jerry d

Like I said muley I aint giving advice. If Im gonna hunt elk ill ask for advice...,. but not from '06, don't think he'd be to helpful.

Muley Hunter

I don't know why? He's hunted and killed elk. He could help you if you needed it.

Topgun 3006

I can only hope that Junior goes away! He**, at my age I'm still even backpacking them all out to the truck a couple miles and Junior from TN ain't even been on an elk hunt, LOL! Last year alone we took two bulls and two cows, as well as a half dozen deer and antelope that also bit the dust. Oh, and then there was also the Bighorn sheep I helped my best buddy take in OR and a nice mulie in NM! What a joke this guy is! He probably has never even been out of TN on any kind of a hunt!

jerry d

Do ya think he would? he seems upset with me....

Muley Hunter

Stop insulting him. That would be a good start.

jerry d

There are guys in the know that posted in this thread and the man continues to be condescending. So when someone challenges him on a post he ask the guy to PM instead of post it in the forum where it started.
He calls another guy a smarta$$ cause he made 30-30 comment that may or may not have been directed at you.
And you say I'm insulting him?

Muley Hunter

Yes, you are. I only mentioned what you are doing. Insults are coming from both sides.

You challenged his hunting abilities, and you were wrong. The last thing a hunter wants to hear is they can't hunt.

One of you needs to stop the insults, or it will go on until a mod stops it.

Topgun 3006

Pete---Let it go and maybe he'll do as we both have asked! We all now know who hunts elk, who has killed elk, and who hasn't even been on an elk hunt. I don't believe I was wrong for asking my buddy Flags to PM me when I explained the reason that he took my post as directed at him when it wasn't. That was taken care of as I said I would by editing. All this is coming from a guy that had one post deleted for violating site rules and put up another video of a 686 yard shot at a cow elk with a .243. I may be mistaken, but it sounded like from his post that he condoned it to show that the .243 is more than adequate if it will kill an elk at that distance. Maybe I'm wrong and if I am I apologize before another post comes my way! Now this thread is on post #158 with many of us expressing our feelings regarding the subject and almost all of us are in agreement that the .243 will kill an elk under the proper circumstances, but it's not what most would use. Hopefully any newbies that read this thread wondering what to use on their first elk hunt will go to a bigger caliber. If not, so be it and let's hope any animal they shoot will die the quick, humane death they deserve. Finally; yes, I'd be happy to help him or anyone else that has questions or needs help on anything that I may have knowledge on after 60 years in the hunting/shooting sports just as I'm sure you would with your 6+ decades of experience.

homers brother

You added "hundred" to what I said. Read it again.... The elk hit with the .375 left a blood trail about a foot wide for about 100 yards, he was nothing to follow, and I heard him go down and thrash around so knew the general direction to go looking as well. The elk hit with the .243 went "a few" yards. From where I shot him, I could see him a few steps away. I don't recall there even being a blood trail, but there didn't need to be, so I probably wasn't even looking for it.

And once again, you guys are speaking in absolutes here and making leaps of logic. Because I had to trail an elk hit with a .375, it's not a good elk rifle, but because I didn't have to with the .243 - it is? Good Lord. Okay, the rest of the story. I've killed elk on-the-spot with the .375 as well. I've done the same with a .30-06, .300, and .338, as well as shots where they launched themselves when hit and collapsed a few yards away.

That bull hit with the .300 WSM? He went nearly a mile before he went down for good to a .270. The shot from the .300 was from the forward oblique and rather than going in slightly ahead of the shoulder where it should have, went in higher and slightly behind the shoulder where it damaged the right lung but spent most of its time passing through stomach and intestines. The .270 finisher was pure broadside boiler room. A bad shot is a bad shot, regardless of the cartridge.

Much analysis of that one around the campfire, mostly because the .300 shooter just couldn't believe that his pet rifle didn't smoke that elk on the spot like it "should have" (and would have, had he been paying more attention to where his crosshairs were lined up than he was the bones on the thing's head). There are no guarantees.

The takeaway here if you're a newbie isn't the sufficiency of ANY caliber for ANY game, it's how critical your marksmanship abilities are once you find your animal. It's not a matter of what gear you can buy, but the skills you've developed.

Topgun 3006

You are absolutely correct and I would have sworn the "hundred" was in that sentence. I should have gone back and read it before I made my post and I offer my sincere apology for misrepresnting your statement! I know we all knew what you were saying about the small caliber in relation to the bigger one. I believe Pete was just attempting to state that a newbie might read it differently when you said you had to follow the one shot with the big caliber and didn't with the .243. Many people read stuff when they've already decide what they're going to do and if a newbie was looking at the .243 he might do what Pete stated for lack of experience.