I was a hunting guide the fall of 1975 in SW Montana at Lake View Lodge. Just before that in the summer I was a fishing guide. I spent most of my pay on wine, women and song, and the rest I spent foolishly. So, by the time I was a hunting guide, I had a Ruger .243 left. When a dude would screw up a shot, I finished the elk off with a head shot. The last 3 dudes passed up rag horns, 5X5, and I had 1 tag, and shot a spike. They all wanted me to give them some meat since they didn't shoot anything. I was smart in that I didn't mark my tag and made them mark theirs to take the meat. Point eing, most any modern hipowered rifle can kill an elk with a good shot. You don't need a 338mag or 300 Weatherby to drop an elk. In the past 20 years, I've killed more elk with a 12ga slug, than my rifles.

Pap