Apologies to our Gen-X hunters out there if I step on your toes. I enjoy reading and watching videos about other hunters thoughts on best cartridges for various hunting applications. This morning I watched one that made me wonder WTF is going on with today's hunters?
The hunter was about late twenties to early thirties and lived somewhere out west where he hunts Elk every year. He was musing on what makes the ideal Elk cartridge. A big Magnum like a 300wm or a smaller, lighter round like the 6.5cm? He cited studies which concluded that bullet caliber and weight and energy do not matter at all or much anyways and that first shot accuracy is the most critical variable. Not hard to argue so far. He also cited a study by the US Army stating that soldiers rifle accuracy and shotgun accuracy fell off once recoil exceeded 11 ft-lbs. Really?? I wondered if the test subjects were field cooks or Delta operators, lol.
The author then went on to say that he flinches when he shoots a 308. At this point I noticed his Man-Bun and was reminded of a study of the pussification of the American male and that American men of today have a 20% lower testosterone level when compared to the men of 1947. Anyways in the end this so-called expert claimed that the absolute best Elk cartridge is the 22 Creedmore but that since it is not legal in all Elk hunting states, he recommends the 6.5 Creedmore over other notable choices like the 338wm or 300wm or 7mm RM etc. His argument is that lung tissue is easy to damage and if you shoot an Elk thru both lungs with a 22 it kills them just as dead as if you shoot them with a 338 Lapua and it won't hurt your shoulder. Well Hell, who knew? His logic is that all hunters shoot light recoiling rifles better than the big heavy hitters like 300wm thus they will place their hits better on game in the field if they shoot a mild cartridge and the animal will not know any better.
I have been prepping for a fall Elk & Moose hunt and was struggling with the choice between a 338wm or a 7mm RM and all this time all I needed to do was bring my 243. For the record the rifle that I shoot most accurately is my Sako S20 Hybrid in 243 with a 5-25x scope. The recoil is nothing but the big ass tgt scope is useless for hunting unless you are shooting very long shots from a solid rest in open territory. Think plains prairie dog or coyote maybe pronghorn. Not much else. That said the rifles I shoot best also include a 375HH, 7mmRM, 30-06 and a 7mm/08. All of those kick more than my 243 and all of them have proper hunting glass on them. So, I cannot buy the theory that recoil reduces accuracy. It just forces hunters to practice and concentrate on fundamental marksmanship technique. But, for the record, my hair is not long enough to pull back into a Man-Bun and likely never will be. My daughter is 5' 10" and is a size 2. She weighs maybe 120lbs soaking wet and shoots a 308 and a 45acp just fine. She can still pull her hair into a bun but it does not seem to impact her marksmanship.
Any of you Nimrods out there ever take a Moose or a Elk with a 243? or a 223? Maybe it will sound more effective if I called it my Sako 243 a 6mm/08? 80g Barnes TTSX or Fed Fusion bullets. How does it do? Us big Magnum hunters want to know. Pic below of my 243 Moose rifle attached for entertainment value only.
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