Im not gonna buy one right now,but I want to know (in your opinion) whats better for deer,bobcat,and coyote.For coyote and bobcat I don't care about overkill.I hunt deer for the meat,and I think the 7 mag is to much.My longest shot will be 250 yards (the longest field I hunt.And what does better for a treestand gun?I already have a.243 bolt action.
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Your .243 is about perfect for what you describe. It is the classic varmint/deer crossover rifle.
I'd buy a "deer/light elk" rifle and forget about using anything else but your .243 on the coyotes and bobcats. A .30-'06 is one of the best ever, but don't leave out the .308 Win, .270 Win, .280 Rem, 7mm-08 Rem, .260 Rem, .25-'06, .257 Roberts, 6.5x55 Swede, 7x57 and .338 Federal, as well.
You really don't need a 7mm Rem Mag to hunt deer under 250 yards, but if you want one, go for it!
neither for deer bobcat and coyote....as a combo, both too much gun.
.243 is much more ideal for those 3 if you ask me. If you want something bigger, look to a .260 or 7mm-08, but I think a .243 is what you want. At the biggest I'd look to a .25-06 or maybe a .270 win.
*Just re-read your post, you already have a .243win? and maybe want another rifle? so in that case I'd keep the .243 for the bobcat and coyote, and look to basically a strictly deer+ rifle... so figure out if you wanta deer rifle, or if you want a deer/elk/moose rifle?
If so then I'd really look to a .270win, .270wsm, .300wsm, 7mm rem.mag., .300win mag, .30-06,
All of you are right,if a 243 will kill a 300+ lb 13 point buck at 110 yards,it will kill anything in Alabama.When I find out how to post a picture of the deer,I will!
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You already have what you need in the .243! If you are just looking for another gun, I'd go with the .308. If you want something in 7MM, take a look at the 7MM-08 or .280. I love my 7MM RM, but the .280 will just about equal the 7MM RM without the "magnum" tag!
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13 Point as others have said the 243 is great for the game you described. The 243 shoots flatter than either the 7mm or 06 and carries more than enough energy beyond 300 yards. If you want one of the other two rifles and do not reload the 06 is a better choice due to lower ammo costs. If you compare the light magnum/high energyammo in the 06to 7mm ammo you will also find equal to superior ballistics in the 06 for the same cost. When handloading the 7mm might be little better choice, although RL17 has really up the performance in my 06 handloads to the point they are equal even in the handloading dept.
I'm going to put my .02 in for arguably the best whitetail cartridge ever designed-the 7mm08. It performs all out of proportion to it's size and is not only usually EXTREMELY accurate, but is also mild recoiling.
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To answer the question, as you asked, I'd go with the 30-06. At shorter distances the 7mm doesn't dump all it energy into the animal like the 06 does. This past year I had to track 3 different wounded deer and all 3 were hit, behind the shoulder, with a 7mag at fairly close range (under 100yds). The 7 is just going too fast at short distances to put all it's energy into the animal, it zips right through them and didn't knock them down. The 06 isn't as fast but it puts all it's energy into the animal and they go down.
Now at 400+ on an Elk, it's a different story. In that case I'd go with the 7 because it has slowed up a bit and will put enough shock into the animal to put him down.
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To answer the question, as you asked, I'd go with the 30-06. At shorter distances the 7mm doesn't dump all it energy into the animal like the 06 does. This past year I had to track 3 different wounded deer and all 3 were hit, behind the shoulder, with a 7mag at fairly close range (under 100yds). The 7 is just going too fast at short distances to put all it's energy into the animal, it zips right through them and didn't knock them down. The 06 isn't as fast but it puts all it's energy into the animal and they go down.
Now at 400+ on an Elk, it's a different story. In that case I'd go with the 7 because it has slowed up a bit and will put enough shock into the animal to put him down.
30-06 vs 7mm rem mag
