.243 for elk?

[flatline]

My son shot his cow elk at 185 yards with his .243, she went 2 steps and fell over.

[CatfishKev]

Creedmoor kicks a little harder than .243 with 100 gr. .243 vs 140gr creed, but I think at this point it's mostly a mental thing .... If they think it will kick more, they think about it and it affects their shooting. We'll work on it this summer and decide which one he shoots better. Thanks to all who responded. Kind of reinforced my thinking that a .243 would be adequate, if not ideal. Either way, it's exciting to be taking the kids out. No tags for me, but I'm just as excited to take them. First elk tags after trying for 3 years.

I'd rather take my kids hunting with cow tags any day over a bull tag in my pocket. Good luck to you guys.

[Yoshi]

I had the same dilemma with my son he is using a 243 (for javelina an Deer and will still use it) but this is the first year that he got drawn for Cow elk (he is going to be 13 but he is stocky and a little tall) ...

 

He shoots well from a rest with my 270 ....so most probably he will go out with the 270

 

But i always had in my mind that the 243 can do the job specially with a solid rest letting him make a good shot (not pressuring the shooter) and a solid bullet 100gr probably the partition or your favorite

[Hoss50]

Let him use the creedmoor.

 

The 243 will do it but you better make a good shot at a reasonable range and use a good bullet like 100 gr partition.

 

My 257 weatherby did just fine with 115gr bullets a few years ago. I took two shots at about 260-280 yards. Both were good lung shots and she went down quick. The reason I took the 257 over my larger caliber because I shoot that rifle better then the others. I know I can place good shots with that rifle.

 

I wouldn't choose the 243 on purpose if I had bigger rounds I shot well, but if I had no choice or was in a pinch in would use a 243 without hesitation.

[Delw]

.243 is a good elk round for a kid. I prefer ballistic tips, partitions in 243 are too heavy construction wise.

The top 2 heavy .243/6mm nosler ballistic tips are made for hunting big game not varmits.and they work extreamly well on lighter rounds.

[tomharveyb]

The creedmoor it will be- if he shoots it well. My other grandson is a lot bigger and will use a .270 w. 130 gr. I just wanted opinions on .243 because he shoots it without any problem. I would rather have a good shot with a .243 than a poor shot with anything bigger.

[azbugler]

My 10 year old daughter will be using the .243 this year on her elk hunt. This will be her first time using a big kid gun and shes pretty tiny. I know the .243 will work, especially since her shots will probably be under 100 yards.

[Zoltar]

I had a friend back in Montana who got his 243 as a young man when the cartridge first appeared on the market. He lived on his family ranch down by Lima and he worked for his family guide/outfitting business.

He filled his elk tag every year for 30 years until he quit hunting (He hates ATVs and some of the lousy hunting practices/hunters that he saw manifest after sorry lazy pukes now can get into back country on an ATV, but I digress.)

Anyways. the point is, he said a good hunter can get close enough to make a 243 effective. He claims every elk killed was killed with the exact same neck shot and every shot was under 70 yards. Alot of folk question the ethics of neck shots, but he never wounded one, never lost one and never failed to fill his tag. By the way, all those elk were larger than average bulls.

Having hunted for many years and seen what your buddy in Montana saw from his early days of hunting I feel his pain. We all see these lousy hunting practices as the woods get more crowded every year.

243 will drop an elk no problem. Good luck to your grandson and have a great time in woods with him. Always special time hunting with kids

[More D]

In 2015 my daughter took her first big game animal. It was the Jr elk tag. Her rifle is a .243. We were concerned about the possibility of losing an elk due to poor shot placement being her first elk hunt, etc. We ended up using her grandfather's Browning in 30-06 with a BOSS break. We loaded 130grn bullets at 2700fps. It proved to be accurate and a pussy cat to shoot. She took a big lead cow at 197 yards with the shot took out the top of the heart. It was a thing of beauty. She was so calm and cool where is was about to pee myself with excitement. All of the preseason practice worked out wonderfully.

 

This year she drew that tag again so we are super excited. I will leave it up to her which rifle she uses but we will start practicing NOW to ensure she is good to go.

[hoghntr]

243 👍

 

Even some of us adults use 243 on elk

[Titanium700]

Not me.

I use a .243 Ackley.

 

*grin*

[BigGameHunter]

Yes, on my son's first cow hunt I struggled with this question. I spent week's researching it and looking up ballistics, range, etc.

 

At the end of the day, my son knocked down his cow from 125 yards and she only ran 25 yards before hitting the ground. I am sure everyone in here has their opinions on ammo but we opted for a 90grain bullet and it worked great. Now, we were "lucky" in that the shot was relatively close, but I would have been comfortable on that bullet choice upto 200yds. With him, at that time, having limited range time we made the choice to stay inside of 200 on all shots. Bottomline, your .243 will work. I had the meat in the freezer to prove it.

 

Good luck out there with the kid(s). There is no greater feeling as a parent to hunt with your kids.

[AZhuntingfamily]

I think you would ne fine as long as you keep the shot around 100y and maybe longer with some Amax or Berger style bullets.

I Would just look at the kinetic impact charts for what you are shooting and make an educated guess at what distance is reasonable.

[Beaton]

Many elk have been killed with a .243 including some in my family. I do not recommend it but it will do the job with good shot placement. I load 100gr sierra Spitzer bowtails and they have done the job on cow elk for the youth hunters in my family that chose to use that. 243

[MogollonMan]

I decided my 338 lapua mag wasn't getting it done and decided to upgrade. Here is the footage of me sighting it in.