243 at 300 yrds on Dall Sheep and Caribou

adcoch1 said:

I'm in the camp that states the rifle is enough to kill them, but how little insurance do you want?

A friend took a 243 as a light rifle along on a grizzly hunt to shoot Sitka blacktail. Ended up taking his bear ( and it was huge) with the 243 at 275 yards. He was a great shot, but he was also standing next to 3 other hunters with much heavier rifles. I would probably keep the range at a MAX of 200 unless the sheep can't get to the edge of a cliff before you can shoot again.

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Lost an axis deer with a .243, hit him 3 times before he dove over the edge of a valley. I'm a big proponent of don't stop shooting till they quit moving, but sometimes even that doesn't cut it....course I dropped another one in nearly the same spot the day before with one round.

I would have no qualms shooting a caribou with the .243 with a properly constructed bullet. I've never hunted sheep, but they seem like a pretty stout critter and a lot harder to get a perfect shot on.

Can a .243?
Sure, absolutely.

Personally, I’d use a bigger caliber As I can’t think of a single reason not to. But I’ve never been one to risk going to small.

I once had a favored Remington 700 ADL in .243w, used Rem 100 grn coreloks, each and every shot.

I slimmed the front sight, getting rid of the bead, hooding the front sight, leveled the rear sight, took off the cheek piece and comb, shortened the butt 1-1/2 inches and tuned the trigger to 3 lbs, slimmed the forend wood a bit and mounted the sling on the left side like a Japanese type 99 ......it was very accurate and sighted to 200 yards.......real deathray in my hands.

I caught hundreds of Caribou with it in the 5 or 6 years I used it, losing it to the river was a real blow.

Have no doubts witha .243w and Caribou or Sheep.

If you do have doubts, get a 30-06.

If it cant be killed with a 30-06, you should hide.

I have had doubts about a 243 but I just got a 700 ADL at a Walmart sale. I plan on putting a youth stock on it. I like a short stock for tree stand duty and it will most likely be used by grandkids. It should be great for deer.

My boy killed 2 caribou 3 weeks ago with his .243. Shot one through both shoulders an unheard of task for a 6mm. All of this done with a 100 gr game king .

The .243 should be fine, although I'd favor a 6.5 in some flavor.

Sometimes when I read a thread like this I wonder how the original question could have ever become a real question. Of course a proper shot from a .243 with a proper bullet will down any sheep quite cleanly. How do so many hunters begin to think that it shouldn't be attempted, so that similar questions appear on every hunting forum every once in a while?

I would borrow a larger caliber first.... The 243 is great - but not for what you described.

Aletheia said:

How do so many hunters begin to think that it shouldn't be attempted, so that similar questions appear on every hunting forum every once in a while?

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My guess is most have never attempted the thing to which they reply. I was hunting your neighbor’s land (Alberta) a few years ago and our guide was almost insistent that I ditch my 30-06 for the 300 Win Mag back up we had along. This from a guy who had never fired a centerfire rifle and did not understand that both were 30 cal shooting 180 grain bullets.

I stood my ground and the moose did not.

My elders always stated that if you have to ask if this caliber is good for this animal at a certain distance you have not been hunting or shooting long enough. With that in mind I've always used a 3006 , and can not honestly give you a definite answer on your .243, as I've never shot one.

Not bashing the 243- but with the amount of investment you are going to make to hunt I would personally take a caliber with more horsepower at 300 yards-
Guides get funny about calibers- regardless of what you can or can't do with it- you want him/her to not prejudge you or pass on an opportunity because they don't think the caliber worthy-
Good luck on your hunt hope you get lucky and have a great time-

357smallbore said:

Have a buddy that lives in Tok. Gonna hurt with him.
Cost really isn't that much. Shipping my guns & ammo to him, then driving there with my gear.

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Taylor Highway? I just got back from there. (Chicken Ridge, Milepost 65) Took two caribou out of there over 3 days with my 243. First shot was at 120 yrds on a caribou running left to right. Aimed ahead of her as she ran, bullet went straight through the heart. Dead instantly, but her momentum carried her forward as her head hit the ground and flipped her partly over. Second one was a typical broad-side shot at 175 yrds. Broke a rib and through the lungs. The exit wound on the second caribou was 5 or 6 times the bullet's original diameter. I'll post up some photos as soon as I can; they're all in my phone right now.

By the way, that dressed and butchered out to be about 70 lbs of burger and 40 lbs of steaks and roasts. I had a caribou flat iron steak for dinner tonight.

Whizzbang said:

My boy killed 2 caribou 3 weeks ago with his .243. Shot one through both shoulders an unheard of task for a 6mm. All of this done with a 100 gr game king .

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Not so unheard of. I did it last year in GMU13 with an 85 grn Barnes. I didn't do it intentionally, but it worked.)

One problem with,"just enough gun" is shot angle. As much as I love 6mm's...... when a trophy of a lifetime won't give you the perfect shot,something with more bullet weight is needed. 7mm's and 25's will do nicely. Good luck with your hunt,sounds fun.

Picher said:

I'm not a western hunter, but limit shots with the .243 Win to about 200 yards on 100lb and up whitetails. I'd use my .270 Win for any medium game beyond 200, but what do I know?

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You need to study 243 ballistics! A 100 g btsp has the energy of a 38 sp at 1500 yds. It’s really sad that people speak without real knowledge!!

Who in their right mind would shoot at a deer with a .243 Win at 1500 yards? Not me, especially not in our Maine woods.

I have too much respect for Maine deer to stretch a .243 Win much beyond 200 yards when I have a .270 Win that has much greater ability to make a quick 1- shot kill to 500 or so. My hunting area involves a narrow, heavily-forest bound trail, and I feel the need to drop a deer quickly on the first shot.

.243 with Hornady 103 gr ELD-X

Enough Already!!!

D.B. Cooper said:

I'll post up some photos as soon as I can; they're all in my phone right now.

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I didn't measure the diameter, but it's at least an inch or more, which is more than 4x the bullet's diameter.

85 grn Barnes TSX HPBT. Max load of Hodgdon Superperformance powder. Muzzle velocity 3180 fps. 175 yards broadside.

What I’m getting at is I did a lot of research on bullet selection last year. Looked up info for mule deer mostly because a lot more info was available. The consensus on .243 was “ 200 yards max, avoid shoulder shots and avoid Game kings” Partition this Barnes that.... so you can imagine my surprise when my boy shoulder shoots one with a game king and it drops instantly. I wasn’t all that surprised but I’m sure allot of people on the internet would have been. Not trying to start a premium bullet war,I use plenty of them. I’m just saying I had a load developed already I ran with it. It worked.