Originally Posted by homers brother

So just what do you advocate here? If you lose game with a .243 you should stop using it? But what if you lose game with something bigger? Should you stop using it as well? Should you be required to get something bigger? I would contend that if you can't perform with whatever you're carrying - you just can't perform. Fix that first.

In my 38 years hunting big game, I've only lost two animals. I hit a doe at the elbow joint my very first hunting season with a .243. I lost the cow elk, but recovered the bloody arrow that went through her 17 years ago. There are probably almost three dozen pronghorns, whitetails, mulies, elk (including three I shot with a .243), and a couple of caribou I've brought home otherwise. And yes, there are years that I came home empty or wasn't able to hunt at all.

Someone else said it already. You have to be willing to pass on questionable shots. That point is absolutely fundamental. No rifle will make up for a shot that you shouldn't have taken in the first place. Period.