.243 Win. and big game
- Thread starter Rob
- Start date
Having a moose that doesn't drop pretty close to where you shot it can make the difference between a day of hard work, and miserable day you wish you hadn't woke up...lol Seen my share of moose kills, they don't all drop in their tracks, even shot well with magnums..
bearkilr
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Nowhere, ......just past the middle
Wanna make a bet?
There is more to shooting an animal than what happens in the vitals..... Wound channel, hydrostatic shock, energy (knockdown power), are all considerations....... How fast do they bleed out etc..... (Especially important with bears and their low BP rate).....
Anyone who has hunted medium game animals knows that a good damaging wound channel wins every time.......
The second whitetail I shot last year, I somehow managed to hit one lung, but not the second but hit the pulmonary artery as well.... And that was with a .308........ That deer went ten feet after hitting the ground like an anvil dropped from an airplane..... And when I gutted it I pulled out more blood clots than organs......
Anyone who has hunted medium game animals knows that a good damaging wound channel wins every time.......
The second whitetail I shot last year, I somehow managed to hit one lung, but not the second but hit the pulmonary artery as well.... And that was with a .308........ That deer went ten feet after hitting the ground like an anvil dropped from an airplane..... And when I gutted it I pulled out more blood clots than organs......
You can bet all you want....from the moose I have shot with both magnums and non magnums the results were all pretty much the same with broadside lung shots. Some go down quickly, some take a few minutes....the rifle used didn't make much difference.
When I started hunting moose way back in the 70's I had Magnumitis, after many years I came to realize the error of my thoughts....but thats just me and my observations.
I really don't care one way or the other if someone agrees or not, I'm just stating what I personally have come to realized through my observations.
Don't know when moose and other game animals in general became so bullet proof....the little 30-30 fed many families for many years shooting non premium bullets, but I guess that doesn't make quite the same camp story or sell as many magazines as one requiring a 375 H&H and premium bonded bullet to punch through that tough animal from stem to stern now does it?
Take it for what its worth, your mileage may vary.
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I shot a good sized Whitetail doe with the .243 in 2014. It took about 6 hops in a semi-circle and then went down. I was using 100 grain Federal blue box and the shot was quartering away at about 60 yards. That was my first deer with a .243 and I was pretty impressed with the results. Most deer I've shot in the past were with a .30-06, .30-30, 12 gauge slugs or the ML. Based on the results, I'll probably carry it more often for deer but I can't see ever wanting to carry it for anything bigger. I suppose it would do the job on a moose if I had no other choice, but not many people would buy a .243 for a "do all" rifle.
mevoughlian
Member
- Location
- Hamilton Ontario
Realistically you can kill anything with any bullet it's all about shot placement. BUUTT the question is whether or not that bullet size is the right choice for an ethical and clean quick kill. That being said I wouldnt use a 243 for anything bigger than deer , do I think it can kill something bigger? Yeah of course no doubt about it but i don't think it's the best choice and that it should be avoided. Personally for anything bigger than deer I would use .270win,7mm,30 cal or bigger. There's a right tool for every job just like construction/renovations or whatever there's tons of tools that will get the job done but it's best to use the tool that will do the job right and is designed for the job.
Then again those are just my thoughts everyone has their own opinion!
Then again those are just my thoughts everyone has their own opinion!
You can bet all you want....from the moose I have shot with both magnums and non magnums the results were all pretty much the same with broadside lung shots. Some go down quickly, some take a few minutes....the rifle used didn't make much difference.
When I started hunting moose way back in the 70's I had Magnumitis, after many years I came to realize the error of my thoughts....but thats just me and my observations.
I really don't care one way or the other if someone agrees or not, I'm just stating what I personally have come to realized through my observations.
Don't know when moose and other game animals in general became so bullet proof....the little 30-30 fed many families for many years shooting non premium bullets, but I guess that doesn't make quite the same camp story or sell as many magazines as one requiring a 375 H&H and premium bonded bullet to punch through that tough animal from stem to stern now does it?
Take it for what its worth, your mileage may vary.
It always amuses me when the little 243 is not a big game rifle but a 30-30 is. yet a 243 has more energy at 300 yards than the 30-30 has at 100 .
That said I have many choices from 6.5 x 55, 270, 30-06 to a 7mm rem, and a 9.3 x 62 and various Muzzle loaders and have no worry that any will do the job when needed.
