.243 BE ENOUGH FOR ELK?

[mtnsammy]

Sigma, thanks for the great links. I enjoyed reading thos articles and brosed thru the others on the site. It was like talking with Dad again in the garage. Opinions humble or not are valid only when backed by ballistics. I chose a very unique gun for my hunting as I am mostly in dense cover and wanted something short with a wild kick. At 6foot 4inches dragging 250 pounds the Marlin 444 is a dream for me. But as we read some prefer the 243 and others stand by the 30 06. It is a matter of what you can shoot and the balistics to back your shot. It appears Elk can and have been taken with the 243. To date I am still waiting for the shot with my 444 and I know it will go down.

To the OP take your son's out. It sounds like he can place the shot. Ask the game wardens office what they recommend or a reliable gun shop for the load. If the elk is hit just follow thru and keep it down. It is a great way to teach the next generation the dynamics of hunting. No one gun is the sole gun nor is one hunter the best. How we hunt defines us. Range time and matching balistics wil keep the hunts humane and pleasurable. Best of luck.

 

[Sigma]

Good post, FTTPOW. Applies especially to non-resident hunters, for whom it presents a considerable investment of time, effort and money to be successful. Elk can and have been taken with a .243, but if you're driving over 1000 miles just to get there, you probably want the odds to be in your favor.

 

[superduty]

My youngest turned 12 in February and takes his hunter safety next week for this years draw so I invested in his first big game rifle that I felt would be with him on hunts here in Nevada for the rest of his life since that is what I prefer. I bought him a Remington 270 with a nice muzzle break to assist through his youth seasons. He has been shooting scoped rifles for years now and took to his new one with a smile and great shots. I do prefer larger on elk but with the proper bullet and placement I have droped elk with my 270 in their tracks. I'm not a big fan of the 243 even though I have one but I've seen even large mullies here walk away from a 243 hit and it makes for a long day. If you can invest in another but don't wish to go too big then I would try the 270 until he's old enough to go to a larger caliber. Here is a pic of my son sighting in his 270. Good luck on the draw.

 

[baco]

Elk are very tuff animals even when hit right. I personally have shot several and been present while several others have been shot. One thing to remember is you are going after cow elk. Cow elk are usually in herds and they all tend to look the same. Once you shoot they will all group together and finding the one you shot is next to impossable. You usually have to wait until the elk start to walk or run away to see the one that you shot start falling out of the group if your lucky as if its thick cover you may loose sight of them soon.

My point being we have shot elk with the 06 and 7 mag and most of them have traveled a ways from the shot. One I put 3 06 bullets thru both front shoulders and it stayed with the heard for close to a 100 yards. Go with the bigger gun or borrow one if available

 

[MOUNTAIN MICKEY]

Not so much of a question of weather you can use a 243 for elk, as its obviously been done successfully many times. BUT Ireally think you are limiting your chances because you will want to have ideal conditions or circumstances and this may somewhat take away all the high fives from what might have been. Better to postpone the actuall hunt than to have a bad experience. If he were my son I would want him to wait untill he can handle a little more oomph. Its great that he has already put meat in your freezer but why rush the elk thing. Im sure he will get a lot of enjoyment just being along with you for your elk hunt. Enjoy your hunting times with your family and good luck whatever your decision Mickey

 

[CODE3RUN]

Now you guys have me thinking on my younger son ( first time hunting), to shoot a larger caliber. My buddy offered up his gun which I forgot what it is? He said he shot his bear with it and it doesnt have much kick... By the way I think we drew because of pending charge on the credit card! Sounds like were going! Again thanks for all the info and I will update when this hunt happends. Lots of hunting prior to this but getting pretty exciting because we have never hunted elk.

 

[CODE3RUN]

Update: I will borrow a .270 in place of the .243

 

[FTTPOW]

You've made a good choice. A .270 may bark loud and have a good bite downrange, but recoil is marginal. Hopefully it will give your son and you a confidence boost to know he's shooting a capable round. With a premium bullet, I'm partial to Nosler Partitions, and lots of practice he can extend his range a bit, depending on HIS abilities. He still needs one round in the windbags to do the job right.
Once he gets it dialed in, that'a one less thing to have to worry about and you can concentrate on more important issues. I'm guessing a bunch of us on here are relieved to hear that you made this decision as well.

 

[Widux]

I suppose a .243 would do the job with perfect bullet placement but me i neveruse anything smaller then an 06 and almost always my 300WM-I like big cal that do the job NOW- for a lad I's maybe recomend a 270 with lots of practice-and good stalk.

 

[Beastmode]

It all depends what he can shoot comfortably. The 243 will kill an elk no problem. If he is unconfortable shooting anything bigger, stick to the 243. If he is scared of the recoil he won't make a good shot.

One thing to consider is you have alot more hide, fat, meat and ribs to make it through. A quartering away shot may be a little much, if shooting farther than 150-200 yards. Whatever caliber you choose he has to be consistent with shot placement. A gut shot is still a gut shot regardless of how big of a gun you are shooting. Plenty of people use a 243 for elk. I think he will be fine.

 

[jackrabbit]

.270 sounds great if he practices a lot and becomes comfortable enough to control good shot placement. And this is a cow tag, not a tag for a big heavy herd bull, right?

Training suggestion: when he is shooting off the bench or in the field for practice, sneak in a dummy round every now and then in order to check for flinch -- he will notice flinch and trigger control very easily that way. And when actually hunting, he will only be pulling that trigger a very few times, so recoil will be unnoticed in a real situation.

 

[Sigma]

You've made a good choice. A .270 may bark loud and have a good bite downrange, but recoil is marginal. Hopefully it will give your son and you a confidence boost to know he's shooting a capable round. With a premium bullet, I'm partial to Nosler Partitions, and lots of practice he can extend his range a bit, depending on HIS abilities. He still needs one round in the windbags to do the job right.
Once he gets it dialed in, that'a one less thing to have to worry about and you can concentrate on more important issues. I'm guessing a bunch of us on here are relieved to hear that you made this decision as well.

Agree with FTTPOW. Your son will be in much better shape with a .270. Try to get a lot of practice with it.

 

[catchdog]

This may sound a little crazy, but before me and my wife went to Africa I found that she was flencking when she shot her 7mm08 at the range. She said she doesn't even think about recoil when a animal is in front of her. She had proved that before hunting, so I didn't want her to make a bad habit of flentching. I had her practice with a .22 at 100 yards off tall stix like used most of the time in Africa. I also had her practice off short stix and prone. She could shoot good small groupes with the .22 so thats what I had her stick with twice a week for 6 weeks before we left. Truned out it worked very well. She shot 11 animals and only missed one shot. She even made a 250 yard shot on a spring buck in very high winds.
I did prover to her it was a flenching problem by sneaking in a empty round like jackrabbit said.

 

[RoyalWapiti]

My buddy's son shot a cow in 6A last year. He drew his first Junior tag. My son drew a 5B rifle bull tag this year. So I need to find a rifle for him. He is 19 and can handle whatever we find. Most likely a 300 WSM. BUt if a similar comes along cheaper I'll snap it up.

 

[CODE3RUN]

Sorry to bump this old thread but better than starting a new one I guess. We leave for this youth cow hunt in 7 days. Any last minute suggestions?

 

[henmar77]

+1 on calling the guide. Take it from an expert, not us gun snobs.

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Sigma]

Visit the range one more time and try different shooting positions. Nix the .243 and use the .270.

 

[buckhunter]

Would reccomend a 100 gr Nosler Partition. Anything in the boiler room will work. Most people like that high should shot so they drop but I dont agree, I think if you keep a good eye on the elk after the shot to the vitals you will do great. Good luck!

 

[CODE3RUN]

Thanks guys. We will hit the range one more time this weekend and then Wed we leave. Boys are pretty excited to hunt as am I. My next concern is meat care. We will figure it all out.

 

[DAWG]

Let them know it's more about enjoying the experience, learning and having fun, not a thing where success/failure hinges on getting an elk.... ahead of time! Also tell them to wait for a good shot and try not to let buck ego get to you...