After guiding and outfitting and killing my share of elk I just can’t keep myself from commenting on threads like this. Last one I promise.
So in a thread like this you’ll always get mixed opinions. Both sides will make good points. So how do you make a decision?
I suppose there are a fair amount of people who just want others to validate a choice they have already made. So they tend to listen to the guys who tell them what they want to hear. It’s a way of building confidence in your decision and in your firearm. But they also tend to breeze right past the comments that aren’t exactly music to their ears. Then there are those who are really here to listen to the advice and experiences of others to help make a choice of what fits their goals and abilities.
We all agree on a few things. Elk are tough. They aren’t deer! They can vanish on the side of a mountain.
I think we all want to make ethical kills. Quick and clean. I know we all hope to recover the elk we shoot.
For those reasons we want to minimize risk. It happens. And just like these threads the cowboy who killed 30 with a super light caliber didn’t talk about the ones that got away. I always have respect for the hunters who come onto forums and tell the story of their Hunt which ends with an animal being wounded and never being found. Admitting that isn’t something lots of guys would tell the whole world. But when you read them you can’t help but get the feeling that those guys have a huge respect for the animals they hunt. It shouldn’t matter if it’s an elk or a squirrel either. It’s a life.
Anyhow.....
Look at it this way... you know it’s a really light cartridge with more limitations than something bigger. The people who say that a small caliber will kill an elk are definitely right. But they’ll tell you about those limitations. They won’t tell you that a bigger gun might not be good for elk, or better, because of those same limitations. Mainly the more energy. They definitely have a point that more energy means more recoil. But I think you’ll agree that there’s a happy medium and you can certainly handle a gun with more recoil than a .243.
You don’t have to shoot a magnum. But don’t be afraid of the word magnum either. They come in all shapes and sizes. A .300 Ultra Mag is a big magnum. There are way smaller. A 7mm is a peashooter compared to that. Then there are short mags. Or no “mag” at all.
Nobody feels recoil when shooting at big game. It’s the anticipation of the recoil that’s the problem. So you definitely need to be comfortable with your gun.
You can manage recoil with a muzzle brake. They work GREAT. You can manage it even more on the bench by using a Lead Sled. But first pick the right gun. It might be a .300 Win Mag. It might be a .270 or a 30-.06. Find someone with the one you’re thinking about and go shoot it. You might be surprised to find yourself saying hey that wasn’t as bad as I thought! Pretty soon you won’t have the pre shot jitters because of anticipating any recoil.
The choice is yours. But we all know that you can minimize the risk factor with something more suitable that you can shoot comfortably. Be ready for a less than perfect shot angle or to hit heavy bone and still get the penetration you need. Be ready for some wind drift and adrenaline in your veins. Those things are very real. Besides you already have a .243. So think dead bulls instead of dual purpose elk/coyote gun.
I feel bad if I hit a rabbit and he drags himself down a hole and dies in there. If you ever hung your head after a long exhausting search for a dead elk came up empty you’d be looking at things a little differently. Even though it shouldn’t be different than a squirrel or rabbit it is. It sucks! Good luck!
