Titan Bow, Welcome to Colorado and Big Game Hunt.net

Pretty much all the rifles you mentioned would work fine for all of Colorado's big game. I personally shoot a .300 Win. Mag.

300 wsm is my choice. the 300 saum dont have very good ballistics as far as i'm concerned. mosewell get the 300 ultra mag if your gonna go ultra.

As the old adage goes, pick the rifle that you can shoot best. The Savage 116 is a beautiful rifle and they all have the potential to shoot great. The Accutriggers are superb, also. When it comes down to calibers, if you are looking for an all-around big game rifle, I have shied away from the 7mm-08 when it comes to Elk (or Moose, for that matter). I would hesitate to shoot an elk beyond 100 yards because the bullet energy truly drops off at that range. This past year I went with .270 Win rifles for my son and daughter. They were 12 and 14 last year and I decided the 7mm-08 didn't have the stopping power for elk. I had been hesitant about the recoil and the potential for developing a flinch...but after checking out the Remington reduced recoil loads, that concern went away. The reduced recoil loads in .270 Win are akin to a .243, so they can not only practice with less recoil, the loads are good for deer and pronghorn. My daughter dropped a pronghorn at 263 yards and it went about five yards. I stepped them up to the .270 Win for elk and my son put two into the heart at 270 yards with the normal load. The first shot hit true and it didn't move and I suspect would have eventually fallen, but the youth hunt guide with us told him to shoot again and the cow went down on the spot.

Additional success on Mule Deer and Elk with .300 Wby Mag (can be overkill, but still my favorite rifle) and .30-06. My wife has a .270 WSM (Winchester Featherweight, LH). She has yet to shoot anything with it as she was snowed out last year, but I took a turkey at 175 yards with it last fall. She's lucky it isn't a RH or I'd be using it all the time.

I have two favorite guns for hunting here, for elk i love my 300 mag, and for deer i just use my 243 win. plenty of gun.

Personally I would consider a 7mm, since you can load bullets from 100gr to 175gr. 100gr is a howitzer round for prairie dogs, but I'd rather be too big for the small game than too small for the big game. Sounds like a perfect reason to get 2 guns or a switch barrel....

You just described a 30-06.

Ah, what ever happened to the venerable 7x57 mauser? Very little recoil, bullets readily availble from 135 - 175 grains. Short actions and light weight to carry. Power to kill any elk if you do your part and practice with it. Flat enough shooting to be effective out to the distance you should be shooting at an animal like a deer or elk. And Accurate!!! I've owned three. All have been the most accurate tack driving machines you can imagine.

You guys can have all the calibers containing the words Magnum, Short Magnum, Ultra Magnum, etc., etc. etc. You're letting the Marketing Guru's hype you into buying another one of their new guns. The only reason they keep coming out with them is to keep selling an item that should last your lifetime, your son's lifetime, and your grandson's lifetime and really never needs replacing in the foreseable future.

Buy a 7x57 mauser (or even a 30.06) and you can hunt with it from the time your 10 until you turn 95. And you will have enough gun to be able to hunt & kill any animal in North America with the possible exception of the Big Bad Brownies in Alaska. We all like to buy new guns, but truth be known, if you hunt only in North America, all the gun you'll ever need can be filled by either of these calibers.

I'd say you're much better off buying just one 7x57 or 30.06 and then put all the money most guys spend purchasing lots of guns into having a good gunsmith make a tack driver out of your single gun. If you do that, You'll even have alot of money left over to buy ammunition for all the practice necessary to get you ready to do your part. Maybe even enough change left to pay for a few big game licenses.

Just my take, when faced with the choice of shelling out my money for a new fangled so called "Magnum" caliber or spending the same amount on a non-resident elk hunting trip. Guess which makes more sense? A magnum's bang may be louder, but when I pull the trigger on my old 7x57 or 30.06, I know I'm puttin meat in the freezer. Never failed me yet. Besides, while the Magnum Guru's are paying $30 - $80 dollars a box for ammo and driving to the nearest town with a population over 100,000 to get it; I'll just stop by my local hardware store or gas station, pay $10-$12 for a box, go on out to the field and harvest my animal. After all, I've had the money to shoot five practice shots for every one a Magnum Man can afford. That's what really counts, getting to where you can do your part and put that little piece of lead where it does the most good. Anyone who says that a 7x57 or a 30.06 won't kill an elk out to 375 yards has never hunted with an old fart like me who works for Rack-N-Rod! Anyone who thinks the bullet from a 300 Ultra Mag placed in the gut is going to bring down an elk quickly and humanely has never hunted with a marketing greenhorn who thinks he's an expert because he works for Cabela's..

The 7x57 was my first hunting rifle & it was plenty accurate. I now use a 280rem with handloads for most of my hunting & it'll do the job as long as i do mine. But it's hard to beat a 180gr out of a 30-06!