James,
"....I have seen several gut shot elk hit with a 243 that just laid down and died on the spot..."
Really?
If your words are in ernest, then youhave immensely moreexperience withgut shot elk than I do.
(1) How in the heck did that happen? and,
(2) How did youallow yourself to continue to beinvolved withit?
"....but gut shoit animals that I have seen were not effected much by caliber size...."
Ah, let me make sure I understand this. So in addition to the "several 243-hit'em-bad-yet-killed-'em-where-they-stood" elk kills, there was also an additionalgroup of "other" elk that you have seen gut shot with bigger (or smaller maybe?)cartridges --- andyou are using the comparison between these two groups of gut shot elkto make your point that cartridge size is largely irrelevant in this?
Damn, you appear to be a witness to the "hunter equivalent of war crimes" IMHO, especially if strong measures were not taken to put an end to its re-occurance (which, on the surface of it, you make soundcasual....)
Again:
(1) How in the heck did this first hand witnessing of such a streak of seemingly prolific gut shooting take place? and,
(2) How did youallow yourself to continue to beinvolved withit? and,
(3) What actions, if any, were taken to try to stop/prevent it?
I'm feelingstronger convictionsabout how we're running our elk camp by the minute --- "heavy handed" rules and all!