I have taken thirty plus red stag with my 44. Granted, a bit smaller than the elk but similar. Lead sponges when in the rut. All were shot with 44 mag 240 gr XTP from 15 yards to 140. 6.5" 629 classic. 1300 fps so definitely a mild load, but it does the job. Love the XPT in this weight. at 140 it was too slow and i pinholed the lungs but he went down within a couple hundred yards. Inside of 120 they take steps if anything. Recovered bullets look great.

For elk I would go with 240's at 1350fps or more or with 300 grains as fast as they comfortably go. A frames sound great too, but i have piles of 240's hoarded...

For whitetail I open the hollow point to 0.125" and deepen the hole a little. Weight loss is 9 grains. Load them to 1350 fps. Expansion is great from the 2 i have recovered at 75 and 111 yards. The regular XTP is too hard. Still kills them well but the open point seems to hammer them more.

Don't mean to hijack, but conclusion is i like a hollow point, even on thick skinned game.

SnT