Elk hunting with a 223

[Art Eatman]

The fox-bonk, I was half-asleep against a tree, watching a deer trail. a motion caught my eye, some fifteen feet off. I lip-sqeaked, and here came Foxy-Loxey. Closer and closer until Bonk! Instant bottle brush! Instant practicing of being elsewhere. Scent neutralizer? Yeah, if you count cigarette odor, campfire smoke and BO. He came from upwind...

And in some areas, if you don't hunt from some sort of elevated stand, you won't see a deer. Aw, maybe if you can crawl on your belly and ignore cactus spines and mesquite thorns. Ten feet to ten yards of visibility, if you're lucky. And it's not in jungly high-rainfall country, either. I have a 100-acre patch of that in my southeast pasture--here in the desert. You can get into it real easy, if you use lopping shears.

 

[H&Hhunter]

H&H - you look disoriented in that cape photo, two rounds? Up close? Is that a beretta double?

berettashotgun,

I guess I do look a little disoriented. The rifle is a Searcy .470NE. Two shots at about a 2 second interval the first at about 15 yards the second at about 15', but that is not what rang my bell. I was coming down off an awesome adrenalin high. That bull wasn't very happy with me at the time of his demise.

 

[Art Eatman]

Ah, H&H, so he had the old, "late again with the rent check" look about him?

 

[H&Hhunter]

Art,

He was done with looks and insults and late night phone calls. He was coming to collect.

 

[learningman]

Wow!! The old 223 can really bring the old blood pressure to a boil. Hunting ethics are a subjective term IMHO. Every on of us on this web site could have a different idea of what is the best to use in any hunting situation. The hope is that we all have some sort of common cense and use proper shot placement, caliber, etc.,etc.. Have I used a 223 on deer sized game, yes I have and have been very successful with that caliber with no BS included. That being said I would never use said caliber on an elk hunt. I have bigger boomers that I feel are much more suited for that job. I have passed on alot of big muley's because I didn't feel that I could make a clean shot on an animal with the 223. Could I have made that shot with a bigger gun, probably yes. But I din't bring a bigger gun I brought a 223 and I knew it's limitations and didn't take a shot that I wasn't completly confident that I could make successfully. To me thats the bottom line know matter what caliber you use. I have killed my fair share of game just as dead with a 223 than all of my other guns. But I take pride in my hunting and do my absolute best to make sure that my shot's are good and as clean and quick as possible. I believe that's the hope that we all share. As long as we 223 hunters use our heads and make good clean shot's then I say good hunting to all. Chose your caliber, be happy with it, and lets others do the same.

 

[XDKingslayer]

After a while I've come to figure out that the biggest proclaimers of true sportsmanship and absolute experts on anything tend to be the biggest B.S.ers with the least amount of field/hunting experience.

Don't let them bother you. They're always there to chastise someone elses hunting style. I've always been a firm believer that unless you're jumping out of trees naked onto your prey you really don't really have a right to comment on my hunting style so ****.

Me, I do whatever puts tasty meat in my belly because that's what tasty animals are for.

 

[john917v]

There seems to be some hostility. I would like to try to clarify things. I like X's truck analogy. I like to (rather, always do) choose the most appropriate tool for the task at hand, be it hunting, metal working, jewelry-making, whatever it is. I understand that the .223 is a great round, and an even better round with higher-quality bullets like those offered by Barnes, etc. Shot placement is crucial as well. I would prefer to shoot a smaller bullet with better placement, but why not shoot an appropriately-sized bullet with the same good placement? It equates to a more humane kill. You wouldn't hunt a squirrel you intend on eating with a 45-70 Govt, would you? I would hate to loose an animal to an inadequate cartridge (inadequate for that purpose, not inferior), and to make it suffer unnecessarily. I would have no qualms using the .223 on deer at close ranges - 75+- Yds, but I would not touch Elk with it.

 

[Inspector3711]

I use a Daisy for elk... Come on, get real. .223 might work on smaller deer if you are really good where it's a legal round. But on elk?? Why risk it? 30 cal or above for most people is the way to go. A .25-06 - .280 will work but you need to know what you are doing. IMO most folks are better off with a bigger more hard hitting round. I own a .25-06 that has taken 3 elk (not by me) but I wouldn't use it for anything larger than deer without a whole lot of practice.