I am going Elk hunting this fall.  I have never been big game hunting before.  The biggest gun I have is in 270.  Will this cartridge do against an elk?  What are your thoughts and opinions for using a 270 elk hunting?

What brand of rifle do you have?
What scope?
Will someone else be hunting with you that has a larger caliber rifle?
Would you/could you get a larger caliber rifle for yourself?

I would recommend a .338 Win.Mag. in the same type of rifle you have now...
That and the .270 covers just about anything you can hunt here.

The 270 is adequate for the job as far as I can tell. Some guys won't be satisfied with anything other than an elephant gun while others would say that a 22 would do the job "just shoot em through the eye like I do". Honestly though the 270 works fine. Use the heaviest bullet that will shoot accurately from your particular rifle. It helps here if you can reload or know someone who can. Next get to the range and put it up at 100 yards and standing shoot until you feel comfortable that you can shoot 4 out of 5 shots into a paper plate. When you go and you get your first chance to get your elk don't be surprised to having "buck fever" I once had a friend that was an amazing shot until he shot at his first elk. It hit half way to the elk.  Good luck and be careful.

I will be with up to 6 people I think.  Most seem to have a 300 winchester.  My gun is a Winchester model 70 with a 3-9 x 44 scope.  I have bench rest shot it for several years and re-load.  It just seemed a little small for Elk.  I have no eperience though.   Thanks.

What muzzle said.

The .270 is the most popular caliber among locals here. I use a .30-06. I'm not a local, I'm a transplant. [:D]

Most of the out-of-state hunters prefer the .300 Win. Mag up to the .338 Mag.

You should do okay with the .270. Especially if you are 'used' to it.

The most succesful guy in my crew uses a .270. It is a good calibre. Last year was a record harvest in Colorado and this year looks great too.

The .270 Winchester is fully capable of killing an elk.  The only rifle that my guide carries is a .270, even his back up gun is a .270.  The .270 Win. has an edge in terms of a flatter trajectory and slightly less recoil when compared to the 30-06.  But the 30-06 has a very wide selection of bullet weights to chose from.  I only mention the 30-06 because it's probably the most popular gun in the field.
If I was to use the .270 Win. I would load a 160 grain Nosler Partition with 51.7 Grains of IMR 4831.  This round works very well in my Ruger No.1.  I must confess that I'm one of those guys that shoot a gun way to big for the game.  But every year I tell my wife that I need a new gun for "this hunt", she buys it and I buy a new gun.  this year its a Rem. .375 Ultra mag.  I think I'm way over gunned but a new gun is always fun.
Simper Fi
Bill

have killed a few elk with the 270 and have had a few friends also use them . if thats what you have then thiers no reason to go out and buy something else as it will do.
as with anything else it depends on where you place your shot. if you have a good clean shot it will drop it in it's tracks. the only problem I ever encountered was when you did not get the best shot like on a running bounding elk going threw  and over brush thats when you wish that 150 grain bullit had a little more get up and go. with a 270 I have had 3 shots in the chest not drop it right away and a few that did not take 10 steps. have not decided on my 06 or the 7mm this year thinking about the 7mag just because even so will take both .
where are you going elk hunting?  good luck