Deer harvest

[brighamr]

None. My question is what else is a .243 good for? would you use it on elk? bear? buffalo?

I don't need 10 different guns with 10 different rounds, when one gun will do it all

 

[TexAg]

0 with .243, 30+ with 6mm.

 

[cdrt]

Twelve and they were all one shot kills with either 100 grain Rem core-lokts, Speer 100 grain SPBTs or Sierra 100 grain SPBTs. Only one with a factory round; the rest were reloads. It's a good thing to keep a hunting diary.

 

[R.W.Dale]

OK I'll play, Can you rely on a 100grn 6mm diameter soft point impacting at 2200 fps (300 yds) to break both front shoulders of a large deer?

That's why I choose to use something more powerfull. Cause if you take enough heart/lung shots you'll eventually get to see a dead deer booking it towards the horizon at 40 mph. And at 300 yds .243 is a heart/lung shot ONLY proposition.

BTW I've never even remotely cared wither or not a round has seen military service with regards to choosing a deer rifle.


Honestly I didn't see any disparaging remarks in the previous thread made towards your pet chambering, yet for some reason your underwear got itself in a rather tight wad whilst still on your person due to the mere suggestion of people daring to not think as you do.

 

[jonboynumba1]

just out of curiosity how many of them did you shoot at 300+ yards? How many have you lost (if any) and how many have you had to track more than 100 yards? I'm not saying that to flame -I'd actually like to know. You seem to be about as devout a .243 guy as I've ever seen.

My own limited expirience based on my few .243 shot with a varmint rifle I never should have sold -and the many I've seen taken first hand (we use a ..243 loaner at the club for wives and kids) is that at our ranges (mostly inside 100 yards...we only have a few spots where you can stretch out to a few hundred and about 2 well over 300...just the terrain we hunt) .243 has been a reliable "deer hammer" just like .270 and now 7 mag have been for me. That is -if you put the bullet where it should go they don't get up again. I have actually seen more deer that had to be tracked all over the place (why is it always in the rain and/or dark?) with .300 win mags than .243,.270 and 7 mags combined. Now that probably says more about the type of shooter that buys a .300 to hunt what we have here than it does about the round itself. But it's still interesting to me. Shot placement seems to be more important than any other single issue with whitetails.

Usually I clip the heart (top side) and lungs and where I like to put it I usually can feel one or two jacket frags in the bottom of the spine where it drops down a bit closer to the boiler room. It's a bit higher than most people seem to shoot and occassionally I blow a front shoulder but I'm a firm believer those few fragments in the spine and the shock of a highspeed efficient bullet are what shust down the abillity to run. Take out the heart and lungs and you only need them down long enough to expire...which isn't long at that point. But without it I've seen em found 100-150+ yards (why is it always in the middle of briars from hell?) Also pull high and you tend to spine them and still keep them down...pull down and/or left and you blow the heart square to jello. Pull down and or right slightly and you still get both lungs without getting into the nasties. Missjudge distance a bit too short (usually the other way) and you end up with close to a standard vitals shot. I think most people call it a high vitals shot or "just behind the shoulder" hold. I dunno...but I've never shot anything bigger than a 7 mag or .30-06 hunting (most with a .270 130gr gameking SP BT) and I've never lost a deer. Usually they fall over like someone flipped a switch. Which is what is supposed to happen...and what makes me feel like a good hunter and marksman more than any target shooting I do (and I do a good bit off season).

This tells me people who shoot rounds they are comfortable shooting generally shoot a lot better. As most rounds with apropriate bullets/weights chosen tend to do about the same thing on whitetail. The more you there really isn't a dimes difference between my .270 and 7 mag until you get passed 300 yards...and with the shots I'd be willing to take it probably wouldn't make much difference then either. Heavier tougher bullets for similar shots on large game would be the only real advantage I can see. The 7 mag was a gift/bonus BTW...I'd probably have never strayed from my pet round (.270) otherwise...but it has been fun playing with something different. You know the humorous part...he gave it to me when I had just traded my .270 at the time and was about to buy a .243...seems he was sure I wouldn't get a big buck down with that little light gun. I have enjoyed the 7 mag and it's taken 5 deer and a bobcat so far in the last year but many a long walk I've wished I had that light lil .243-LOL Which has to be one of the best things about em to me...I love short handy rifles these days. And .270 is a bit much in that type of rig. I'm sure I'll own one again...I still have dies and brass out the ying yang. If 7 mag is .270 supersized I guess I think of .243 as "mini-.270" .260 and 7-08 are neat little rounds to. Hecdk I guess I just like anything with a bolt on it!

all those nice fuzzy things said...it did seem to me as well you got yer tighty-whities twisted because several other hunters felt a larger caliber was a better call at that kind of range (300+) which I'd still subscibe to myself mostly because i just don't personally know of a 6mm bullet I'd feel comfy with there. Where as I do have some in the other two calibers I mention I would feel OK with in the case of a .270 and downright confident with with my 7 mag. That assumes we are talking a big arse buck. A 100 pound doe I have no doubt any of the above could wax easily. The only whitetail bullet we use is 100gr corelocked as it has never let us down and tends not to fragment badly like some of the winchester and other pills do close in. I just don't know of anyone personally that has made a long shot with it so I can't personally say I know it works. 130gr sierra gameking in a .270 I can tell you lots about

 

[pernicus]

my dad shot nearly every popular deer caliber from 243 to 264 magnum to 300 winmag and in his last 10-15 years he settled on a .243 and i couldn't possibly count the number of deer he killed with it in his 10-15 years before he died...it's a great caliber(i just like my .308 more though because of the bullet selection )

 

[Shadow Shock]

.243-------------3
.222-------------1
Compound Bow---2
.223------------25

.243 is probobly the best and most versatile hunting cartrige, I've used it on cayotes and deer, and wouldn't mind using it on elk. I just like my .223 rifle better

 

[MT GUNNY]

4 or fewer

Only cuz I stepped up after my first year of hunting.
My hunting buddy's wife has used a .223 every year since she was old enough.

 

[Shawnee]

Hi Kroc...

You wrote...

"And at 300 yds .243 is a heart/lung shot ONLY proposition."

That's really surprising - especially since a 100gr. bullet from a .243 at 300 yds has 200 ft/lbs. more energy than a .44 magnum handgun's .240gr. bullet has at the muzzle.

I've killed several deer with my Super Blackhawks - but then - none of 'em were leaning against the muzzle.

 

[PAPACHUCK]

I have never even shot a .243, but I wouldn't be opposed to it either. I own 3 -.308's and a .30-06, so the only reason I'd buy one is 'cause I don't own one. It has a great following and I'm sure it'll do it's job if I do. I just like the .30 caliber for whitetail deer or larger game.

 

[Shawnee]

Hi Jonboy...

Have shot fewer than 6 beyond 300 yds. - didn't lose any. Have shot quite a few at 250yds. +/- a bit - didn't lose any. Farthest I've ever had a deer run after a shot was about 45 yds. It died on it's feet and literally bounced off a tree trunk. Oddly - it was the smallest buck I ever shot and it was shot at a distance of about 35 yds. with a "through-the-lungs shot. I will never take that shot again.

I subscribe to what I've heard called the "x-shot" theory. It has produced so many "in-the-tracks" kills I couldn't count 'em. To give a brief explanation of it - imagine looking down from directly over a deer. The center of the imaginary "x" is the deer's withers. The goal of the shot is to pass through the deer's body on one line of the "x". This shot usually wrecks the spine, often takes out the large artery in the neck, wrecks the heart if it goes low, and often fragments into at least one lung, and sometimes it will take out a shoulder in addition to breaking the spine. It is also do-able from almost any angle. Barring that I will attempt a neck shot - not so much because it is easier to hit as much as because it is easier to miss cleanly - in other words, it's going to drop the deer on its' shadow or the deer will escape unharmed - as opposed to that "boiler room" shot that too often results in a wounded and lost deer.

 

[R.W.Dale]

That's really surprising - especially since a 100gr. bullet from a .243 at 300 yds has 200 ft/lbs. more energy than a .44 magnum handgun's .240gr. bullet has at the muzzle.

Muzzle energy has NEVER killed anything.

If that were the case bows wouldn't even be adequate for squirrels.

 

[CrawdaddyJim]

Eh? your statistics is a bit skewed. See I voted that I could make a 300yd shot with the 243 and I voted that I have killed exactly 0 deer with a 243 as I don't own one probably never will.

I have killed most of my deer with a chuck norris mask, just kiddin. Actually a 30-30. Followed by a 6.5 swede.

 

[NAK]

This was my first gun bigger than a .22lr. I love it for white-tails, but the number of coyotes I've taken with it is probably in the low triple digits. A 65 or 67 g hollow point is the perfect thing.

 

[FireArmFan]

none, in fact i've never even shot a .243 before. held a bunch at the gun store, but never shot one.

 

[45Badger]

5 so far (in last three seasons). Worked just fine from 30 to 250 yards....

 

[BENELLIMONTE]

I use my Remington Model 7 in 243 Win when I draw Idaho doe tags. 2 for 2 with the longest shot at 240yds. No problems with the deer getting away. They both dropped within 30 yds from the point of initial impact. I use factory loads of 100 grain Rem corelokt, great performance on deer sized game.

 

[browningguy]

I've killed a bunch, but never "harvested" any. What kind of machine do you use for harvesting deer? I might be interested if I can pull it behind my truck.

Most of mine have been shot with 7x57 and .308, but the .243 with 85 Sierra Gamekings or 100 Nosler works a treat.

 

[JonB]

Savage 99E in .243 was my hunting rifle from age 12 on up. I quit deer hunting when I went to college though. So .243 for all my deer. Great deer rifle. My brother had a .243 bolt that he used for same purpose and dropped more than I did. His wife still uses his .243 and bags at least 1 or 2 each year with it.

Very capable round for deer. We used anything from 85gr hollow points up to 100 gr soft points and had no problems dropping deer. Even the ones that didn't drop right away never made it very far.

 

[Shawnee]

Hi Browningguy and JonB...

LOLOL !! I said "harvested" thinking it would indicate successful kills as opposed to deer lost. Unnecessary semantics, I suppose. Oh well.

I have "harvested" a goodly number of deer with the Hornady 87gr. BTHP and it has always performed very, very well. Started using it mostly because I have a home-brewed load for it that seems to be extremely accurate in any rifle you feed it to. But when I saw how nicely it lowers the boom on the deer I just sorta stuck with it. Didn't seem necessary to "fix" something that wasn't broken just because the gunpreachers have different ideas.

 

[pernicus]

Muzzle energy has NEVER killed anything.

If that were the case bows wouldn't even be adequate for squirrels.

yea but how many bullets have razor blades on them

 

[Shawnee]

Hmmmm... at least 40 people from all over who have collected deer with the .243, at a plethora of ranges - and likely a few hundred deer in total.

Hmmm... So much for that "Ya Gotta Have a .30 caliber." numbskullery.

 

[Richard.Howe]

Once again --

It's not whether a .243 can safely, reliably, and humanely take deer.

It is about margin for error.

My 22wmr can take does down like a ton of bricks (depredation hunt, head shots)...but the margin for mistakes is small.

If I'm taking broadside shots at deer, then I want some wiggle room. Some don't need (or want) that wiggle room.

Personal decision as long as you never lose deer.

 

[Alagator]

I'm one of those +40 responders.When I started rifle hunting in the 1970s I "harvested" at least 50 Alabama whitetails with a .243, all inside 200 yards, and only lost one. He dropped like a sack, I walked up to him, noticed a crease on the neck, tried to figure out how that could be fatal, reached over and touched the deer's eye with the muzzle, he jumped up flailing hooves and covered 100 yards of broomsage in about 2 heartbeats. Nowadays I use a 270, and have taken over 200 deer with it. I just feel a little more confident with it on long shots. I also learned to take shoulder shots. We have lots of deer in Alabama, so a wasted shoulder is a lesser evil than an entire unrecovered animal.