Use Enough Gun

This of course is another, ask 5 hunters their opinion, get 6 opinions thread. I guess for me it comes down to what a hunter is comfortable with. Would I use a 243 on an elk, meh, probably not but if the guy next to me is accurate and consistent with his 243, I won't berate him for it. I bought a 30-06 recently with the intent of it becoming my elk rifle. Is it the perfect caliber for elk hunting, maybe, maybe not but I am practicing with it and becoming comfortable shooting it and know when I do go elk hunting I know that if I do my part through pulling the trigger, it will do the job and a tag will be filled.

Personal preference and experience rules the roost in the hunting world. My preferences are not going to be another persons preferences but it is our differences that make us unique.

Shoot what you want and go hunting.

Great thread that has had me laughing at points and thinking at others. Keep it polite but keep the discussion going.
 
I rarely get involved in these kind of discussions because there are so many hunting styles and opinions on the matter , i know you can kill elk with a 22 , Inuits have killed polar bears with a 22 rimfire. I also realize bullets have changed rates of twist as well giving us all new ways to pick our poison . That all being said here are a couple points that I find true for myself.

In a perfect or exceptional situation small calibers kill quick and efficiently , yes I do strive for those shots however hunting never goes that way for me so I go 6.5 up for deer , mostly 270 and 3006 because these are the chambering of my favorite hunting rifles. You never know when the perfect shot goes bad and the second shot may not be at a great angle. A small caliber is now a complete detriment to a quick and humane kill. I stopped years ago thinking that success in the field was about the game I piled up but I do hunt and not walk my gun so I go out with full intentions to kill game , for me I use enough gun plus a little more! I want my options open to me in the field .

A good man a mentor had a saying , “you can’t make a little gun do what a big gun can! “
 
Every cartridge has its limits. .243 would certainly not be my first choice, or second choice for that matter, on elk, but I know it gets done every year. I just really feel better putting a .30 cal bonded bullet in an elk, but that's just me and it's worked in my experience. People still talk about shooting elk at 6 or 700 yards with a 6.5 CM, but there are those that just think it's not a great idea to try to shoot a game animal at that distance regardless. As to a smaller bore chambering like .243 or 6.5 CM - sure, you poke a hole in an elk's heart/lungs it will die. That's why arrows work. In my way of thinking, as mentioned, I just see better options.

Just a little anecdote - I ran into a guy at the range about a month ago working on a load for an older-looking Winchester Model 70, a .270 shooting 150gn Partitions. We got in a conversation and he wound up telling me, sort of quietly, that he was one who'd gotten swept up in the long-range hunting 6.5 Creedmoor thing. He said he wounded and lost the 3 bulls in the last 2 years he shot with his Creedmoor and now he's just going back to what he knows will work. My guess is, there may be a lot of stories out there like his, but you're not going to hear about them much.
 
BuzzH said:
Really...funny how I hear about this, then the reality of what I actually personally witness.

Poor/non-existent blood trails? Not in my experience, but have "only" been shooting a 6mm/.243 for 40+ years.
Click to expand...

In the next 14+ years I will hopefully have the same experience. In the prior 26 years I have not.

They make a fine coyote gun. I guess we could both agree on that at least. But I doubt it. :ROFLMAO:
 
Brian in Montana said:
Every cartridge has its limits. .243 would certainly not be my first choice, or second choice for that matter, on elk, but I know it gets done every year. I just really feel better putting a .30 cal bonded bullet in an elk, but that's just me and it's worked in my experience. People still talk about shooting elk at 6 or 700 yards with a 6.5 CM, but there are those that just think it's not a great idea to try to shoot a game animal at that distance regardless. As to a smaller bore chambering like .243 or 6.5 CM - sure, you poke a hole in an elk's heart/lungs it will die. That's why arrows work. In my way of thinking, as mentioned, I just see better options.

Just a little anecdote - I ran into a guy at the range about a month ago working on a load for an older-looking Winchester Model 70, a .270 shooting 150gn Partitions. We got in a conversation and he wound up telling me, sort of quietly, that he was one who'd gotten swept up in the long-range hunting 6.5 Creedmoor thing. He said he wounded and lost the 3 bulls in the last 2 years he shot with his Creedmoor and now he's just going back to what he knows will work. My guess is, there may be a lot of stories out there like his, but you're not going to hear about them much.
Click to expand...
I think that has more to do with the "long-range hunting" part than the 6.5 thing....hardly a thin dimes worth of difference in performance between a 6.5 and a .270 (assuming similar bullet construction).
 
Mallardsx2 said:
In the next 14+ years I will hopefully have the same experience. In the prior 26 years I have not.

They make a fine coyote gun. I guess we could both agree on that at least. But I doubt it. :ROFLMAO:
Click to expand...
Maybe you just need to spend some time around people that actually hunt, can shoot, and know how to kill game.

Sounds like you hunt around some real quality people that can't figure out how to kill big-game effectively with a .243/6mm. Find new friends.

A good friend of mine has shot 40+ elk with his .243 and 100 grain nosler partitions. I've helped him pack several he's killed with that combo.
 
BuzzH said:
Maybe you just need to spend some time around people that actually hunt, can shoot, and know how to kill game.

Sounds like you hunt around some real quality people that can't figure out how to kill big-game effectively with a .243/6mm. Find new friends.

A good friend of mine has shot 40+ elk with his .243 and 100 grain nosler partitions. I've helped him pack several he's killed with that combo.
Click to expand...


Got any room in your camp? You appear to be a very good hunter. Maybe you could teach me something.
 
BuzzH said:
I think that has more to do with the "long-range hunting" part than the 6.5 thing....hardly a thin dimes worth of difference in performance between a 6.5 and a .270 (assuming similar bullet construction).
Click to expand...
A whole lot said there...
 
pre6422hornet said:
Man I better tell my 5, 8, 11, and 13 year old daughters that their 243 isn't enough gun. Oh wait, that almost 200 pound doe our 11 year old shot last fall with REDUCED recoil handloads and a 95 gr Ballistic tip at 2400fps that broke the shoulder going in and then completely passed through and had the doe on the ground in 50 yards after doing the front end plow... didn't get the message. I have numerous friends who have used the same recipe with their small sons and daughters and they have all anchored deer as efficiently as a larger caliber. Maybe it has something to do with shot placement....
Click to expand...

This gentleman taught his daughters how to hunt and shoot. They didn't just pick up a rifle and go hunting. They were taught how to shoot, how to hunt, where to shoot the animal being hunted AND when not to shoot. Shot distance, shot placement, and being willing to not fill a tag. And they listened to their father and acted appropriately. As stated above : shot placement !

A lot of times when these thread's come up, eventually Bell's name will pop up and someone will tell us how many elephants he killed with a 7 x 57. They do not tell us how many he injured nor did he.

Yes, the 243 is enough gun for elk in someones hands that knows its limitations and acts accordingly. i.e. the four daughters referred to in the above post.

However, I personally have not used one when hunting Elk
 
AndyPOW said:
Be careful what you wish for! We've built a homestead out of the rainforest. . . we are liable to put you to work!
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if I can get out there and hunt I'd be willing to do some work!
 
AndyPOW said:
44 years ago as a 16 y.o. I bought a used Sako Finnbear Forester in .243 from an estate sale for $600. It was a lot of money for me, most of my summer earnings. I literally had no idea what I had. First time I shot it I put 5 shots in a quarter at 100 yards. Then I knew what I had. Over the next four decades I shot a lot of deer with that gun throughout New England. Always used 100 gr. soft points. That thing is a killer, and still in the gun cabinet. I'm in southeast Alaska now, and have shot a couple of blacktails with it, but won't expose it to the salt. I've moved to synthetic/ss .308s since there are big black bears hereabouts, and .243 is not a bear cartridge in my mind.

Yeah, I spent a lot of money on guns, fly rods and women when I was younger, and the rest of it I wasted.
Click to expand...
The Sako finbear was the L61R long action The Forester was the L57 shorter action. That L57 was really nice. I had an L461 and two L61's! Loved then but the L61's were heavy and recoily really bad.
 
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