204Ruger

Obtained an elk depredation permit to take one cow elk. With the help of two fit young men, I managed to stalk close enough for a 405 yard shot in a stiff crosswind with my 30-06 Remington 700. Results were good, and the meals so far have been excellent. The stalk was pretty tough, several miles of rough country and towards the end a roughly 200 yard crawl to get into position.



The 178 grain Hornady ELD-X bullet broke her foreleg and penetrated through the lower part of the heart.


We de-boned that elk, put the game-bags into our three backpacks and hiked back down to the road, about a mile away.

Good hunt! The ol' 30-06 will still get the job done. Imagine that.

Regards, Guy

Nice shootin' Guy. I know there are cartridges with higher velocities, that are flatter shooting, having less recoiling and harder hitting rounds than the 30-06 but the ole' gal still gets it done and IMO is probably the most versatile hunting cartridge there is.

Nice pictures and thanks for sharing your success.

git r done!

Thanks all! Glad I had a couple of strong, young fellows to help me on that hunt.

Guy

Thanks for sharing the story and photo, we love that. And it is amazing in this day and age, by many that the old war horse can still take game, as it has for a long time. Most would say it just can not hold up to that chore when you could or need to use a 300 super zapper magnum.

Looks like a great hunt there, Guy.
And way to go with the old smoke-pole that the Gen Z guys say is obsolete compared to those 300 SuperSilly Magnums.Tell that to that elk!

No rifle magnums in my safe either, my 7-08AI, 270 Win and 338-06AI always seem to bring home the meat without beating me to death in the process. Thanks for sharing the adventure, and enoy those backstraps!

Good to see you hear again.

Excellent shooting Guy. Great pictures.
For large type game, the 30 06 is always a great choice, in my opinion. LOL
I'm a fan of the 7 08 for large game, but around here hunting Whitetails a 243 is plenty big enough.

Rick in Oregon wrote: ↑Tue Jan 31, 2023 11:06 am Looks like a great hunt there, Guy.
And way to go with the old smoke-pole that the Gen Z guys say is obsolete compared to those 300 SuperSilly Magnums.Tell that to that elk!

No rifle magnums in my safe either, my 7-08AI, 270 Win and 338-06AI always seem to bring home the meat without beating me to death in the process. Thanks for sharing the adventure, and enoy those backstraps!

Good to see you hear again.

My son and I enjoyed backstraps from that elk yet again last night. Having an elk in the freezer is a good thing. Lots of great meat!

I like this little forum, though I admit I don't post a lot here. Here's where I come if I've got a 204 question for sure.

Regards, Guy

I noticed you mentioned you used a Hornady ELD-X bullet. What's your thoughts on the solid sopper bullets such as Barnes Triple Shock and other like them? I've never tried the ELD-X but it sure looks like it did a number on the elk you bagged.

Thanks,

Jim - I'm so sorry that I didn't revisit this post earlier.

Re mono-metal lead free bullets... I've only used the Barnes TSX on game. From my 25-06... It was slinging the 100 gr TSX at 3340 fps! The buck I took at very close range was an instant kill with massive damage to the heart. Maybe a 20-25 yard shot. But I wondered on a couple of other mule deer if the TSX had expanded at all. Still, I got the deer.

Another time was on Arctic grizzly up in the Brooks Range. I'd dropped the bear twice with my 30-06 and 200 grain Nosler Partitions. He was just sprawled out on the ground, dying too slowly. It was quite a moment. I started to reload my empty 30-06 but the guide passed me his 338 and said "Finish him." So I did. The guide's rifle was a 338 Win Mag loaded with factory 225 grain Barnes TSX bullets. That shot did a fine job and finished the grizz in short order.

I've tested the Barnes TSX and the TTSX as well as Hornady's CX. It's worth noting that Hornady and Nosler part from Barnes with the composition of their bullets. Barnes uses pure copper - it mushrooms more quickly in the TTSX version at any rate. It's softer. Hornady and Nosler went with an alloy of copper and zinc like the guilding metal of our normal cup and core jacketed bullets. They're pretty tough! You'll get penetration, but the expansion is a bit slower. At least in my testing. I haven't taken game with either the Hornady CX nor the Nosler E-Tip.

I hope that helps - I'd run Barnes TTSX for almost anything. Accurate, good expansion and deep penetration.

Regards, Guy

Guy - thanks for the reply.

I became aware of the Barnes bullet line several years back when I when I got a 300 WBY MAG rifle with a very good friend of mine. Along with it, came 100 rounds of loaded ammunition stuffed with a 165/168 gr TTSX bullet. At 200 yards with a cold barrel it shoots 3-shot groups about the size of the nickel as fast as I can shoot them. I figured that's as good as I could ever shoot them that fast in the woods so I've stuck with them.

I liked them so much that when I developed a round for my 30-06 I went with Barnes but settled on the 175 TSX since it just shot the best. Groups are quite similar to the 300 WBY. Both of those rifles and loaded ammo will be with me this fall.

I appreciate you sharing your experience and results in the big game area---grizzly bears are about as sporty as they come.

Thanks again,