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I always get a kick out of reading how a certain caliber needs "XXXX" amount of energy at a certain yardage to effectively kill an elk, deer, coyote, groud squirrel, etc...
Whats going to happen if the bullet drops below the 1400 ftlbs line? Is the bullet going to be deflected off the hide??? LOL Seems to me that an arrow launched from a bow has very little energy and still can manage to make it thru the lungs of an elk. I'm not advocating the .222 or other small stuff for elk, I'm just saying use a "reasonable" caliber with a good bullet, hit the critter where it lives and its game over.
Usually when people start quoting BC, sectional density, and much of the other worthless ballistic garbage for general hunting purposes, they really have very little idea that all it takes to kill an elk is the shooter putting a well constructed bullet in a relatively large area (heart/lung area of an elk).
You keep making sense like that and your going turn off all the arm chair ballistics experts. I've always liked to quote the definition of expert here. According to the dictionary EX means has been and SPERT means a drip under pressure.
Got a friend up here in Orofino Idaho whose wife killed her elk for years with a 243. She usually shot a cow and mostly under a hundred yards. Her shot was a neck shot and most of her kills never went further than a few yards. I never had the heart to tell her that her gun was to small for elk.
I've hunted elk for 45 years or so and first used a 308 Norma mag and then in 1979 began using an 8mm Rem mag. My hunting partner has had excellent succes with the 7mm Rem mag and 175 grain bullets. I've got friends whom use everything else, from 25-06's thru 338 Win mags and most of them harvest if they get a good shot.
The main argument for the bigger guns is they allow you to take either longer shots or worse presentation shots. A few years ago I had a chance at a dandy 6 point bull. My only shot was it running away at about 90 yards.
The 220 grain 32 caliber bullet at just over 3000 fps went in to the base of the spine and traveled up thru the top of the lungs and out the front of the chest. That was the only shot I had on an elk that season and I wouldn't have taken it with my 280.
I like the magnums, but as we get older a heavier gun can be a pain to carry. Being handicapped doesn't help and the lighter gun helps there also. I won't shoot as far with the 280 nor will I take shots where I'm not sure the bullet has enough penetration to do the job, but like was said above most hunters can do a good job with most centerfire rifle calibers with good shot placement and with keeping ranges reasonable.
