Federal .308 168 gr. Berger hybrid hunter for elk

nwihunter

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Does anybody on here have any experience with these bullets on elk? I’m taking them on first hunt this year. They shoot great out of my gun just wondering have they have performed on big game.
 
Does anybody on here have any experience with these bullets on elk? I’m taking them on first hunt this year. They shoot great out of my gun just wondering have they have performed on big game.
It’s all my buddy uses in .308 from antelope to elk. He’s shot piles of game with them. They only first had experience I have is on deer but they work, no doubt.
 
Bergers are designed to penetrate a few inches and then blow up like a hand grenade.

It all depends on where you set off that grenade.

Lungs = Lung Soup

Heart = Heart Soup

Liver = Liver Soup

Guts = Gut Soup

Shoulder = A messed up quarter
 
The Berger hybrids perform differently than vld’s, different bullets, different jackets, different places where copper and lead meet, idk?. Although the differences are slight, in my experience I have slightly less confidence in hybrids over vlds. Admittedly that could be just coincidental from my experience, but fwiw we have a long history with .284/.30 vlds literally dropping animals instantly where they stand when hit anywhere in the body. Not 5 or 10 I’m talking 100’s of consecutive 1 shot drops. Whereas last year my daughter put 2 140 hybrids out of a 6.5 mb right through the chest of a mule deer @200 that went about 100 yards before going down. Both exits were about the size of a acorn. In my mind, and I have lots of video over the years of my kids shooting antelope and deer with vlds, had she hit that deer in that exact spot with a 140 vld it would have dropped instantly.

But as said, put one in the vitals and it’s going to die, I would just have less confidence saying it’s going to drop instantly.
 
Thought I would follow up on my original post since I just got back from elk trip. I shot a 6x6 bull from probably just under 100 yds. It was a broadside high lung shot, maybe a little higher than I would have liked. Missed the shoulder completely on the entry side and just caught a little bit of cartridge part of the blade on exit. The elk made it 50 yds and dropped. The exit hole was 2” plus. The weird part was in the exit hole we found the bullet. Haven’t had a chance to weigh it yet but I’m guessing it is at least 80% intact. Either way I’m very happy how it performed. The elk expired very quickly.
C5D0706F-B12D-41E1-A79B-60BA88C5264A.jpeg
 
Thought I would follow up on my original post since I just got back from elk trip. I shot a 6x6 bull from probably just under 100 yds. It was a broadside high lung shot, maybe a little higher than I would have liked. Missed the shoulder completely on the entry side and just caught a little bit of cartridge part of the blade on exit. The elk made it 50 yds and dropped. The exit hole was 2” plus. The weird part was in the exit hole we found the bullet. Haven’t had a chance to weigh it yet but I’m guessing it is at least 80% intact. Either way I’m very happy how it performed. The elk expired very quickly.
View attachment 198411

Congrats on the elk and success.

Regarding finding the bullet. Elk have a somewhat thick hide and I’d assume what you found is the jacket with some of the lead/shank still intact that didn’t pass through the hide/exit hole. Do you have a picture?
 
2 more dead bull elk with the 180 grn 7mm hunting vld> One shot low shoulder thru the heart at 775yrds dead upside down in less than 3 seconds. The other dropped no real movement high shoulder shot at 550yrds. Have yet to see any elk/deer/antelope go more than a few yards when hit & 90% have been dead right there in 3 to 5 seconds. People talk about them being to soft and that they don't penetrate> target shooting they passed thru 5/16 or 3/8 boiler plate at 200 up to 750yards.
come on man> good is good
 

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