Re: .308 v. Elk ?
IMO, barrel length, cartridge, and load are all compromises. Being able to place a bullet properly constructed for the animal in an effective place on the animal are high in priority. A bullet in .308 designed for thin skinned light boned deer is not going to work as well on elk through the shoulders as a 308 bullet designed for a heavier larger boned animal. It is great the bullets that are available these days. I say that, having shot my first deer with a 30-30 150 gr flat nosed bullet over fifty years ago.
And, knowing the anatomy of your target, i.e., where the heart and lungs are located inside the body help in knowing where to place the shot. And where they are located with the animal upright on its four legs as opposed to with the animal on it's side on the ground or hung up for cleaning.
I personally like to knock them down so that I don't have to track them. So, I usually try to go through the shoulders on Texas Hill Country deer with my 308 with 150 grain Sierra soft point boat tails. An Axis deer (more plentiful than we like) can go 125 pounds field dressed. A shot on a broadside deer through the lungs will result in a dead deer, but one which may run some distance. That's how I got my first deer with the 30-30. Although, I am going to start shooting more carefully and see what I can learn. For better or worse.
I hadn't thought about the utility in knocking down an elk in a public hunting situation until mentioned above. I can just see someone slipping a bullet into the boiler room with an angling entry behind the shoulder. Elk runs into the trees, followed by a boom from a 338 Mag. And the first hunter comes up to find the second hunter exulting over his trophy. Whose trophy? Beats me.
I am a believer in the idea of shooting for a specific square inch on the animal's exterior as opposed to center mass. But, I expect that is the orientation of most of the people on here.
IMO and FWIW and YMMV.
