Quote:
Yes, elk are some bigger, and that should be taken into account by anyone considering hunting elk with a .243. A good hunter ALWAYS considers the size and temperment of the intended game when considering a cartridge to use.
But as long as the limitations of the cartridge are realized and respected, there's no reason why a .243 can't be used for elk. Note that this is a BIG qualifier for a lot of shooters who aren't disciplined enough to restrict their shots to those the cartridge is capable of executing.
|
You see, that is exactly the problem. many people would never, ever give up their 30-30 rifles, "because it's killed ***** deer and it works."
Sure it does.
When nimrods lime my nephew read about heroic against the odds shots dropping elk, it fills their wooden heads with delusions of competence. They take the .243 that they bought for deer when they were 14, and haul it to another area and decide they're going to hunt elk with it. They then shoot an elk in the butt and leave a mediocre wound, instead of "doing their part," as is necessary to make sub optimal rounds successful.
Any larger cartridge will result in a whole lot more bleeding, and an eventually quicker kill. for example, a .460 weatherby will probably bleed out an elk with a butt shot in just a few minutes, if the arteries in the area are lacerated.
The problem with saying that *** is good for *** "if you do your part" is that it gives blanket permission for the intellectually challenged among us to go after an elephant with a 7 mm mauser, becasue it worked for ***, and OF COURSE I CAN DO MY PART!!!"
The issue swings both ways, so to speak, as people show up in the field with belted magnums, absolutely certain that their own flaws will be compensated for, because his gun "will do it's part!"
Obviously, this reflects my deeply cynical, but mostly accurate, understanding of the human race. almost all of us far overestimate their own level of competence in anything that they do. I used to, somewhat, I am far more realistic now. I no longer, for example, kill squirrels with a pellet gun, even though "it works." Lots of times it don't