In a perfect world there are many small caliber cartridges that will kill an elk. I will bet that even a 22 long rifle (undoubtedly the favorite of many here) will get the job done. If one has perfect conditions, presentation and the right shooter, its a slam dunk. But in reality that does not always happen and when it fails it's a lost animal. Many here have already posted that they have seen lots of elk lost too much larger and more powerful cartridges,. Thats true, but exponentially more elk hunters use a more powerful cartridge, hence lost game. Its' going to happen sooner or later. I have done it and so have my partners, but that still does not make the .243 a great elk cartridge. It's not, it is adequate in some instances but inadequate in far more. I once lost a deer shot at point blank range with a 45 caliber pistol, both shots hit well, but the buck managed to get up enough adrenaline and get away from me. Poor tracking conditions, hindered the recovery. If I had shot the same animal with my 45-70, (which I also had with me), it would have been DRT. I have a limited sampling of over 200 elk killed by myself and three others of my partners in 4 states and over 50 years. All with a 30;06 or greater. My best recollection is that 7 or 8 have been lost. Not because of bad shooting, but primarily because of conditions, which limited the retrieval.
