Topgun 30-06
Well-Known Member
This thread has gone 14 posts now. Don't you think it's about time to start another one on the same thing like you keep doing to assure yourself that the .243 is big enough to take to Africa on an elephant hunt, LOL!
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So whats wrong with the .243 on Deer?
- Thread starter Greg Duerr
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Greg Duerr
Well-Known Member
Actually, I think that for most of us this Is a very interesting topic.............
It touches a part of us that is kind of lost ............Why do you need to shoot that far when you can get a whole lot closer..........
So whats wrong with the 257 Roberts on ELk.................Maybe I will post that next year right before hunting season.
This post seems to be getting a lot of attention still
It touches a part of us that is kind of lost ............Why do you need to shoot that far when you can get a whole lot closer..........
So whats wrong with the 257 Roberts on ELk.................Maybe I will post that next year right before hunting season.
This post seems to be getting a lot of attention still
I think it's just preconceived notions on whether a gun/caliber is big enough. "When a deer gets away from a guy with a 270 or larger, it is obviously his fault.". If it is a "marginal" caliber, then it's the rifle's fault. The caliber gets blamed for a poorly placed shot. In actuality, it's almost always the shooter's fault. In rare cases, it's the bullet that fails....and that happens in any caliber. If you hit a deer anywhere in the chest with a .243, it will not go far at all.
Greg Duerr
Well-Known Member
For those of you who use the 105gr Berger in your 6mm's, what do you think of that bullet's performance on Deer or what ever you use it on. Is there a better bullet? I have only used the 95gr Berger on a Black Bear and it dropped him in his tracks................
There are cartridges and then there are bullets what works for you in the .243 class of Cartridges........
G
There are cartridges and then there are bullets what works for you in the .243 class of Cartridges........
G
That's a bet no one can win or prove
Then that is all you need to let your heart be content. 100% success is hard to argue!
I've been on two memorable hunts where my friend used a 243. In fact, as a gift to him, I sent it to a smith for some upgrades; new stock, bedding job, PacNor barrel, and blueprinting of the action. Hunt one, in short, he shoots a big whitetail on our hunting lease about 50 yards from the next hunting lease. Shoots it perfectly in the lungs. Deer was able to run over 100 yards onto the next lease where 2 other hunters dropped it. They got to keep the deer. It's anyone's guess what any other caliber would have done, along with any other bullet. He was shooting factory Hornady if I recall correctly.
Hunt 2 was a pronghorn doe in WY. He shot her with the same rifle but with handloads I made using btips. Shot her at 220 yards and dropped her with a gut shot but it took a second shot to finish her.
As to my own personal experience with a 270 (my favorite) and a 30.06, I've been fortunate to kill a lot of game in a lot of states. Can't remember any that took more than 1-2 steps at any distance and with any bullet.
243 kills fine, just not in the same manner in my experience which is limited.
Greg Duerr
Well-Known Member
I cant say that ever deer I shot went right down. I have had a few that I followed the blood trail in the snow for 60 yards, on one I could not find and was about to give up when I found it in a deep depression about 40 yards from where I shot it.
Every antelope I shot went down within a few yards. Neck shots and they were dead on arrival. Im not one to have five rifles for each game I hunt. I spend most of my time shooting Marmonts, Jackrabbits, and Coyotes. When I do go Deer hunting I like using the same Rifle as I have spent so much time with . There are times when I think back and kind of wish I had a do over and would have had a 250 AI or the 257 AI or the 260 AI or 6.5 Creedmoor.
I was told that the .243 AI is good for about 1500 Rounds which means I have used up 33% of the .243's life....................I will go bigger next time.
Ever Deer that got away, you will never know why, your fault the bullets fault etc.
The one Bull Elk I shot went over 100 yards shot through the Lungs and broke the shoulder on the other side with a 180gr Barnes................and I was using a 300 Win Mag, borrowed of course.
Each and ever shot you make no matter how many are all different
Every antelope I shot went down within a few yards. Neck shots and they were dead on arrival. Im not one to have five rifles for each game I hunt. I spend most of my time shooting Marmonts, Jackrabbits, and Coyotes. When I do go Deer hunting I like using the same Rifle as I have spent so much time with . There are times when I think back and kind of wish I had a do over and would have had a 250 AI or the 257 AI or the 260 AI or 6.5 Creedmoor.
I was told that the .243 AI is good for about 1500 Rounds which means I have used up 33% of the .243's life....................I will go bigger next time.
Ever Deer that got away, you will never know why, your fault the bullets fault etc.
The one Bull Elk I shot went over 100 yards shot through the Lungs and broke the shoulder on the other side with a 180gr Barnes................and I was using a 300 Win Mag, borrowed of course.
Each and ever shot you make no matter how many are all different
Yea, but not by much!
Greg Duerr
Well-Known Member
Yes, but sometimes enough to make a differance.
whitebread
New Member
I hate to admit it, but I lost a large 8-pointer last season with 180 grain TTSX coming out of a .30-06 at 2880fps. It was a bad shot and hit him in the guts...about 80 yards with some twigs about half way between us (which the bullet hit). Looking back, I shouldn't haven taken the shot...but at that moment, I thought it was good. Found the skeloton on the last day of the season about 300 yards from where he was shot, and about 70 yards further than I was looking (didn't find one drop of blood).
My point is, exactly what others have stated, SHOT PLACEMENT is key. If you put a good shot into the vitals, any legal caliber should do the job. A bad shot is a bad shot.
My point is, exactly what others have stated, SHOT PLACEMENT is key. If you put a good shot into the vitals, any legal caliber should do the job. A bad shot is a bad shot.
I have hunted mule deer most of my life in Utah and Wyoming. Utah allows any centerfire cartridge on all big game including moose and bison. I am sure there are hunters who will go moose hunting with a 17 Ackley bee and its 25 grain bullet because it's legal. When I started hunting big game (carrying a rifle) at 12 years old I carried a 22-250 and killed my first muley with it. When I was about 15years old I used a 243 as did my mother and older sisters who still use them today. The 243 win is a great gun for smaller framed hunters who can shoot them without as much kick -more accurate- less flinch and can shoot it longer at the range/sighting. The most important aspect of shooting, I think, is to know your equipment, less recoil=more rounds fired. Sure there is the question of ethical hunting comes into play and each hunter makes that choice themselves within the laws of their state. As for me "if it can kill a human it can kill a deer" Knowing how to recover a misplaced shot animal is very important in all calibers. I was taught at a very young age after your shot to wait and watch your hit animal for at least 30 minutes and up to an hour before trying to recover it. A wounded animal hit anywhere if undisturbed will lay down and go into shock, if it is pursued it will run for a long time and great distance and chances are it will be lost. Just like a Basketball player who twist a knee can finish a game but the next morning he can't walk. I have used this method many times and have recovered every hit animal. One time I took a 500 yard shot at a large mule deer with a mil dot scope I doped him in on my mildot master at a 36" target but this muley was big around 44" he was hit in his front leg with a 30.06 just above the knee and about 5" down from his chest I sat and watched him for an hour placed my orange cap on a tree where I shot him from for a reference. And went to the spot I was watching and about 30 feet away there he was alive but immobilized, If this deer was chased after it was hit it would have been lost. Enjoy your 243 AI and shoot it as much as you can know your rifle and you will hit anything you shoot at.
Greg Duerr
Well-Known Member
Ive posted this story before.............The one and only Bull Elk I shot was hit with a 180gr bullet out of a 300 Win Mag. The bullet hit him right behind the shoulder and broke the other shoulder on the way out. The Bull walked up a hill and turned back and looked in my direction before going down about 3-4 minutes after stopping. If he had taken off at a run he might have gone 300 yards plus. This was a big Bull that scored 320
Point is that even when well hit with a 300 Win. Mag and a good bullet there is No guarentee that all will go well, you just dont know what might happen.
I once talked with a guy that shot a Grizzly in Alaska with a 300 Weatherby and even though the bullet tore up his lungs and he hit the dirt with the shot he still got up and ran 150 yards. I hit a coyote with a 22-250 and a 50gr V-Max he ran almost 100 yards with a huge exit hole about 3"x3" out the Lung.........In all due respect he should have dropped at the shot.
All you can do it to spend a lot of time shooting and really know your rifle and then give the animal all the respect and put the bullet in the right spot.
Out in Nevada where I hunt its usually all open basins of Sage Brush and you can see where they go, unless your in Juniper tress or Aspen's.
Thats what makes all of this just that much more interesting.
Glightbulb
Point is that even when well hit with a 300 Win. Mag and a good bullet there is No guarentee that all will go well, you just dont know what might happen.
I once talked with a guy that shot a Grizzly in Alaska with a 300 Weatherby and even though the bullet tore up his lungs and he hit the dirt with the shot he still got up and ran 150 yards. I hit a coyote with a 22-250 and a 50gr V-Max he ran almost 100 yards with a huge exit hole about 3"x3" out the Lung.........In all due respect he should have dropped at the shot.
All you can do it to spend a lot of time shooting and really know your rifle and then give the animal all the respect and put the bullet in the right spot.
Out in Nevada where I hunt its usually all open basins of Sage Brush and you can see where they go, unless your in Juniper tress or Aspen's.
Thats what makes all of this just that much more interesting.
Glightbulb
Wachsmann
Well-Known Member
I bought my wife a 243 due to the low recoil for her first gun. I would not have any regrets taking a 243 on a mule deer hunt at all. I know Texas white tail are a lot smaller but we used to plug them out to 400 and 500 yards with a 85 grain hollow point in a 243. Never ran to far and most dropped in there tracks. I had another friend that would do the same with a 22-250. I don't recall the grain weight of the bullet. I hand load the 95 grain bergers for the wife in her 243. She has yet to take a deer but we just got financely secure enough that she was able to quit teaching 3rd grade. I would also consider taking a 243 for a sheep hunt are anything in the 300-350 pound class and under type of animals. Deer, goats, sheep, etc. Maybe not a hog hunt for me but my cousin uses one on hogs down in Texas. He does a lot of head shots with it. So it works. He has shot one in the front shoulder and it went about 100 yards before going down so he will usually only do a head shot on a hog....But anyway mule deer. Sure thing. I would have to say I would use at least a 85 grain bullet or larger in my opnion.
^^ I also had a guy tell me the other day that a .308 was too small for hogs here in TX.
Heck some people in my neck of the woods also believe you need a 300 win mag to take whitetail at 150 yards to because they have seen so many deer "lost" to smaller calibers.
I dont trust 95% of what I hear in gunshops and at the range. Just saying.
Heck some people in my neck of the woods also believe you need a 300 win mag to take whitetail at 150 yards to because they have seen so many deer "lost" to smaller calibers.
I dont trust 95% of what I hear in gunshops and at the range. Just saying.
My son has shot all his deer with a .243 I bought him. All were with 100 grain Remington corlokts or Federal red box. Broadside or front chest shots and none have taken more than a couple steps with most being bang flop. Exit wounds? Rarely, but the deer have never left the area they were shot.
Last year I shot a big buck with my .270 Win at a whopping 20 yards. The deer ran about 70 yards and piled up. Had I not been watching I probably would have lost him. There was no exit wound no blood trail. Upon inspection the bullet blew the heart completely to pieces and the bullet likely exploded due to the close shot and all the energy still in it.
What is my point? Even with a perfectly placed shot with a supposedly more worthy deer round my deer went 7 times further than any deer my son has shot with his .243.
My deer ran away on adrenaline and the oxygen still in his system. He was dead and didn't know it. I don't think all deer lost are because of bad shots or poor caliber choice, some have the will to survive and run off to die elsewhere. We just have to do our best to try find them. Waiting is the best thing we can do but sometimes it is easy to get caught up in it and forget to give them enough time to expire.
