The Best Bullets For Elk

When I finally picked the 6x6 herd bull out from the tangle of aspen and pine saplings, all I could see was the point of his shoulder, one side of his face, and the whale-tail formed by the 5th point and main beam on one antler. That was enough. The herd was nervous, and this was the first glimpse I’d had of him after being right amongst ’em for some time. I knew this was likely the only opportunity I would get.

My 6.5 PRC cartridge was on the light side for big bull elk, but my bullet was ideal: I was shooting a super-accurate 127-grain Barnes LRX, and I figured it would penetrate adequately even if I struck heavy bone.

The seconds were ticking. I glued the crosshairs to the point of the bull’s shoulder and squeezed the trigger. The woods erupted with elk crashing in every direction. No less than eight smaller bulls dashed past, one so close I could almost touch him. Hoofbeats subsided into the distance, and not far from where the herd bull had stood, I heard a welcome sound: the rasp of a last breath.

I found him 14 steps from where he’d stood when I shot. The Barnes LRX bullet had impacted exactly where I’d aimed. I traced its path as I broke the bull down for the pack out. The LRX had smashed a two-inch gap into the massive shoulder bone just above the grapefruit-size shoulder knuckle, penetrated about eight inches of heavy muscle at a rearward angle, taking out two ribs as it obliquely entered the thoracic cavity, decimated both lungs, and came to rest against the hide about four inches back of the rearmost rib on the far side.

Elk Are Tough Customers

If you’ve ever been told that your deer rifle and ammo is good enough for elk, you likely need to fire your advisor. A mature bull elk is about four times as big as a mature whitetail buck, with bones, muscles mass and thoracic cavity size to match. Plus, there’s the shocking tenacity for life that elk are legendary for.

If I’d been shooting a traditional deer bullet—particularly one that usually stops against the off-side hide on a broadside shot through the lungs—that bullet never would have gotten into the vital cavity of that bull elk. From the hide on the point of the shoulder to where the bullet smashed through those two ribs, I measured about 12 inches of bullet path. Once inside the ribs, the bullet traveled another 22 inches or so through the vitals at an angle.

That initial 12 inches (because of the angle) before ever reaching the vitals is as wide as the average whitetail buck is. Plus, elk hide, bone and muscle are far harder to penetrate than a broadside deer hide, a thin rib and lungs (which are just strong bubbles).

Let’s consider opportunities and shot angles commonly encountered when hunting elk, and then dig into what type of bullet construction is suitable for cleanly killing big-bodied, tough old bulls.

Fleeting Opportunities

Although many elk are shot in big meadows and across canyons, where you can usually wait for a broadside presentation, elk are also often shot in big timber country. Those shot opportunities tend to be close and brief, and the hunter has to take whatever shot angle is offered or lose the opportunity.

If you wait for the bull to present a nice, broadside shot, you’ll lose out on good opportunities. You should be prepared to shoot from any reasonable angle. To do so ethically, you must be shooting a bullet that can be counted on to penetrate.

One of the most common shot opportunities is just like the quartering-to situation described earlier. Bulls that have heard you or caught a glimpse of movement will go on high alert, but will often stand quartering to and stare a hole through you for a few seconds before bolting. That’s your cue to shoot. Once he moves, that bull will probably vanish like woodsmoke in the wind.

Bulls also often freeze in a quartering-away position and look back at you over their shoulder. In this case you’ve got to tuck your bullet into the rear of the ribcage, aiming for the off-side front leg. On impact, your bullet will first have to penetrate through intestines and/or a paunch full of dense browse. Half-digested stomach matter is extremely hard on bullets, and will tear a thin-jacketed cup-and-core deer bullet to shreds. Good controlled-expansion designs will usually drive through.

Weight Retention and Penetration

Once into the thoracic cavity, your bullet must still have enough retained weight and speed to put big, clean-killing holes through the vital organs. Ideally, if your bullet is big enough, you’ll break that off-side front shoulder before the bullet comes to rest, helping anchor the bull.

Again, no deer bullet that usually just penetrates a broadside whitetail deer can or should be expected to kill a big mature bull elk from a quartering-away shot angle.

If you are lucky enough to get a broadside shot at a bull, that soft deer bullet will work fine. You won’t get an exit wound, so there likely won’t be a blood trail, but it’ll blow a giant hole in the close lung and should get at least partway through the far lung before it stops. You’ll kill that bull, but you may have to do some tracking.

Case in point: I saw an 11-year-old boy shoot a 5x5 bull from 200 yards, using a 100-grain deer bullet out of his .243 Winchester. The elk was perfectly broadside, standing unaware on the edge of a huge, steep canyon full of deadfall.

All Angles

Marvelously, the bull dropped at the shot, which impacted perfectly centered through the lungs. After high fives, the boy’s father took the rifle, unloaded it, and stowed it in a rifle case. As they approached the bull, it jumped up, dove into the canyon, and died a quarter-mile down that extremely steep mountainside.

We spent until midnight tracking it, quartering it up, and backpacking it out of that hole. Without question, a slightly bigger cartridge and a deeper-penetrating bullet would have killed that bull much quicker.

There’s one shot that I’m unwilling to take on elk unless my quarry is already wounded. It’s the humorously named “Texas heart shot” from directly behind. With such a shot, there’s no path to the vitals that doesn’t have to first pass through lots of bone and literal feet worth of heavy muscle and a densely packed abdomen.

It’s worth noting that there are serious deep-woods elk hunters in northwestern Montana and northern Idaho and in Roosevelt elk country that swear by cartridges such as the .338 Win. Mag., .35 Whelen, and .375 H&H because when loaded correctly, those cartridges can kill cleanly from any angle. Wise old hunters have learned that the ability to ethically take a going-away opportunity often makes the difference between eating elk steaks or tag soup all winter.

Cartridge or Bullet?

Note that most of this discussion is centered on bullets, not cartridges. For the most part, your deer-hunting cartridge will suffice to hunt elk with—as long as you pick an elk-appropriate bullet.

In my opinion, really good elk cartridges (meaning they shoot bullets of adequate weight and diameter to kill gnarly old huge-bodied bulls cleanly) start with the .270 Winchester and 6.8 Western. You can certainly kill elk with a 6.5 Creedmoor, and better yet with a 6.5 PRC or the like, but I believe you’re on the cusp of too little cartridge authority.

Yes, I killed the 6x6 bull on the hunt detailed earlier with a 6.5 PRC. Yes, it works. It’s absolutely adequate. But is “adequate” good enough? I want a cartridge that is good at killing elk. There are those that will disagree with me, but personally I don’t think the 6.5 family achieves that.

That said, picking the right bullet is far more important. Choose a controlled-expansion projectile designed to maintain its weight and penetrate deeply.

Some Favorites

Almost any monometal bullet will serve well for elk. Barnes’s LRX and TTSX, Hornady’s CX, Nosler’s E-Tip, Federal’s Trophy Copper, and Hammer’s Hunter are a few favorites.

In lead-core designs, pick a thick-jacketed bullet with the core bonded in. Arguably the best of the lead-core elk bullets is Federal’s Terminal Ascent. It’s a hybrid; the rear half is all copper, with a lead core bonded into the front half and topped with a cutting-edge Slipstream composite tip. It’s a very aerodynamic bullet that opens well at long range (something monometal bullets can’t equal) and holds together perfectly even at very high-speed close-range impacts.

Other terrific options are Swift’s A-Frame and Scirocco II; Nosler’s Partition and AccuBond; Federal’s Trophy Bonded Tip, and Speer’s Fusion.

Hunters often balk at the high cost of premium bullets, preferring to save $15 or $20 by purchasing cheaper ammo. This baffles me; a proper elk hunt—whether guided or DIY—is usually an expensive undertaking, and I’m just not willing to gamble on a soft, thin-jacketed deer bullet to make the most of that opportunity I’ve worked so hard for. Nor should you. 

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