.243 deer hunting experiences?

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deer in 243 or 7mm08

Hi Chains,
I have both and have shot a wide variety of deer with both. from Muntjac up to red stags. However, my bread and butter has been roe. Roe are a small deer of a similar family to your white tails.

Whilst i don't knock anyones experience i can speak for myself alone.

what you need to do is not look at a calibre you want but look at what you want to deliver death to. That is important, we want to deliver death.... not wounding. so look at what you maybe likely to hunt. AND WHERE YOU WILL HUNT IT. over open ground with shots up to 250 yards you will want a bottle neck high velocity round. I would say that you can sort of bracket game by size reds, (your elk); are big - you want to be delivering 130 gr plus at over 2800 fps. Middle ones fallow or sika (probably your white tails) look for something that can deliver the appropriatte bullet of 100-150 gr at 2800 plus. for little fellows (muntjac or roe) something that will deliver 80-120 gr at 2800 plus. so then you have an idea of bullet wieghts look for a round that delivers what you want in the middle of it's spectrum and suitable for its twist rate.

So really .243 comonly uses bullets between 60- 105 grains. middle of the range is about 80-85 grains. it will deliver them very fast 3200 fps ish. and most factory rifles will like them. this means by my way of reckoning it is ideal for lighter game but limited when you get onto bigger stuff.

7mm08 uses bullets between 100 gr and 175. commonly used are 120-130 and 140 gr.

There is no change from dead. you can't overkill a small deer, but you can underkill a big deer. my recomendation would be the 7mm08 to give you better flexibility for bigger hunts should the chance come along.

I have found that a deer with it's head down grazing is far more likely to go straight over than one with its head up. I have had more of these run with .243 than 7mm08.

recoil with a 120gr or 130 gr bullet is mild in a reasonably wieghted gun with good shooting technique will not be a problem. remember if you load great big heavy bullets to be shot from a little remmy model 7 or mountain rifle you will feel them. but if they are from a sps or full sized rifle they will be fine.

i run my 243AI on 85gr barnes tsx and my 7mm08 on sierra 120 prohunters or 130 speer spitzers.

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[natman]

Well as for the excerpts from hunting or gun mags all I can say is that I have so little respect for anything they say these days that I haven't even read one in years. I don't mean that maliciously but gun/hunting mags and the people who write for them have deteriorated into a pretty sad state of affairs. They are basically nothing now but advertising pamphlets for hunting industry sponsors. And sadly one of the common themes in them is recommending too much gun for new hunters. Magnumitis rules supreme in the gun rag world these days. Usually they suggest one of the new whiz bang calibers being touted by their sponsors. I'd sooner trust the word of a kleptomaniac crack HO than a gun writer these days. And sadly she would probably know as much about guns as the average guy writing for these magazines. Getting to write an opinion in a magazine, which is just as prone to being biased, flawed, inconsistent or flat out wrong as the next guys doesn't make you a gun expert. Luck far more than merit is the reason most of these guys have the jobs they do.

And I'd put far more stock in the personal accounts of people in forums like this. At the very least most of them have no agenda or reason to lie to you.

Finn Aagard has more hunting experience than any 5 posters on this board, no offense to any of the 5.

It takes some pretty twisted logic to reject someone's argument because they are a widely published writer!

Sadly, Finn has been dead for several years. I suppose that makes his opinions more credible in your eyes. :banghead:

 

[jbkebert]

My 10 year old son took this nice Kansas buck this year. He took a 178 yard shot with a T/C Encore .243 using a 95 grain SST. The deer traveled 30-35 yards and piled up. A .243 is effective on deer when a well placed shot is delivered.

 

[chains1240]

jbkebert, WOW, just wow. Beautiful deer. I am sure the boy was very proud of that. Thank you for the picture and the story.

 

[Todd1700]

Finn Aagard has more hunting experience than any 5 posters on this board, no offense to any of the 5.

He may have had more experience at hunting and killing a wider range of game animals than me but I'd risk good money betting that he hasn't killed more whitetail deer than I have. For most of my 44 years of life the state of Alabama allowed you to kill a doe and buck per day for the entire length of our two and a half month gun season. I lost count of my personal talley long ago at around the 100 deer mark. And that was in my early 30's about 12 years ago.

So when I tell you what will and won't work on a whitetail I speak of what "I Know" not what I think. And you can take that to the bank regardless of what Finn Aagard or the Popes third cousin might say to the contrary.

 

[X-Rap]

My ex wife used a 243 and did fine on the Mulies she shot using 100gr Speer BT. Beyond that I have only used it for varmints and fur since I generaly hunt a combined deer/elk season and use a 25-06 for antelope.
Like I said though the deer sized animals always went down with good shots.

 

[Art Eatman]

Note that Aagard was generally talking about critters at and above 200 pounds. Okay, no big deal. He was wrong, of course about comparative recoil from equal-weight rifles--but that's a really minor quibble.

I've tagged some 20+ bucks from using a .243. I always used the Sierra 85-grain HPBT. But I limited myself to neck shots (mostly) and cross-body heart/lung shots. No angling shots or shots on running deer. A couple of coup de grace shots were needed, but I never had to go looking for my deer. Pretty much DRT.

 

[natman]

Note that Aagard was generally talking about critters at and above 200 pounds. Okay, no big deal. He was wrong, of course about comparative recoil from equal-weight rifles--but that's a really minor quibble.

"up to perhaps 200 lbs" would describe critters less than or equal to 200 lbs, not "at or above".

Yes, if you calculate recoil energies, a 243 does kick a bit less than a 260 Rem. I expect that Aagard meant no practical difference when he said "have no more kick than those for the 243?"

 

[41magsnub]

As a kid I shot a lot of Mt mule deer with my old .243 and I kick myself every hunting season for trading it. I do consider it too light for Elk though I did shoot my first elk with it. I now use a .30-06 only because I want one gun to shoot all big game I hunt. If I were just hunting deer and antelope I would most definitely consider a .243 again.

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

Todd1700, which specific .243 bullets have you used with good success on deer? Thanks. I was thinking of loading a bunch of 90 gr Sierra GKs for my T/C Icon.

jbkebert, WOW, just wow. Beautiful deer. I am sure the boy was very proud of that. Thank you for the picture and the story.

Yes, +1 jbkebert!

 

[Todd1700]

which specific .243 bullets have you used with good success on deer? Thanks. I was thinking of loading a bunch of 90 gr Sierra GKs for my T/C Icon.

I have used Gamekings. They have always been a very accurate bullet in every gun I have tried them. They expand pretty rapidly but not explosively so like a ballistic tip and kill deer very well.

I have always personally been found of the Hornady Interloc SP bullet if a particular rifle would group them well. I am speaking of the standard lead tipped interloc not the SST. It has always expaned well yet hung together for me at standard rifle velocities. Hot death on deer too.

I have also killed plenty of deer with a plain simple old 100gr Remington Cor-lokt back in my earlier days. My father had an old Winchester Model 100 in 243. It was the first rifle I ever hunted deer with and it shot Cor-lokts very well. Killed a boat load of deer with that old gun. Sort of an odd gun. One of the few semi-auto model deer rifles that Winchester ever made. Unlike most semi-auto models it had a one piece wood stock. I loved the look of that old gun and wish I could find one like it somewhere just for old times sake.

 

[Art Eatman]

natman, I took it that he meant suitable for sub-200-pound animals; unsuitable for over-200-pounders. If he's talking about Joe Average Shooter, he's close enough for government work that I wouldn't argue with him.

 

[Todd1700]

Looked like this

 

[chas08]

Unlike most semi-auto models it had a one piece wood stock. I loved the look of that old gun and wish I could find one like it somewhere just for old times sake.

Todd1700, I couldnt picture that model until I saw the posted picture. If your interested there is one on Gunbroker in .243 right now.
http://v2.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=152707892

 

[Todd1700]

Thanks, I'll keep my eye on that one.

 

[Big Bill]

I know you gave us a choice between two calibers. However, do yourself a favor and check out the 25-06. I have a Ruger M77 Mark II that I absolutely think is the very best all around varment/deer rifle caliber out there. Then, if you are ever out west hunting, you'll have a rifle that will work well on mulies at longer distances.

 

[TehK1w1]

I went hunting with a friend last weekend. By coincidence, we both used 243s.
I shot a doe at 115yds with a Savage 99 in 243, it ran 5yds. She got a doe at 95yds with a Sako in 243, DRT.
EDIT: both of us used Hornady factory fodder, 100gr.

It's the smallest caliber I've killed a deer with, but it works just fine...

 

[schlockinz]

My first 3 deer were with a .243, not one of them DRT, all were recovered within 100yds (heart or lung shots).

IMHO, the .243 is a fine white tail cartridge. The largest buck that I killed with it dressed at 130lbs (old old deer), never had a chance to shoot it at bigger. I have since switched to a 30.06, which I do consider overkill for white tail, I just wanted one high powered rifle to be proficient with.

 

[sixgun MAK]

The .243 is a deer killing machine with the right shot placement and 100 grain bullets.

Simple as that.

 

[WYcoyote]

I have a 7mm Rem Mag that is my go to big country deer rifle, and a .243 that is mainly my pronghorn gun.
But somehow the .243 was in my hands when I took my biggest mule deer buck, and my biggest whitetail buck.
The big muley (8x7, 32" wide) was at 350 yards, and as I shot I wished I had my 7mm, but he dropped like a rock.
Ok, the big WT was at 19 yards, however I shot a pretty good one this year from my tree stand lasered at 280.
It seems to get everything I shoot at.
Ruger M77 tang safety, 3x9 Ziess Conquest, 95 gr Nosler Ballistic Tips.

 

[chains1240]

WyCoyote, that's some good shooting. I wish I had a 19 yard shot on a deer. I got my first deer last year, at 100 yards. My second and third were at 225. I thought ballistic tip bullets were not preferred over partitions?

 

[lgbloader]

.243 is a great round.

LGB

 

[WYcoyote]

I would probably not ask ballistic tips to smash thru the shoulder to get to the vitals, or take a long raking angular shot. (in .243)
But for a behind the shoulder shot to the lungs or heart, they are deadly.
If you plan on shooting at any angle, bullets like Nosler Partitions, Barnes TSX, Swift Scirocco etc would be a better choice.
It's just that BTs are accurate in my rifle, and I trust them from past history.

 

[chains1240]

The only deer I have gotten the opportunity to shoot were completely broadside. I am sure there is a reason to take raking shots. I harvested 3 of the 5 I shot at this year. Completely missed the other 2, grrr. At least I didn't wound them. Maybe it is the fields on this private land. When I see deer they stick around, sometimes for hours. Thank you for the insight on ballistic tip vs. partition bullets.

 

[exbiologist]

regarding the ballistic tips smashing through shoulders, I've used the heck out of them, especially in 130 grains in 270 WSM and 140 grains in a .280 and those were typically capable of smashing one shoulder, but not the off shoulder. But with a quartering shot, they often would still penetrate completely. However, with my .243 WSSM and 95 grain ballistic tips, I did have issues with shoulder shots, including one time on a mule deer in Wyoming that I shot about 7 times at fairly close range (less than 50). The bullets were blowing up on his shoulder while he staggered around and I kept shooting him. Point is, if you're using a .243 for deer, stick to a stoutly constructed bullet if under 100 grains. I've seen the 100 grain standard factory loaded soft points from Federal, Winchester and Remington do good work, but the lighter loads are a little iffy from what I've seen.