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!
That's a bet no one can win or proveI would bet that just as many Deer are lost each year to .270's and 30-06's as to the .243
Then that is all you need to let your heart be content. 100% success is hard to argue!All the years I have hunted with the .243 I have yet to loose one.
Yea, but not by much!Each and ever shot you make no matter how many are all different
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.Monday morning out at the Range I was doing my final work up for my Deer Hunting load in my .243 AI. I will be shooting the Sierra Pro Hunter 44.2gr of H4350, I will crono them this week. Several guys I was talking to asked me what I was going to be hunting with for Mule Deer this fall in Nevada, when I told them they both said, "Big Mistake the .243 is not a Deer Cartridge we have seen way to many deer lost to the .243". So, thats five guys so far that have said the same thing. Yet I would bet that just as many Deer are lost each year to .270's and 30-06's as to the .243 All the years I have hunted with the .243 I have yet to loose one. Several years I hunted with a guy that used a 22-250 shooting 53 gr Barnes bullets he took his shots carefully and was a great shot and he never lost a Mule Deer...........
Lots of thoughts out there ......Trouble with saying that even though the deer was well hit we never found it ...........is that you cant prove it was well hit.
G
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.
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.