Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Cow elk and the 243 Winchester

What would Mitch Rompala do?

Gunner, would you have stayed home from hunting elk if all you had was a 243 and a great shooting load?

And I will say I wouldn’t. I’d just pay more attention to what angle the old bulls standing at I guess.

No, i'd use my old load with the 100gr Partitions at 3000 fps and get as close as i could and try to get a shoulder on the way in or out, i would not have shot that old bull at 511 yards with the 243 Partiton load though, to far and too much wind for the little stubber of a bullet.

I knew your answer big buddy, before you typed it. Same thoughts here.

Old timers did it with atlatls, stick bows, muskets, etc. I’m pretty sure we could make do.

LOL, if not for the sun i'd have sent 500 grains of lead powered by Holy Black! ; ]

That would’ve been epic as hell Gunner.

One day.

You bet Buddy.

Do you enjoy the feeling of stepping on your dick?

Mikey, you’re as full of sheit as a barnyard turkey, just talking to hear your head roar. Happy Trails

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.

Some of you guys must think hunting with arrows and roundballs is just completely moronic.

/greenhorn, having killed a couple of elk with traditional MZ, and several deer with a bow, I have yet to take a shot over 40 yards. An entirely different discussion.

Is it? If a guy knows when to not shoot? How is that an elk isn't something a .243 can't make good on every time with ease in the right hands? Bow hunters have to know they have a limit - so why is a .243 center fire a bad choice when 100% of bow hunters/blackpowder hunters are going out with a weapon FAR less effective?

I’ve hunted elk way more than most. Regardless of that, it does not take a rocket scientist to know that a .243 is absolutely lethal, more so than ANY arrow or roundball. Yet dumb fuchs will argue about calibers on the internet all day long.. and this guy from IOWA .. hilarious.

OK I read through 10 pages of this back and forth and I couldn't take it anymore. It reminded me of a tennis game going back and forth.. Only it ended up 1 against what, 10? I've never been elk hunting so I'm no expert. As far as I'm concerned if you can do it legally and ethically use a 17 Remington if you want. As for me, ifn I ever get a chance to go for an elk I'm probably going to use something bigger like my .270 or one of my .30-06s or maybe God forbid, my 7 Mag or my .300 WBY.. But I'm a neanderthal and I go by the theory that if little was equal to big they would have put .22s on battleships. But that's just me. I'm not getting into this pissing contest because I have never been elk hunting and though I think a .243 is a little on the light side, I can't in good faith argue with people who have been there-done that.

Shouldn’t be an issue, per the above parameters, and assuming you’re not a elk fevered mess behind the scope.

Mike loves to stir a big pot of shît.

Fun read....Thanks !

🦫

PS

SLM, might, allegedly, wear pink boots and a leopard thong under his Wranglers, but he can and does kill nice elk.

😝

Does WAM also have a Queer Alarm?

Someone should tell him to change his batteries.

There you go.........talking logically.

10 against 1 ain't hardly fair, is it?

They really should send for reinforcements. Smarter ones.

Yea.......that is very obvious.

TFF

LOL

Just cite one example.....

There is plenty of text to choose from......wouldn't you agree?

Gotta give SLM credit........he bites a mean ankle.