243 win 105 berger vld, dead elk 688 yards

rral22 said:
Has anyone else wondered if the elk is dead? It looked to me, especially when I think about the energy levels left in a .243 at that range, that the animal was actually spined. They zoom away quickly.

If I shoot an animal that reacts like that, I always have a suspicion the animal could well be still alive, but unable to rise again, at least for now. If so, it will be alive when they eventually manage to get over there.

There are many reasons why that was something I do not do, do not advise others to do, and do not believe deserves any praise.
Click to expand...

Yep yep.... they never even showed the customary slowmo replay... just cut to crap.....

.243 is underpowered for elk.... and most .243 guys will tell you this... if someone wants to make the "if you do your part" argument then they better be people who spend at least 5-10 hours a week at the range...
 
I have shot many deer well over 300 yards with the .243 My buddy's daughter has shot several antelope well over 400 with the .243 It is a VERY capable round and performs much better than the paper figures say. NOTE: I advocate high shoulder shots on all hooved game. One shot stops with minimal meat damage. I have not tracked a .243 shot animal yet.

regards, Darryl
 
At a target, it's a really good shot. At an elk, it's just irresponsible.

but if it works, it works. Hard to argue with that.
Click to expand...

The fact someone did it does NOT mean "it works". The fact that some people will now argue just that, is the real problem I have with such stunts. Want to try going over Niagra falls just because someone survived once? Look up the ballistics of a .243 and try to tell anyone it "works" as a 700 yard elk rifle. Absurd.

The .257 Weatherby was used to kill lots of African game, including a cape buffalo. To say that proves it "works" as a cape buffalo rifle is just as silly as arguing that video makes the .243 a long range elk rifle. This sort of thing does no good for hunting at all in the long run.
 
madtrapper143 said:
I have not tracked a .243 shot animal yet.

regards, Darryl
Click to expand...

Then you haven't shot many.

No cartridge can make the ridiculous claim that no one will ever have to track anything shot with it. I have seen at least 30 deer shot with a .243. Many dropped at the shot; many ran some distance; a few took some real tracking - just like any other cartridge I have used, or seen used.
 
rral22 said:
At a target, it's a really good shot. At an elk, it's just irresponsible.



The fact someone did it does NOT mean "it works". The fact that some people will now argue just that, is the real problem I have with such stunts. Want to try going over Niagra falls just because someone survived once? Look up the ballistics of a .243 and try to tell anyone it "works" as a 700 yard elk rifle. Absurd.

The .257 Weatherby was used to kill lots of African game, including a cape buffalo. To say that proves it "works" as a cape buffalo rifle is just as silly as arguing that video makes the .243 a long range elk rifle. This sort of thing does no good for hunting at all in the long run.
Click to expand...

You put my thoughts into words.... just because one person had a success doesn't mean nobody has failed... and the failures never get posted...
 
bearkilr said:
Good shooting. Sneak to within 50 yards and I'll call it good hunting. I do question why someone would shoot their first elk at 688 yards. :confused: Kinda removes the "experienced" aspect from the situation.
Click to expand...

Agreed.... and will go further and ask why anyone would take that chance.... a quick gust of wind during the trigge rpull sequence and the outcome is very different... and not shown on youtube ....
 
I'm always of two minds on these things.

On the one hand, I kind of think "wow" when I see a video like that.

On the other hand, I've seen people blast away at big game at 500 - 600 yards and seen the resulting animals mostly go down after taking multiple hits all over the place.

One example,

When I was a boy, I was unlucky enough to witness three fellows shooting at a moose at an estimated 550 yards with medium magnums. After about a dozen rounds the animal went down. They approached and finished it off with a head shot. During field dressing it was discovered the animal went down because all four of it's legs were broken due to rifle fire, and that all the hits to the animal had been in the legs - not a single hit anywhere else. And I'm not talking shoulder shots either, I mean the legs cut out from under the animal and NOTHING in the body/neck/head. It took the hunters about 30 minutes to reach this poor animal and finish it off.

That cured me of longs shots, long before I was able to even shoot myself.
 
I wonder how long the elk lay there kicking until it died. Spine shot animals can live for a very long time, so can ones shot high in the shoulders.

Best to zoom the camera out after the shot. Standard practice on all hunting shows.
 
Superbrad said:
Agreed.... and will go further and ask why anyone would take that chance.... a quick gust of wind during the trigge rpull sequence and the outcome is very different... and not shown on youtube ....
Click to expand...
If you enlarge the video, you can see the elk's breath blowing away - from right to left. After the shot, look at the young lady's reaction - she was cold, especially her hands. They were pushing it.

Impressive indeed but how many attempts aren't?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom