How many use a .50cal for elk?

[tradoerr]

Was wondering how many of you use a .50cal for hunting elk, and the type/size bullet you use?

 

[Mtman725]

I did but picked up a 54 just to chase the Wapiti, more energy and better penetration on the angle shoots, and just PRB .

 

[tenngun]

I shot only one elk and it was with a .54 round ball and at about thirty yards.
It’s about forty grains bigger then a .50. Is there something that 4/100 of an inch bigger would hit that the smaller wouldn’t?
For ML, and round ball at that we don’t talk a lot about Ft/lbs but I note that the fifty in Lyman’s black powder ballistic book can have more energy then a .54 in moderate to large charges.
Eastren elk were hunted out with generally smaller rifles then used in the west.
However I think a .54 would remain my rifle if I ever went after one again.
Of course elk is just a big deer, as is moose, but there is a world of differnce between a hundred and twenty pound deer around here, a mulie that’s twice or more and an elk that’s closer to cattle sized
You may need a ‘little more on the ball’

 

[waksupi]

One local lady uses a .45 round ball, and seems to kill elk okay.

 

[oldwood]

I built a copy of a .50 Cal. Dreppert Lancaster long rifle for a friend's son to use hunting the flint deer season in Pa. in the mid 1980's.. For deer , he used the standard .50 Cal. load of .490 patched lead ball , 80 gr. FFFG black. , 1 turn in 56" twist Getz barrel. ............He moved to Colorado for work , and sends us photo's of the elk , and mule deer he kills each year with the same gun , and load setup. Us old guys , "left behind" , have to claim some credit for his success ,due to perhaps teaching him to be , a good hunter. As an amateur ornithologist once said, while being attacked by shore birds, "We left no tern un-stoned"............oldwood

 

[Omahkapi'si]

I would think shot placement is a big factor.

 

[Dave Marsh]

.58 caliber with a roundball for me and a well-placed shot.

 

[Mtman725]

I would think shot placement is a big factor.

With anything Gods truth!

 

[oldwood]

All time favorite for bigger animals , just 'cause I'm spoiled , is a .62 X 37 inch barrel longrifle. Back to using a.50 nowadays ,it's just lighter for this old guy to carry. The .62 is less sensitive to shot angle , and will bust through more brush than most.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

I hunted elk for years with a .50 calibre CVA Mountain Rifle…patched round ball, 95 grains of powder. That combination worked nicely for years, then I started hunting with a .54 calibre…never went back.

Deer and Antelope hunting, .45 or .50 calibres are awesome…elk hunting, I use a .54…

 

[Stykbow]

In before the mud slinging starts!
Seriously, I have no experience hunting elk, but I have to think a 50 would do the job.

 

[longcruise]

I would think shot placement is a big factor.

Agreed. And good shot placement is even gooder with a bigger ball.

Haven't been any elk killed legally in Colorado with a 50 ball for three or four years.

 

[SDSmlf]

Was wondering how many of you use a .50cal for hunting elk, and the type/size bullet you use?

Have you ever been close to mature bull elk, dead or alive? They are not just big deer.

 

[87TT]

Elk are tough tough critters. The problem with a patched round ball is not killing one. It is killing one quickly. They can soak up a lot of shots and still travel miles before they lay down. They can change zip codes and have been known to survive a single lung shot. I have seen a cow elk knocked off her feet with a fatal double lung shot for a large unmentionable, get back on her feet and try to run. I shot a young bull with a compound bow. Double lung pass complete pass through walk on wobbly legs 400 yards over a hill before he dropped. It was a high lung shot so his lungs didn't fill right away. The entrance and exit holes have a tendency to plug up with tissue and hair. Since with a muzzleloader, a quick follow up shot isn't usually possible, The first shot should be well placed and make as large a hole as possible. 54 would be my minimum and 50-75 yards. Unless using a conical.

 

[Mtman725]

This is a young bull but big body,as others have said use enough gun!

 

[waksupi]

View attachment 137353 This is a young bull but big body,as others have said use enough gun!

Looks pretty warm, lose any meat? I always skinned and quartered as quick as possible. A friend lost a moose to spoilage from not doing that immediately.

 

[cynthialee]

I have never shot an Elk, but the older retired gentleman I bought my TC Hawken .50 from used it to hunt only elk. He used the 385 grain Hornady Great Plains Bullet. Took game numerous times.
Now I own it and I only use PRB and only hunt white tail, but I know those 385 grain bullets he gave me with the rifle will do the job if I had to shoot an elk. (that is if I was willing to shoot them heavy conicals....I feel abused when I shoot them.)

 

[Snydly]

In the 70s and 80s I used a .45 for everything from antelope, deer and elk. Never had a problem. Made sure I was close and made sure of shot placement. Wyoming has lots of big game animals and there were more opportunities than now..Now I use a 54 for elk,,,50 for deer and 45 for antelope. All with real black and patched ball only.

 

[LME]

Here we go again! You need to remember that Goliath was killed by David with a rock. You do have to admit he had some heavy backup. You can kill an Elephant with a .22 if you hit it in the right place. I wouldn't even consider hunting Elk with anything smaller than a .54. I feel I owe that to the animal.

 

[Mtman725]

Looks pretty warm, lose any meat? I always skinned and quartered as quick as possible. A friend lost a moose to spoilage from not doing that immediately.

It was 18 below the evening this one was taken, he was in the cooler before the frost was off him. Your right if the weather is anywhere above freezing you better be moving your butt.Or they will bone sour. We don't skin them out only if we have to,you'll lose a lot of meat due to drying out. The same with quartering them up.