44 MAGNUM for Elk

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Arizonagunrunner

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Took my Marlin 1894 out last season for elk. Didn't have a bull tag, just a cow tag. Took the elk at 85 yards with one shot. Used a 240 grn soft point. Hit upper lung area, elk went 40 -50 yards and dropped.
My hunting buddys said it was a luck shot and that the 44 is not good for elk. I disagree. Within 100yds I think it will drop bull or cow. The cow weighted in at 600lbs.
Any thoughts on the 44 for elk?
 
It wouldn't' t be my first choice,but at short range,I see no reason why not.Your shot hit where it needed to,so the shot wasn'
t luck at all.Nice work.
 
Ruminant physiology didnt evolve to protect against broadside projectiles. If you double lung anything it is going to take its last breath where you shot it and lose blood pressure extremely fast. Once the hide and ribcage are breached the lungs provide little stopping power for any projectile. Thousands of elk are killed with an arrow pushing 80-90 ft lbs of energy and many time more friction.
 
.44 magnum was plenty powerful enough for any North American game animal when it was invented. Hell, the .357 magnum was used to drop elk when it was invented. However, as we all know, and as documented by Chuck Hawks, most larger North American game animals have progressively become harder to kill these last 75 years. Elk that could be dropped without fuss by a 30-06 in the 1930's required a .375 by the late 1970's and now would merely brush off a hit with any caliber that isn't .458 or better.

Lol, no really......
.44 magnum, 300gr. going 1250fps.....plenty for Elk within 100 yards.
 
Big holes in organs make for dead animals. .44 Magnum makes big holes. If you can consistently/ethically put the big hole maker into the part of the animal where the organs are, you have a winning combination.

I would prefer something that offered a flatter trajectory at greater distance.
 
CoRo:
I will see if I can find my pic's of the beaset. Shot it in Unit 7 Flagstaff AZ.
Did a spot and stalk for about an hour. was close to 5pm when the beast was taken.
 
Of course it will work. So will a 22lr. A better question is why? In heavy brush with an anticipated shot at short yardage I do not see a problem.
 
Of course a .44 can kill an elk. My goal in a hunting cartridge is to provide for a reasonable chance of an exit wound on a killing shot.
An exit wound makes for much easier tracking on a less than ideal shot. A heart/lung shot makes that superfluous.
 
Not my first choice. IMO not the best choice. Maybe not even a good choice. Obviously it will work if everything goes right, but elk are big and I would much prefer a real rifle caliber instead of a big pistol caliber.

Having seen elk up close in the wild, if I were to hunt them I'm thinking a 300 Magnum.
 
Respect for the Game Animal is of utmost importance.
With a pistol caliber , I would limit the distance of my shots and surely with the .44 Mag at 75 yards or less.
My feeling is that the Game Field is NOT the place for stunts.
I've killed several PA whitetails with my .44 Mag at ranges not more than 30 yards with no problems.
 
most larger North American game animals have progressively become harder to kill these last 75 years
Click to expand...

Isn't that good news though? We can all claim the need for a .50 BMG for hunting soon the way things are going according to Chuck, right? :D
 
600 lbs is an exceptionally large cow elk. Good shooting! I toppled this animal with my 357 MAG revolver. Weight was approx 400 lbs.

Precise shot placement and the right bullet will down any animal with 44 MAG!! It is true that 44 MAG kills far better than mere paper charts would suggest. My Ruger carbine in 44 MAG shoots 270 grain Deep Curl bullet by Speer BEST of all - excellent accuracy and deep penetration.

TR

357MAGelk-1.jpg
 
T.R. said:
600 lbs is an exceptionally large cow elk. Good shooting! I toppled this animal with my 357 MAG revolver. Weight was approx 400 lbs.

Precise shot placement and the right bullet will down any animal with 44 MAG!! It is true that 44 MAG kills far better than mere paper charts would suggest. My Ruger carbine in 44 MAG shoots 270 grain Deep Curl bullet by Speer BEST of all - excellent accuracy and deep penetration.

TR

357MAGelk-1.jpg
Click to expand...
What was the range?
Pistol shots are great,and in reality the shots really say a lot about your "Hunting Ability".
 
.44 magnum was plenty powerful enough for any North American game animal when it was invented. @#!*% , the .357 magnum was used to drop elk when it was invented. However, as we all know, and as documented by Chuck Hawks, most larger North American game animals have progressively become harder to kill these last 75 years. Elk that could be dropped without fuss by a 30-06 in the 1930's required a .375 by the late 1970's and now would merely brush off a hit with any caliber that isn't .458 or better.

Lol, no really......
.44 magnum, 300gr. going 1250fps.....plenty for Elk within 100 yards.
Click to expand...

LOL!!! I was like... "WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA?????????"
 
If you can kill an elk with a .44 Magnum revolver (or .357, as pictured above), then there should be no question that a .44 Magnum rifle will do the same. Limited range? Compared to a .300 Win Mag, sure. Compared to the revolver? Longer range, really.
 
I think 44 is plenty for elk, espcially with a rifle.

I know plenty of people that have done it with a 44 mag pistol too.

Only problem with the 1894 specifically is the elk loads my dad and his buddies rolled up for his Super Black Hawk Hunter won't feed in my rifle.

I found most 44 loads drop like a rock after 125 yards or so, so a scope is a necessity after 100 yards, in my view.
 
Some of my 305 grain hard cast 44 mag loads are zipping along at nearly 1,700 fps from my M-92 carbine. That is about like the original 45-90 black powder loads. And those were considered great for Elk.

I have taken Elk with a 54 caliber round ball, muzzle loader at 90 yards. So a well loaded 44 mag repeater will work just fine with proper shot placement.
 
Never tried it, would not be my first choice, but given time to set up the right shot I'm guessing it would work as well as muzzle loaders of old. I have shot a few bears, etc. with a .444, which is another animal all together, but had no problem putting hard cast bullets right through their rib cages.
 
the 240 grainer didnt expand it was found on the other side of the hide though. It destroyed both lungs though. I normally use my 06 for Elk. But I wanted to try and work close, and see if I could bag one. Now if I had a bull tag, the 06 would have been the pick.
Next cow tag will be using my 30-30. I have hunted and killed most everything with the model 94. At 150 yards I have never found it lacking.
Whitetail/Mule /Pronghorn /Varmints / Mt. Lion / Blackbear /Montana Bison /Bobcat/ and my favorite was a bull moose in Washington State, shot it at 100 yards in the Selkirk range. 170 grainer did its job. moose ran about 150 yards and laid down and died. Remington Core Lokt mushroomed out perfectly.
 
c.latrans said:
Never tried it, would not be my first choice, but given time to set up the right shot I'm guessing it would work as well as muzzle loaders of old. I have shot a few bears, etc. with a .444, which is another animal all together, but had no problem putting hard cast bullets right through their rib cages.
Click to expand...
+1 for the .444, my favorite rifle.
 
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