This is story needed a little input. My cousin and I are the same age and grew up our whole lives around each other.  Our lives have been one type of competition or another, so when I mentioned my hunting rifle was a Winchester Model 70 in .243, and could easily be used for big game and I got the..it’s a women caliber! A real hunter would use .30 caliber on up, ETC. The egos were flaring so my question is…

I have spoken to many  a old timers and one from  Alaska that told me everything is flown in by small plane, and weight is a big issue and for that reason, many locals hunt with .222-.243 for most of everything, all the way up to moose! Why? because it is cheap. He also claimed the poachers used .22’s on the bears because they were quiet. I have never gone big game hunting. does a hunter truly need really need a .30-06 and up for a big game, or is it just beer ego talk?

So to bring it to realistic situation, would you hunt bear with a .243 or is a .243 enough for any Big Game?

Steve in NorCal