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Thread: The .243 for Deer...

  1. #41
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    Quote Originally Posted by SCDAWG View Post
    I have been doing the high shoulder shot the last couple of years...works great. 30.06 though. Have you guys seen a 243 slip above the vitals and below the spine? Run off and leave no blood?
    I have seen folks botch the high shoulder shot with a .243 but I don't know that the caliber's to blame. Wobbles or other shooter error methinks.

  2. #42
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    A guy I work with killed the 17th largest mule deer in SD with a .243 at ~415 yards. Don’t know what bullet he was shooting.

  3. #43
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    Quote Originally Posted by w33kender View Post
    I have seen folks botch the high shoulder shot with a .243 but I don't know that the caliber's to blame. Wobbles or other shooter error methinks.
    It's a ~100-200 lb animal with a projectile traveling ~3k fps. It's going to kill them if you put it in the right spot. Middle to lower shoulder and neck shots are where it's at. Just like with an arrow, visualize the path of the bullet to the opposite side.

    I'd hazard a guess and say that by shooting a rifle with a slight recoil, you're going to whiff fewer shots because you're not training yourself to flinch with a 7mm Magnum that will have you clapping your shoulder blades together for party tricks.
    "Rivers and the inhabitants of the watery elements are for wise men to contemplate and for fools to pass by without consideration" -Izaak Walton

  4. #44
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    Quote Originally Posted by BigBrother View Post
    Middle to lower shoulder and neck shots are where it's at. Just like with an arrow, visualize the path of the bullet to the opposite side.
    ...clapping your shoulder blades together for party tricks.
    Good point with the first two sentences, great image with the third.

  5. #45
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    I've always shot a 243, except in tight woods, where I use an open site 30-30. The 243 was always a tack driver with 80 grain. I went for years without losing a deer, or even having to look very far. Then I went from 80 to 100. First shot I lost a nice velvet on August 15. Next shot I had to trail a doe for like half a mile. Next shot I dropped a buck in his tracks - shot through the nose about 20 inches from where I was aiming. Then I read something about some guns performing differently with certain weight bullets. Went to sight the gun in, the holes were all over the target. Went back to 80, and haven't had any more trouble.

  6. #46
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    I shoot Barnes 80 grains when I tote the 243 win and have no issue shooting any SC deer out to 350 and it will kill farther but I do not have anywhere to shoot much farther than that.
    Psalm 42:1 "As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God."

  7. #47
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    300yd shot with an 80 gr silver ballistic tip. Stone dead.

  8. #48
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    What calibur do your husband's hunt with?

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  9. #49
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    Is that not as cool as hunting ducks or turkeys with a 20 ga or .410?

  10. #50
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    Do .243s generally leave a blood trail?
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  11. #51
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    Quote Originally Posted by Buckin Bronco View Post
    Do .243s generally leave a blood trail?
    Mine never left much of one.

    I sold a Savage 11 Predator in Prairie Grass camo to someone on here years ago. I wish I’d never sold that gun. That thing would drive tacks.
    Last edited by Saltydog235; 12-02-2020 at 08:53 AM.
    Yeah, but do you consider a dog to be a filthy animal? I wouldn't go so far as to call a dog filthy but they're definitely dirty. But, a dog's got personality. Personality goes a long way.


    You might take out a dozen before they drag you from your home and skull fuck you to death. Marsh Chicken 6/21/2013

  12. #52
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    You're over thinking this, with the right bullet, 500 yards easy. I've seen a 243wssm kill a SD buck at 800+ yards.
    My 7 year old is shooting a 6mmXC with a 115 berger(same velocity), he dropped 2 does this weekend, one at 170, other at 190.
    Quote Originally Posted by Glenn View Post
    I'll shoot over a kids head in a blind or long gun one on a turkey in a heart beat. You want to kill stuff around me you gonna earn it.

  13. #53
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    Quote Originally Posted by Catdaddy View Post
    What calibur do your husband's hunt with?

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    If you know how to shoot you don't need a 300winmag to kill a SC deer.

  14. #54
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    Quote Originally Posted by GMAC View Post
    I've always shot a 243, except in tight woods, where I use an open site 30-30. The 243 was always a tack driver with 80 grain. I went for years without losing a deer, or even having to look very far. Then I went from 80 to 100. First shot I lost a nice velvet on August 15. Next shot I had to trail a doe for like half a mile. Next shot I dropped a buck in his tracks - shot through the nose about 20 inches from where I was aiming. Then I read something about some guns performing differently with certain weight bullets. Went to sight the gun in, the holes were all over the target. Went back to 80, and haven't had any more trouble.
    So you drastically changed ammo and shot at deer without sighting it in?

    Don’t blame the ammo.


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  15. #55
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    Quote Originally Posted by WoodieSC View Post
    Who here uses, or has used a .243 to look a deer?

    Let’s assume a 90-100 grain load, recognizing that those are the most common loads for most hunters. And we’re talking about SC deer that run from 100-150 lbs, for the most part.

    What is the longest range you have, or would, comfortably use as an ethical DRT limit? For the sake of this discussion we can go +/- 50 yds for ‘DRT’, but none of this ‘I needed a tracking dog to finally find it’.

    Chuck Hawks claims the maximum killing range of the .243 runs from 180-275 yds, depending on the bullet. He is also using a minimum of 1300 ft lbs as the kill energy required, although other sources drop that minimum as low as 800 ft lbs.

    I have never used my .243 for deer, but for some odd reason(s) it has become my long-range rifle along with my 30-30, which is why I’m checking on it.

    Do what is realistic?

    If 1,300 ft lbs is the minimum you can leave the 300 BO at home as it barely hits that at the muzzle.

  16. #56
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    Quote Originally Posted by Frank1 View Post
    If you know how to shoot you don't need a 300winmag to kill a SC deer.
    Yeah but a .300 is fun to shoot something with. Especially hogs.
    Yeah, but do you consider a dog to be a filthy animal? I wouldn't go so far as to call a dog filthy but they're definitely dirty. But, a dog's got personality. Personality goes a long way.


    You might take out a dozen before they drag you from your home and skull fuck you to death. Marsh Chicken 6/21/2013

  17. #57
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    Fun is important, jus saying it's not necessary

  18. #58
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    Quote Originally Posted by Frank1 View Post
    If you know how to shoot you don't need a 300winmag to kill a SC deer.
    Just throwing out some bait and you bit.

    I haven't shot a deer or hog with a gun in 25 years. My wife shoots a .243.


    Big calibers cause more bad shots than smaller ones because of the flinch factor. When those knuckleheads start losing deer, they go bigger instead of smaller.

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  19. #59
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    It wasnt aimed at you buddy, just a general statement. I'd rather kill em with an arrow myself. I like shooting a rifle but would much rather kill with a bow

  20. #60
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    I’m not hating on the ones who like me but I just don’t want to track a deer, so, I’d prefer to put the hammer down on them. 300 WSM for me or I’ll drop back the .270 sometimes. I know it if you hit them right with the 243 it doesn’t matter but recoil is a non issue when you are actually hunting. To each his own.

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