.243 Big Game Animals
01-31-2009, 09:07 PM
#12
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: The Republic of Texas
Posts: 12,040
RE: .243 Big Game Animals
ORIGINAL: srwshooter
it may,i can tell you this. i 've seen more deer lost that were shot with a 243 then any other caliber. lots of deer die every year with a 243 but i know to many guys that wish they'd never seen one.
i watched a friend shoot a bear that was close to 400lbs last sept . he hit him twice with a 243 ,we tracked him for 6 hrs . he never stopped.
you may kill a moose with it ,but to me you need a bigger gun.
it may,i can tell you this. i 've seen more deer lost that were shot with a 243 then any other caliber. lots of deer die every year with a 243 but i know to many guys that wish they'd never seen one.
i watched a friend shoot a bear that was close to 400lbs last sept . he hit him twice with a 243 ,we tracked him for 6 hrs . he never stopped.
you may kill a moose with it ,but to me you need a bigger gun.
To 243heartshot, a .243 will kill a moose. You have to be very selective of your shot. Broadside, behind shoulder, not through it. Use a premium bullet that's been designed for penetration on a larger-than-deer animal. That being said, if I was on a once in a lifetime moose hunt... I'd be carrying something a bit heavier than a .243.
02-13-2009, 08:03 PM
#14
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: MN USA
Posts: 1,392
RE: .243 Big Game Animals
No, .243 is not sufficient to hunt heavy boned, tough skinned big game! Even with heavier caliber and terminal forced rifle, you need to use either a quality "bonded", partitioned or solid that won't blow apart on impact. That's how and why John Nosler designed the first partitioned bullet over 50 yrs ago after a moose hunt with standard jacketed bullets fired at a big moose with some mud on his heavy hide. It took him a number of shots to finish the job. That started him working on an alternative designed bullet that would hold much of it's weight even after hitting heavy hide / bones.
A light weight bullet like .243 just doesn't have enough to make it through that and still do the damage needed to bring a big animal like a moose or Elk down quickly. You might wound and eventually find and finish it off or lose it and it die. But you can do much better. It's good you ask though. It shows you have the right intentions and want to the ethical thing. That's good.
A light weight bullet like .243 just doesn't have enough to make it through that and still do the damage needed to bring a big animal like a moose or Elk down quickly. You might wound and eventually find and finish it off or lose it and it die. But you can do much better. It's good you ask though. It shows you have the right intentions and want to the ethical thing. That's good.
02-23-2009, 01:25 PM
#16
Typical Buck
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: North Central Idaho
Posts: 539
RE: .243 Big Game Animals
I pack a .243 more than any other caliber, but that is because I am usually planning on shooting Coyotes, varmints, etc.. and it is hard to beat for those tasks. I also have taken many deer with it, but by no means is it a great large game rifle. A 300 win mag fills the bill for my Elk, bear, Mule deer hunts. For moose the ethical thing to do is bring as much gun as you can handle and shoot well.
02-24-2009, 05:46 AM
#17
Typical Buck
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location:
Posts: 549
RE: .243 Big Game Animals
I would think with proper shot placement it's more than capable. I wouldn't try alot of angle shots through shoulders. But saying that any fast caliber can bounce off bones at bad angles. I have personally seen a deers shoulder blade turn a 300win mag. The deer was up hill and just enough of an angle to send the bullet out the withers of the deer. Second hunter killed the buck so we got to see the recourse of angle shots gone wrong. Stay behind the shoulder in the heart and lungs dead animal everytime. And if you don't have that shot, do you really think you should of pulled the trigger in the first place?
Like all things it's the operator not the tool that makes the difference. Some hunters need 105 howitzers. Just sayin.
Like all things it's the operator not the tool that makes the difference. Some hunters need 105 howitzers. Just sayin.
02-24-2009, 07:22 AM
#18
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Lubbock, Texas
Posts: 1,401
RE: .243 Big Game Animals
It makes about as much sense as hunting them with a bow or a muzzleloader. It can be done, but in my opinion you are limiting your opportunities and increasing the chance of wounding an animal for no reason other than to prove something.
02-28-2009, 08:06 AM
#19
Fork Horn
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Kansas
Posts: 136
RE: .243 Big Game Animals
A .243 will kill anything a 300 will kill as long as a premium bullet and proper shot placement are used. However, if I were targeting moose, I'd have one of my 30 cals with me, not my .243.
03-07-2009, 10:00 AM
#20
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location:
Posts: 1,832
RE: .243 Big Game Animals
Yep a .243 bullet should certainly kill a moose if it was shot in the brain or the heart.
As long as the bullet hits the vitals in the neck such as the juggular or the spine it should drop almost in its tracks as well.
I personally try to avoid broadside shots on moose only cause the potential ruuning and causing follow up shots, and damaged meat are inevetable.
I favor the the "head on", frontal chest cavity shot and split the 2front shouldersin half.
This animal ain't going anywhere but on the ground.
Very very little meat damage and very deep bullet penatration. The frontal section isquite a week spot.
The trachea and juggularwill be severed before the bullet even breaks through the chest cavity and the lungs and heart are inches behind the front ribs.
Once the frontchestis broken,the animals front shoulders cannot hold its own weight.
Its on the ground almost instantaneously.
That bulletwill severe the trachea from the lungs, (lungs are justchunks of little pieces), and the main ateries from the heart and and there is a not to mention hole in itsdiaphram.
I personally find this is the best shot to kill any animal and its my favorite method of killing them.
I have seen .243 and 30-30 kill evfectively this way with one shot kills on moose and the guys that use these cal on these animals choose this method of killing as well.
From 50 yrds away, there is more than enough energy for that cal. bullet to kill an animal this size.
As long as the bullet hits the vitals in the neck such as the juggular or the spine it should drop almost in its tracks as well.
I personally try to avoid broadside shots on moose only cause the potential ruuning and causing follow up shots, and damaged meat are inevetable.
I favor the the "head on", frontal chest cavity shot and split the 2front shouldersin half.
This animal ain't going anywhere but on the ground.
Very very little meat damage and very deep bullet penatration. The frontal section isquite a week spot.
The trachea and juggularwill be severed before the bullet even breaks through the chest cavity and the lungs and heart are inches behind the front ribs.
Once the frontchestis broken,the animals front shoulders cannot hold its own weight.
Its on the ground almost instantaneously.
That bulletwill severe the trachea from the lungs, (lungs are justchunks of little pieces), and the main ateries from the heart and and there is a not to mention hole in itsdiaphram.
I personally find this is the best shot to kill any animal and its my favorite method of killing them.
I have seen .243 and 30-30 kill evfectively this way with one shot kills on moose and the guys that use these cal on these animals choose this method of killing as well.
From 50 yrds away, there is more than enough energy for that cal. bullet to kill an animal this size.