that inhabited the forests of Scandinavia. Over the years and centuries, various names have been tried on–American elk, round-horned deer, Cervus canadensis (the current choice of the taxonomists)–but we should just agree that the Shawnee got it right, to begin with.

As confusing as which name to use, the question of the optimum caliber for hunting wapiti can be just as thorny. And this is a good time of year for pondering it. One renowned gun writer, maybe the most renowned, thought you could do well with the 270 Winchester. At the other end, another old gun writer, instrumental in the development of the 44 Magnum, seemed to believe that no elk caliber worth the powder should begin with a numeral less than “4”. (Once shown a new 375 by a proud hunter ready to wing off to Africa, the legendary six-gunner threw it up, squinted through the sights, and handed it back. “Very adequate little deer rifle,” he concluded.)

Elk without a doubt require stopping power. Yet they also inhabit high-mountain parks and slopes where the distances may challenge the most crack shot. So, your elk caliber of choice should have superior long-range accuracy, good bullet construction (and enough bullet weight), and more than sufficient kinetic energy on impact to penetrate into the vital organs.

Since its commercial introduction in 1962, the 7mm Remington Magnum has been viewed by many hunters as the gold standard for elk. The development of the 7mm mag was inspired, or at least greatly encouraged, by the writings of another gun writer, one of that triumvirate of famed firearms writers of the 1950s-’60s (OK, the writers were Jack O’Connor, Elmer Keith, and Warren Page), who used a wildcat version to hunt big game around the world. Notably, the bullets used were relatively heavy compared to the 7mm loads we tend to think of today; and one wonders how much of that was a reflection of the quality of the bullets of the era, over 50 years ago. (In those days, many hunters turned to handloading due to the unsatisfactory performance they thought they were getting out of factory loads, a problem that is virtually non-existent today, as long as hunters buy right.)

You cannot, of course, talk about elk calibers without including the 300 Winchester Magnum and the 300 Winchester Short Magnum (WSM). And to quote one more famous gun scribe, Townsend Whelen, “The 30-’06 is never a mistake.” The Win Mag was actually introduced after the 7mm, and the WSM is post-millennial, but well tested. As for the ’06 Springfield, probably only a handful of living people were around at the time of its development; and any big-game animal that has not been taken with one has no doubt not yet evolved. Any number of other calibers could likely lay claim to being superb elk calibers, but I think the three 30’s and the 7mm make a practical assortment to choose from.

So, which will it be?

With Browning BXC controlled-expansion jacketed ammunition and BXS polymer-tipped solid copper, there are eight good picks to consider. The ballistics of the two 300s are mirror images, making a choice between them come down to what length action you prefer. So you are really looking at six different bullets and six different sets of ballistics.

Based on the three criteria given above (accuracy, construction, and energy), some back-of-the-envelope figuring may not single one out, but ought to give you enough data for careful consideration

The table below is for comparison only, the yardages given no more than approximate–performance will vary due to a myriad of factors. “PBA” is “point-blank aim,” the distance at which you can hold dead-on on the roughly 15-inch vital area on an elk, with a 200-yard zero. Feet per second (“fps”) and foot pounds (“fp”) are arbitrary parameters, many hunters feeling the 2400 fps is a reliable terminal velocity, while I, frankly, like the thought of 2000 fp (a ton!) of terminal energy down range.

At the end of the day, this is just food for thought. Will you be stalking close in black timber or shooting peak to peak? Whatever the numbers say, it’s shot placement that always matters most. And a big-game animal as, yes, splendid as the wapiti deserves only the best.

Follow Browning Ammunition’s social media channels for more hunting and shooting tips and updates on Browning Ammunition supported events and promotions on Facebook, You Tube, Instagram and Twitter.