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

minimum caliber laws are created when hunters use calibers too small for intended species......elk are pretty tough animals....then again I hunt in the real bush where an animal can venture off out of sight in a few steps....often you can't see the entire animal. In bald farm fields where you can watch your dog run away for 2 days I guess its a different ball game...if a lower recoil rifle is required I think a 6.5 swede is head and shoulders ahead of the 243, 7x57/7mm08 better yet...also I hunt in grizzly country where people die in bear attacks....that is also a consideration in my preferred 308/30-06 minimum world

How many elk have you killed, and with what cartridges?

Or more importantly, with what bullets?
 
Straying a bit from the initial question, but an interesting and relevant is the attached article - "Bullet Wounds on Game: How Survivable Are They?". The reader's digest version: shot placement is important, but so is bullet performance. Not profound, I know, and it has been mentioned here, but a good read anyways.

My thought - .243 plus good bullets in the right spot works.
I would add that distances also have a say in the equation of a dead elk or moose with a small chambering, moose have ben killed with 22lr but not at 100 yards. But i don’t know what would be a max distance with. 243!?!?!
 
I have been told often in the last 26 years or so that thd 303 Brit and 30/30 Win are both inadequate for moose and elk, yet before that , both were pretty standard as " heavy rifles" up here in the North .
The people using them however were rarely gun nuts, but trappers, their guns were tools like their knives and axes, not recreational toys.
Usually these people owned only three guns, a 12 gauge, a 22lr, and a heavy caliber rifle for everything from deer to bison , and they killed efficiently with them with a minimul amount of tracking.
Go figure.......
Cat
 
I have been told often in the last 26 years or so that thd 303 Brit and 30/30 Win are both inadequate for moose and elk, yet before that , both were pretty standard as " heavy rifles" up here in the North .
The people using them however were rarely gun nuts, but trappers, their guns were tools like their knives and axes, not recreational toys.
Usually these people owned only three guns, a 12 gauge, a 22lr, and a heavy caliber rifle for everything from deer to bison , and they killed efficiently with them with a minimul amount of tracking.
Go figure.......
Cat
Good friend of mine (and one of the best running shots I know) is just like that. Owns guns for hunting. Has a 12 gauge, a 22 and a 30-06. That's it. Hunts all his big game with that 06, 180 gr bullets for bigger game, 150 for deer (I know because I load his ammunition for him). He's a successful hunter on everything we've ever hunted over the last 35 years. - dan
 
95 gr partition, 85gr ttsx. Moose, elk, and deer. Kills them just fine out to 300yds
My old .243 Win has knocked down more moose than I can remember. If I had to guess, I'd say close to 14 or 15. Barnes TTSX has been my preferred bullet choice. Usually dead within 30 paces or closer!
 
there are no elk where I live....moose is what I hunt...well over a dozen offhand but I have never counted, I live on a trapline 15 km from the nearest road and thats how I like it...road hunting is for city folks and thats fine....farmyard hunters sitting in a hay loft or a tree stand with hot thermos of coffee and a rifle rest setup trail cameras and timed feeders....uggg... ...I have made most of my kills walking or in a canoe.. 700 yards was my longest shot and most of my kills were from a 300winmag with a handloaded 180gr NP...one a 350 rem mag, one a 375 ruger...a couple when I was young were with a 308 winchester when moose were more abundant....only one moose "DROPPED in its tracks" with one shot...not hard to kill it just seems to take a while for the to figure it out...my elk knowledge comes from two uncles and a very good friends from the SE BC....I'm over 60 and get tired of these same old BS from young guys killing mule deer with 223 and elk with whatever light gun....all foolishness in my way of thinking...one guy bragged he shot his moose in the eyes with a 22 magnum...
Yes broadside shots with no wind at a know range on a calm animal with perfect shot placement from a rest small calibers can do great things in the hands of great shooters... REAL world wilderness hunting I dont think has ever dealt me that kind of perfection...I do think a 30-06 with a good bullet does 90% of real word hunting just fine btw
 
sask hunting I am assuming is flat open grassland where you can see the animal well as it wanders off 30 paces.......kinda like shooting tame cattle I guess...okay I guess I understand now....different reality
 
I would add that distances also have a say in the equation of a dead elk or moose with a small chambering, moose have ben killed with 22lr but not at 100 yards. But i don’t know what would be a max distance with. 243!?!?!
Depends on what distance your chosen bullet gets down to minimal expansion impact velocity.
A 243 with a good bullet, a lot farther than most people can hit a moose with their first shot.
 
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there are no elk where I live....moose is what I hunt...well over a dozen offhand but I have never counted, I live on a trapline 15 km from the nearest road and thats how I like it...road hunting is for city folks and thats fine....farmyard hunters sitting in a hay loft or a tree stand with hot thermos of coffee and a rifle rest setup trail cameras and timed feeders....uggg... ...I have made most of my kills walking or in a canoe.. 700 yards was my longest shot and most of my kills were from a 300winmag with a handloaded 180gr NP...one a 350 rem mag, one a 375 ruger...a couple when I was young were with a 308 winchester when moose were more abundant....only one moose "DROPPED in its tracks" with one shot...not hard to kill it just seems to take a while for the to figure it out...my elk knowledge comes from two uncles and a very good friends from the SE BC....I'm over 60 and get tired of these same old BS from young guys killing mule deer with 223 and elk with whatever light gun....all foolishness in my way of thinking...one guy bragged he shot his moose in the eyes with a 22 magnum...
Yes broadside shots with no wind at a know range on a calm animal with perfect shot placement from a rest small calibers can do great things in the hands of great shooters... REAL world wilderness hunting I dont think has ever dealt me that kind of perfection...I do think a 30-06 with a good bullet does 90% of real word hunting just fine btw

700 yards, thats a long poke. What range finder do you like for that?
 
sask hunting I am assuming is flat open grassland where you can see the animal well as it wanders off 30 paces.......kinda like shooting tame cattle I guess...okay I guess I understand now....different reality
Sask isn’t flat. Lots of coulees and hills. Lots of bush and trees if you’re in the right area. BIL saw zero whitetail near the Blizzard Capital but a ton of moose.

Different areas require different strategies if you wish to be successful.

I’m a sissy, not a fan of recoil. Ethical harvest one has to be proficient with the firearm they use.
 
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