.243 for elk?

[RadSav]

If you can kill an elk with a bow you sure as hell can kill one with a 243

You can kill an elephant and Cape Buffalo with a bow.  Why is illegal to us a .243?  Try shooting through a 2 gallon bucket of sand with a .243 and then do the same with a bow.  No comparison which penetrates better...the bow.  Terminal ballistics are apples to oranges.  The above statement is completely ridiculous.  I hear it all the time and always have to shake my head about the narrow minded vision and lack of understanding openly displayed on the subject.

[dartondude]

If you can kill an elk with a bow you sure as hell can kill one with a 243

That was my point and many others exactly.   

and my point was, in some cases, people who hunt with the big boys (rifle season) think they can shoot like the big boys (normal elk calibers).  As long as you have mental attitude that you won't be able to do everything somebody with a 300 win mag can, then go ahead and hunt elk with a .243

[BullMagnet76]

.243 is an awesome round. I use mine for all big game hunting

Maybe, but a 338 Win Mag is definitely MORE awesome!

 

[blackveltbowhunter]

If you can kill an elk with a bow you sure as hell can kill one with a 243

That was my point and many others exactly.   

They kill way differently. I'm not arguing that a 243 is capable, but to say just cuz a bow can do it. Isnt realistic.

[blackveltbowhunter]

strike my last post I see Rad beat me to it 

[RadSav]

   I agree Rad.... But for giggles lets say you have both guns. The 270 you can make the shot at 300, 19 out of 20 times. The 243 you do it 20 out of 20. does your decision change? That seems to be more of the scenario the op may be presented with.

My question would be;  If I can make that shot 19 times why can't I make it 20 out of 20?  No my decision does not change.

[dartondude]

If you can kill an elk with a bow you sure as hell can kill one with a 243

You can kill an elephant and Cape Buffalo with a bow.  Why is illegal to us a .243?  Try shooting through a 2 gallon bucket of sand with a .243 and then do the same with a bow.  No comparison which penetrates better...the bow.  Terminal ballistics are apples to oranges.  The above statement is completely ridiculous.  I hear it all the time and always have to shake my head about the narrow minded vision and lack of understanding openly displayed on the subject.

Excellent point...very well stated

[dscubame]

If you can kill an elk with a bow you sure as hell can kill one with a 243

You can kill an elephant and Cape Buffalo with a bow.  Why is illegal to us a .243?  Try shooting through a 2 gallon bucket of sand with a .243 and then do the same with a bow.  No comparison which penetrates better...the bow.  Terminal ballistics are apples to oranges.  The above statement is completely ridiculous.  I hear it all the time and always have to shake my head about the narrow minded vision and lack of understanding openly displayed on the subject.

Hydrostatic shock and "stopping power" comes to mind and for this reason I consider your reply ironic in that your post seems to be the narrow minded vision and lack of understanding being openly displayed.  Not to mention rude.

[C-Money]

As I said earlier, folks are very spirited on both sides of the line, and most are no where near the middle on this topic. I am a hands on, like to see evidence kinda guy. I have seen this evidence many times, and feel good about the .243 in the hands of a hunter that knows their rifle well.

[blackveltbowhunter]

   I agree Rad.... But for giggles lets say you have both guns. The 270 you can make the shot at 300, 19 out of 20 times. The 243 you do it 20 out of 20. does your decision change? That seems to be more of the scenario the op may be presented with.

My question would be;  If I can make that shot 19 times why can't I make it 20 out of 20?  No my decision does not change.

  Agreed. But thats not the context. The OP has stated his wife is more comfortable with the 243 thatn the 06. I am going to assume that translates to more accurate ( although that is an assumption on my part), so in that situation I go with the weapon I have 100 percent confidence.

[BOWHUNTER45]

Man ..you guys are dragging this out  makes me want to put up my bow for a year and go try it out ...I think back on all the deer my family has killed with a .243 and its funny how some animals will just drop with a well placed shot and how many will run with a well placed shot ..Especially those whitetail in PA  Being a .243 fan all my life I would most likely prefer something a little bigger even though I know I would not have any trouble dropping an elk with one . I sure miss shooting at whitetail doing mock 90 across a corn fields in the east ... Poooooow Flop 

[RadSav]

   I agree Rad.... But for giggles lets say you have both guns. The 270 you can make the shot at 300, 19 out of 20 times. The 243 you do it 20 out of 20. does your decision change? That seems to be more of the scenario the op may be presented with.

My question would be;  If I can make that shot 19 times why can't I make it 20 out of 20?  No my decision does not change.

  Agreed. But thats not the context. The OP has stated his wife is more comfortable with the 243 thatn the 06. I am going to assume that translates to more accurate ( although that is an assumption on my part), so in that situation I go with the weapon I have 100 percent confidence.

Agreed!  If I shot the .243 better and had the most confidence in it - Yes I would chose the .243.  And if I had only one gun being a good shooting .243 I wouldn't hesitate to use it on elk.  But, most women can handle the 270's where few handle the 30-06 well.  And the 7-08 is a little sweetheart with an edge on bigger game.  Given time and funding I would give some effort into finding something with a bit wider margin for error.  If that's not in the cards work with what you've got.  No problem there it's legal.

[Holg3107]

I've dumped a few elk with my 6mm rem. That being said all elk that I shot with my 6mm went from 20-75yards after the shot aside from one that took a bullet to the head. The last elk I shot was with my .300 win mag. That elk hit the dirt when I pulled the trigger. Dead is dead I guess. You put the bullet in the right spot and the job gets done. A larger heavier bullet is going to help when the shot isn't perfect.

[elkfins]

I think it's been well established that a .243 will kill an elk. 
What it really boils down to is how comfortable is the shooter with the rifle and maybe more importantly, the shot that's presented.  If I was hunting elk with a .243, I would certainly be much more mindful whether or not to take a shot as opposed to shooting with a .338 Win Mag.  For instance, I wouldn't try to punch through the front shoulder with the .243 where I would have no hesitation doing that with the .338.  I wouldn't necessarily take a shot at an elk that was moving with the .243 where I would with a larger caliber rifle that had more stopping power.
In fact, I can think of many circumstances where I've encountered elk in the past that I would not take a shot with a smaller caliber rifle where I would with a larger caliber rifle... this is, of course, assuming I had the tag for the animal at the time I encountered it. 
Interestingly enough the 5pt I shot this year didn't even flinch when I hit him in the heart with 2 165gr 30-06 ballistic tip bullets.  After the 2nd shot he ran uphill for 25 yards before he stopped for a few seconds then fell.  I've shot several elk with that same load and this is the first one that didn't react to being shot.

[Bob33]

"It's really not complicated."