A person "might" be able to get away with a 243 for large game animals like Elk and Moose, but there "could" be lots of factors that might not work out in one's favor,,, distance, shot placement, angle of critter, bullet construction,,, and the person behind the rifle. Did the bullet get away clean,,, or were there under lieing factors at play.
All of us always hope that things work out,,, isn't that part of the hunting,,, where do each of us draw the line on what is enough bullet and energy to get the job done,,, is there a rib bone added into the mix, what if a front shoulder shot is the only one available with the limited time to get it off.
Would we be happy with 800 ft-lbs energy at X distance ,,,maybe 1000,,, how about 11 or 1600 ft-lbs energy, let's not rule out more ft-lbs if we can shot it with our skills.
How about that bullet, is that critter going to take it hard,,, or run with it,,, is our plan to anchor it ,kill it or hope it finishes it off.
What is enough gun, where is that distance at where the trigger is not pulled.
The only one who "should" know this is the person them selves,,, what end of the scale do you choose to give up ,,, and what is acceptable for your needs.
Each of us get to set our limits,,, just because my limits are high doesn't mean the next persons can't be set higher or lower.
I've heard of folks using the 837 ft-lbs rule ,,, some draw the line at 1200,,, I like to see 16 to 1700 ft-lbs on thick skins ,,, a fraction less on Deer,,, so I use a 308 winchester or 30/06 with Grand Slams at close range. If the bullet reaches the 200+ meter mark,,, I start thinking,,, deffinatly thinking 2 X's at the 300 mark,,, this might not be the case when I had the 300 Mag on the go.
Hay,,, that's just me,,, each person gets to draw there own line in the sand.
What I shoot in competion is one thing,,, I don't bring that rule of thumb into the killing fields since its kind of a different game all together,,, less the part about getting a clean shot off I "hope."
Lots of factors at play once we step out side the gate into the wilds.
"Hopefully" all of us have our ducks in a row as things play out,,, 10% gun / catrage / bullet,,, 90% shooter behind the trigger.
Cheers from Don
All of us always hope that things work out,,, isn't that part of the hunting,,, where do each of us draw the line on what is enough bullet and energy to get the job done,,, is there a rib bone added into the mix, what if a front shoulder shot is the only one available with the limited time to get it off.
Would we be happy with 800 ft-lbs energy at X distance ,,,maybe 1000,,, how about 11 or 1600 ft-lbs energy, let's not rule out more ft-lbs if we can shot it with our skills.
How about that bullet, is that critter going to take it hard,,, or run with it,,, is our plan to anchor it ,kill it or hope it finishes it off.
What is enough gun, where is that distance at where the trigger is not pulled.
The only one who "should" know this is the person them selves,,, what end of the scale do you choose to give up ,,, and what is acceptable for your needs.
Each of us get to set our limits,,, just because my limits are high doesn't mean the next persons can't be set higher or lower.
I've heard of folks using the 837 ft-lbs rule ,,, some draw the line at 1200,,, I like to see 16 to 1700 ft-lbs on thick skins ,,, a fraction less on Deer,,, so I use a 308 winchester or 30/06 with Grand Slams at close range. If the bullet reaches the 200+ meter mark,,, I start thinking,,, deffinatly thinking 2 X's at the 300 mark,,, this might not be the case when I had the 300 Mag on the go.
Hay,,, that's just me,,, each person gets to draw there own line in the sand.
What I shoot in competion is one thing,,, I don't bring that rule of thumb into the killing fields since its kind of a different game all together,,, less the part about getting a clean shot off I "hope."
Lots of factors at play once we step out side the gate into the wilds.
"Hopefully" all of us have our ducks in a row as things play out,,, 10% gun / catrage / bullet,,, 90% shooter behind the trigger.
Cheers from Don