About 12 years ago on an elk hunt my father shot a spike bull in the shoulder at maybe 80-100 yards. I can't recall the particular bullet type but it essentially exploded on the front shoulder and the animal was able to limp off, rejoin the herd, and they all went down the steep river canyon and were miles away. It got away. This was with a 300 mag. I've also seen first hand a similar type of poor performance with a winchester power point on a mule deer in the 90's. There are so many good bullets now it's hard to make a poor choice.

The only other comment i have about your rifle is the weight. Elk hunting can be a hike from hell all day, day in and day out. Then when you get an animal down the real work starts. My #1 tip is shoot an elk that dies on the road or runs down to the road and dies. You will thank me later.