6.5 Creedmoor as Elk Medicine?

6.5 Creedmoor: Elk slayer with limitations. Very potent to 400 yards and maybe a little beyond…

To Kill an Elk

There is absolutely no denying it. Elk are tough critters. They are legendary as survivors of gunshot wounds and revered as hard to knock down. I’ve heard the advice and I’ve given it in turn. “Shoot until they stop moving.” This isn’t an urban legend or some tall tale. Elk are just thoroughly tough animals with a lot of bone, muscle, and will to survive.

It is for this reason that so many elk hunters choose to “power-up” their hunting rig by selecting from hard-hitting magnums. Some won’t go below 7mm Remington Magnum. Others choose from the various 300 magnums, while still others gun-up to 338 and 375 magnums. From a pure knock-down perspective, there is no fault in this logic. When it comes to taking elk, all else being equal, bigger is definitely better…to a point.

Too Much Gun?

You are not going to find a lot of 416 Rigbys or 458 Lotts in the elk field. In fact, even the 375 H&H doesn’t find too much favor with elk slayers. Why wouldn’t these cartridges be more popular if bigger was really better? In reality there are two reasons. First, to get really big bullets to go fast enough to be considered flat-shooting by western standards, the amount of powder and recoil becomes stupid. Second, those big guns have silly levels of recoil even without super-flat trajectory.

Any truthful shooter will tell you that recoil sucks. It has no redeeming qualities when it comes to accurate shot placement. Recoil takes away focus and concentration. Getting punched in the shoulder while simultaneously hearing the muzzle blast from a modern large centerfire rifle isn’t a pleasant experience. Good shooters adapt to recoil and overcome it, within limits. Poor shooters often become poorer shooters when discharging magnum rifles.

Aim Small, Miss Small

In big game hunting, shot placement is nearly everything. An expanding bullet that penetrates both lungs or the heart of an animal will end its life in very short order. This is also true of a broadhead-tipped arrow impacting at a measly 200 feet per second. Putting a hole through the vitals is critical and doing massive damage speeds things along. This is why archers are forbidden from hunting with target points and must instead use a wide slicing broadhead.

The dirty little secret about big game hunting is that misses and poor shot placement occur…a lot. I’ve been the guy pulling the trigger on some pretty awful shots, and I’ve seen more than my share of the same from others. I’ve never lost a big game animal nor ever really even come close; however, I’ve made some shots that only by the grace of God was such an outcome spared.

When it comes to big game hunting, every hunter must know their slam-dunk/layup range with their weapon. This is fundamental but often taken for granted or even overlooked. Every lethal weapon has an effective range. Gronk knew the effective range of his spear. Each of us must follow suit with our rifles, muzzleloaders, and bows.

The 6.5 Creedmoor Debate

So, is the 6.5 Creedmoor an effective elk cartridge? Hopefully by now, you’ve considered what I’m saying and this question might seem more reasonable to you than it did five minutes ago. Let’s examine one of the all-time most popular elk rounds…the 270 Winchester. This cartridge produces just shy of 3,000 feet per second (fps) at the muzzle when flinging 140 grain bullets down-range. This equates to about 2,700 foot pounds of energy. This cartridge is definitely an elk slayer.

The 338 Winchester Magnum is undeniably more powerful than the 270. It has a greater potential to cover up for minor mistakes in shot placement or to put the animal down a few steps shorter than the 270. That said, it kicks a lot harder than the 270 and it therefore is far more likely to cause a bad shot. The same can be said about the 300 magnums, especially the most powerful of the breed like the 30-378. Some folks use a muzzle brake to reduce the felt recoil, but that stupid little piece of swiss cheese on the end of the barrel converts that recoil energy into epic levels of muzzle blast. As long as you are willing to never shoot without ear protection, it might be an option to extend your magnum tolerance. I, however, am not a fan…at all.

Numbers for Those Who Care for Numbers

Back to my 270 example. The 6.5 Creedmoor launches a somewhat slipperier 140 grain bullet about 200+ fps slower than the 270. The 6.5 Creedmoor pushes that bullet from the muzzle approximately as fast as the 270 bullet is going at 150 yards; however, the 6.5 mm bullet has a higher ballistic coefficient, so it slowly narrows that gap with the 270 as the two bullets go downrange. At 8,000-foot elevation, in the western mountains, that Nosler Accubond .277 is still packing 1500 foot pounds of energy at 525 yards and traveling at 2,200 fps. Both of those numbers are bad news for elk hit in the vitals.

A 6.5 mm 142-grain Nosler Accubond Long Range launched from the 6.5 CM is going to yield nearly identical numbers at 525 yards! At 2,188 fps and right at 1,500 foot pounds of energy, the Creedmoor is still bringing the energy and velocity required to do lethal damage and penetrate the vitals and at least one shoulder. There are those who believe in 1,000 foot pounds as a lower limit on elk. I’m unconvinced. There are those who believe that an exit wound is necessary. On this point, I will concede that it helps in tracking the animal. Either way, the 1,500 foot pound threshold is met and 2,188 fps is plenty of speed to push the bullet most if not all the way through the elk.

Fair Comparison?

So, it can be very easily argued that the 6.5 Creedmoor is nearly as lethal or completely as lethal on elk as the revered 270 Winchester. This cartridge is most certainly a 300-yard elk killer, and I would be very comfortable with the ABLR out to a touch under 500 yards…as long as I could call my shot. With any caliber, 500 yards is stretching out to my personal maximum comfort range on elk. Yeah, I can ring gongs at far greater distances. This is just my way of making sure that I sleep well after each hunt.

If I were to develop a load specifically for elk with the 6.5 Creedmoor, I’d start with the 127 grain Barnes LRX. Of all the expanding bullets on the market, this one will nearly guarantee me full body penetration when started downrange at 2925 fps, it still hangs in with 1,500 foot pounds of energy and 2,300 fps at 400 yards at a 6,600 foot elevation in otherwise “standard” atmospheric conditions. This setup will get all the penetration and expansion I could ask for and keep me at a respectable energy level for elk. Am I limiting myself by stepping back from the “on-paper” better-ness of the 142 grain ABLR? Maybe, but I will take the increased velocity and penetration offered by the lighter all-copper bullet.

In a Nutshell

How can I say this so smart people can understand and boneheads won’t get too mad? Not every 110-pound elderly woman or youth can shoot a 300 RUM well. In fact, most 220-pound macho studs don’t either, but they’d rarely if ever admit to it. Hunters often equate lucky shots with extreme skill, but I digress. The answer here is that the 6.5 Creedmoor offers excellent elk medicine out to 400 yards with high-quality bullets, and maybe 100 or more yards further in the hands of an expert.

I’ll say it again. The key to elk hunting success is almost completely shot placement. That 338 Lapua will NOT guarantee you will find your gut-shot bull, so stop with the crazy what-if scenarios. I will take a marksman who is comfortable with his or her shot placement with a quality round like the 6.5 Creedmoor, 270 Winchester, or 7mm-08 all day long. With the 6.5, a less skilled marksman is far more likely to progress with the moderate recoil.

The key is to know the limitations, those of your rig, your cartridge, and yourself. The 6.5 Creedmoor combines adequate velocity, energy, penetration, and bullet mass with very tolerable recoil to yield a deadly combination. Is it the ultimate elk cartridge? It certainly is not the most powerful, but if by that definition you mean that you can call your shot within its lethal range and be happy with its limitations, the answer might be “yes-enough”.