No.
Don't believe the rumors that most of the elk in North America have been taken with factory cup & core bullets from old-timer calibers like the .270, .308, 30-06 or even a 30-30.
Elk have been hunted in North America for a couple hundred years. This hunting pressure has caused the elk to evolve. They are now tougher, bigger, stronger than even 25 years ago. You should use a magnum, at minimum 300 Win Mag, better .338 Win Mag or larger. If you have to use factory rounds, use premium bullets.... a box of 20 should run about $80. Of course by next year you should be handloading.
Buy a few boxes of different premium bullets. Try them out at the range, aiming for 0.5 MOA accuracy. The best idea of field performance and accuracy is by using a bench rest and lead sled and letting the barrel cool down about 10-15minutes in between shots. Once you get one 3 round grouping less than 1 MOA please post on this forum to ask us how we can better accurize your magnum rifle (it is okay to shoot a 25yard grouping and say it was 100, looks even better if you write 100yards on the paper and put a dime by it). All shots on elk occur at 400 yards or more, so make sure you have a premium scope with required magnification, windage, etc. It is best to have an energy of 2500 amps at your intended range, otherwise you won't have enough hydrostatic shock to cause a bang-flop.
It would be unfortunate if can't get a magnum this year. But don't worry in a few years there will a new and better magnum caliber, that shoots flatter and gives even more amperage past 400 yards.
In case you don't believe me, I found some article on the internet which supports my opinion - this phenonenom is even happening with white tail deer in the US
http://www.chuckhawks.com/super-ultra-ultra_magnum.htm
Once you shoot your elk, please post pics... otherwise it didn't happen. It will, of course be at least a 6x6, and we can then argue about what it will score and whether we would have bothered to shoot it or not. When taking the photo it is important to place the animal well in front of you and generally make yourself look smaller, so that we can see the trophy better and argue more vehemently.
As we often say on this board, it is one man's opinion, though of course what we really mean is that everyone elses opinion is wrong and mine is correct.
P.S. When you want your opinion to really count USE ALL CAPS.
P.P.S Also to make your opinion even more valid get your post count above 4000 or so by making 10-15 one line comments a day on various threads. The best is by clicking on the "I shot xxxxx" posts and say "nice animal".
P.P.P.S These also help
