wanting to hear from hunters that have shot elk and moose with a 243 win

[KodiakHntr]

I agree. Maybe not for the same reasons as you? I considered that maybe more penetration would've given me a better blood trail. I don't believe that I did have complete penetration.

Definitely not for the same reasons.

Bullets matter. Cartridge not so much. Blaming a cartridge for a lost animal while not even being sure of the bullet you used and not knowing the bullet placement says more about your bias than it does about the effectiveness of the cartridge.

 

[tactical lever]

Definitely not for the same reasons.

Bullets matter. Cartridge not so much. Blaming a cartridge for a lost animal while not even being sure of the bullet you used and not knowing the bullet placement says more about your bias than it does about the effectiveness of the cartridge.

I said I used Federal 100 gr. That is no mystery, and not sure how you came to that conclusion. Regular, middling cup and core bullet.

Again, you're attempting to put words in my mouth. I know where I shot; the rifle is quite accurate and I was shooting well with it. I briefly considered a head or neck shot as I was knocking heads off grouse all fall with it, but I shot behind the shoulder as I said, 2/3 up. I said it might have been better if I had shot a little lower and taken out the heart or ripped off the aortic arch.

Bullets do matter, but simply using another big game bullet that retains 10 or 15% more weight isn't the transformative difference you think it is.

I wasn't biased enough to not take it out, but I can recognize a mistake.

You can't tell me that if I shot it the same with a .338 WM and regular cup and core bullets there'd be no difference.

The elk died, I'm quite sure, but the big difference is it took off over beaten down tracks, and there wasn't enough blood let out to follow.

 

[KodiakHntr]

Lots of guys get excited shooting big game. Lots of guys out there swear to the moon and back that they "shot it perfectly" right up until the animal is recovered and the bullet isn't where they thought. Lots of guys don't see that an animal isn't as broadside as they thought in the moment. Lot of things can happen when people are shooting at animals that result in bullets not going where they are intended.

You didn't recover it, so really don't know where the bullet went or what happened that you didn't get the result you anticipated.

 

[tactical lever]

Lots of guys get excited shooting big game. Lots of guys out there swear to the moon and back that they "shot it perfectly" right up until the animal is recovered and the bullet isn't where they thought. Lots of guys don't see that an animal isn't as broadside as they thought in the moment. Lot of things can happen when people are shooting at animals that result in bullets not going where they are intended.

You didn't recover it, so really don't know where the bullet went or what happened that you didn't get the result you anticipated.

Well that's true from your perspective. We don't know each other, and lots of fellas BS, or don't really know, so I can't blame you for looking at it that way.

I can just say on my end, that it wasn't a long shot, and though I was excited (he was a great big bull afterall), I was steady. Found what I know was lung blood, but that's just more second hand information.

I'm somewhat biased towards heavy bullets, but I acquired a .243 and was kind of anxious to make a kill with it. I was more expecting to shoot a deer, or I probably would've had a bigger rifle in hand.

I realize a lot of game is hit poorly, and lost even with a big rifle. Elk is a tough animal, and some guys have success with light guns/small bullets, but that really became my Elmer Keith moment. I determined that I was going to get a big exit next time, so something more like a 286 gr. at 2450 or probably stepped down to 2400 became the standard.

The thing that really ticked me off about it was losing a blood trail in snow. Too many tracks and some through brush to really tell where it went.

Even looked for birds the next couple days, but didn't see anything. Another group did find a head with a big rack on it out there somewhere, and I always wonder whether it was him.