7mm SAUM vs 300 WSM for Elk/western hunting?

[BuckeyeRifleman]

Dude, I have killed several elk with the eldx - for you to blame it on a bullet is silly, especially at 300 yards. You have no idea if it was a good shot or not, you didnt find the elk...

Yes, a good shooter can call a shot. I don't always make good shots, but I know when I make marginal or bad ones.

We've had what, two pages of replies so far from at least 10 people.

All of them have been helpful and informative, only one has tried to turn it into a ****ing match.

Please leave, adults are discussing things.

 

[PredatorSlayer]

Yes, a good shooter can call a shot. I don't always make good shots, but I know when I make marginal or bad ones.

We've had what, two pages of replies so far from at least 10 people.

All of them have been helpful and informative, only one has tried to turn it into a *Rule 4 Violation*ing match.

Please leave, adults are discussing things.

The truth is tough to hear - you are claiming that you made a perfect shot on a cow elk at 300 yards with a 6.5 creedmoor shooting a 143gr eldx and it didn't die because of the bullet. I am being blatantly honest with you - it aint the bullet that was the problem. And it wasn't your 6.5 creedmoor either. It was the shooter that thought he made a good shot and didnt. You included those details, not me. I am a huge 6.5 fan - my elk gun is a 6.5 prc.

I guess to answer your question, you should get the 300 wsm and load it up with the biggest baddest bullet you can find. That way when it runs off next time you can't blame it on your equipment

 

[bigngreen]

My daughter pumped three 143s into a buck at 300 with her creed and not one made it to the second lung!!

 

[PredatorSlayer]

My daughter pumped three 143s into a buck at 300 with her creed and not one made it to the second lung!!

I shot a 5pt elk at 430 with a 260 and found the eldx just under the hide after blowing through 2 lungs.

Same thing with a 4pt muley at 330 yds. YMMV...shrug

 

[BuckeyeRifleman]

The truth is tough to hear - you are claiming that you made a perfect shot on a cow elk at 300 yards with a 6.5 creedmoor shooting a 143gr eldx and it didn't die because of the bullet. I am being blatantly honest with you - it aint the bullet that was the problem. And it wasn't your 6.5 creedmoor either. It was the shooter that thought he made a good shot and didnt. You included those details, not me. I am a huge 6.5 fan - my elk gun is a 6.5 prc.

I guess to answer your question, you should get the 300 wsm and load it up with the biggest baddest bullet you can find. That way when it runs off next time you can't blame it on your equipment

You must not not be that great of a shot if you can't call your shots.

I've missed and made poor shots before, and I always knew immediately what the case was when it happened. I was disappointed but not surprised to find hair or bile and a long tracking job.

Sounds like you should do more shooting and less posting on the internet.

 

[xsn10s]

Dammit lol. I was just discussing this with friends today. I sure do like the BC of the 7mm's. But I keep hearing how the 30 cal (215gr Hybrids) kill so much better. Makes it real hard to make up my mind lol.

 

[PredatorSlayer]

You must not not be that great of a shot if you can't call your shots.

I've missed and made poor shots before, and I always knew immediately what the case was when it happened. I was disappointed but not surprised to find hair or bile and a long tracking job.

Sounds like you should do more shooting and less posting on the internet.

You are the one that missed a 300 yard shot on a cow elk. PM me and I'll send you some pics of my elk I killed with my poor marksmanship I can't count how many times I have heard out of staters claim they made a perfect shot on an elk and they never found it. I always ask how they know it was a perfect shot if they never found the elk? Think about that for a second - its a valid question.

The next year they always show up with a bigger badder gun thinking that will fix the problem. You made a poor shot brother - own it. If you want a new rifle get a new rifle. If you want to try new bullets try new bullets. I am the last one to try and talk somebody out of a new boomstick. Just don't blame your poor shooting on a bullet.

 

[BuckeyeRifleman]

You are the one that missed a 300 yard shot on a cow elk. PM me and I'll send you some pics of my elk I killed with my poor marksmanship I can't count how many times I have heard out of staters claim they made a perfect shot on an elk and they never found it. I always ask how they know it was a perfect shot if they never found the elk? The next year they always show up with a bigger badder gun thinking that will fix the problem. You made a poor shot brother - own it. If you want a new rifle get a new rifle. If you want to try new bullets try new bullets. I am the last one to try and talk somebody out of a new boomstick. Just don't blame your poor shooting on a bullet.

And I just happened to make a 350 yard shot on a much smaller mule deer doe with high winds that same trip, but somehow magically missed the Elk with a vital zone twice the size at 300 yards in zero wind?

Bottom line you weren't there. I was.

I felt 100% confident in the shot. Lack of any blood trail and an unfortunately timed storm is more to blame than anything. But upgrading to a more appropriate caliber won't hurt the next time I spend 10 days and a few thousand dollars on a hunt. I'm not talking about upgrading to some flinch inducing 7 lb 300 RUM.

Your trolling doesn't change anything at this point and just makes you look like a ___.

 

[PredatorSlayer]

And I just happened to make a 350 yard shot on a much smaller mule deer doe with high winds that same trip, but somehow magically missed the Elk with a vital zone twice the size at 300 yards in zero wind?

Bottom line you weren't there. I was.

That elk is dead, I'm sure of it. Lack of any blood trail and an unfortunately timed storm is more to blame than anything. But upgrading to a more appropriate caliber won't hurt the next time I spend 10 days and a few thousand dollars on a hunt. I'm not talking about upgrading to some flinch inducing 7 lb 300 RUM.

Your trolling doesn't change anything at this point and just makes you look like a ___.

True - I just can't relate. I've never lost an animal when I have made a perfect shot.

Lets not even get into the fact that you are 100 percent sure the animal is dead and you only looked for it for a couple hours. I have helped buddies look for elk they have shot both with a bow and with a rifle for 2 days and we have always found them. Especially if they are hit good. Thats the thing about posting all of the details of your cluster on the internet.

if you would have just asked 7 saum vs 300 wsm for elk - you wouldn't have opened yourself up to scrutiny.

Now we have a situation where you either made a bad shot and can't admit it, or you didnt have enough respect for the elk to find it if you were 100 percent certain it is dead. The latter is really kind of jacked up bro...

On that note I am out...good luck with whatever you decide. Hopefully you keep your marksmanship and game retrieving skills out of my state. We are already battling the wolves, last thing we need is guys rolling up and killing animals and not looking for them.

 

[BuckeyeRifleman]

True - I just can't relate. I've never lost an animal when I have made a perfect shot.

Lets not even get into the fact that you are 100 percent sure the animal is dead and you only looked for it for a couple hours. I have helped buddies look for elk they have shot both with a bow and with a rifle for 2 days and we have always found them. Especially if they are hit good. Thats the thing about posting all of the details of your cluster on the internet.

if you would have just asked 7 saum vs 300 wsm for elk - you wouldn't have opened yourself up to scrutiny.

Now we have a situation where you either made a bad shot and can't admit it, or you didnt have enough respect for the elk to find it if you were 100 percent certain it is dead.

We were 5 miles from the truck, 2.5 from camp, had zero sign of a hit, a 40 degree negative temperature swing in less an an hour and had to leave due to safety concerns (frozen water, wet clothes.) Any tracks/sign that was there was completely covered up with several inches of fresh snow in the morning. We made a judgement call we needed to head back to the trailhead rather than risk the weather to look for a likely impossible to find elk.

When's the right time to just call it? Or should've we just kept looking until we froze to death as some ode to the animal? Newsflash, the Elk doesn't care.

I didn't start this thread because I'm happy how things turned out.

Again, you weren't there, so I'd appreciate if you kept to the topic of this thread.

Also yes, if it hadn't happened to me, I wouldn't have believed it either. I used to think just like you, all these people talking about bullet failures are full of it. The CM ELDX combo always worked great, up until it didn't.

 

[tim_w]

My daughter pumped three 143s into a buck at 300 with her creed and not one made it to the second lung!!

+1

Seen shallow penetration on numerous kills. A number were just east coast whitetails. Its all about impact vel and whats hit IMO.

 

[jebel]

I'm in the process of assembling parts to build a mountain rifle in 7 SAUM with 1:8.5 twist to shoot the 155 gr Hammer Hunters. That would be my personal recipe for the tool you're describing.

Nothing against the 300 WSM.

 

[adk hunter]

Jebel has all the ingredients for dead elk. I like the advice to wack some whitetails once you get you rifle choice. Then the fun of what it likes and terminal performance. I would trust YOUR gut in the end. To me it seems like the 210 ABLR is super long for the WSM. Many many guys saying the berger 215 in 30 cal is to be seen! I have had my own bad taste with berger but can still listen. Last weekend we shot a hardened plate at 1000 yards in a very strong cross wind. We started with the CM lobbing them in pretty good. Listening for the sound to come back.....ting. Moved onto the 300 wm. Re-adjusted and was banging that plate every time. Short action elk gun I think of the 300. Feeding issues seem solvable.

 

[Len Backus]

Buckeyerifleman and Predator Slayer

Lighten up.