zrexpilot

PS I'm tired of talking bout diss. LOL

CBASS77

Well lets face it the 243 can take everything from rabbit to Moose. I'm sorry just had to joke around a little bit. Balistic charts just don't expain everything to me however to some people they do. I have a buddy who hunts everything from Rabbits to Deer with a 20gage (he just switches out the barrel) and is very successful and then another one who tends to buy the "hottest supermag out their every year, that for some reason I refuse to hunt with because he's a damn poor shot. We have to just relise if you know what your limitations are shot wise with the wepon you take in the field you will have a great harvest. Limitations is your responsibility not the rifle or round.

James B

I read the artical. That guy must be the worst shot in forty states. I have taken lots of deer with all the calibers and bullets that he has trouble with. Never had to track one yet. And about the people who couldn't drop the pronghorns with the 300 and 7mm Mags?? His hunting skill speaks volumes here. It sounds to me like if he kills a deer with anything, it pure luck. He may like his 243 and shooting varmit bullets for deer in the other rifles but his findings are pure bunk because I have used the 270, 7MM, 6.5x55, 260 and many others including the 30-30 without wounding deer. He should take up tiddlie-winks.

All of the rifles in the article would have the ft lbs and bullet weight per lb of body weight that should be requred in Big Bulls figures.

zrexpilot

james are you saying that in all your years of hunting you have never had to track a deer ? they all fell straight down ?

CZ2506

One of the first deer I killed was with a 22LR. Hit him right between the lookers at about 40 feet. He never even twitched.
Whitetail deer don't take a lot of killing, so like everything else it comes down to bullet placement and bullet performance.

P.S Zrex I'll match my 25-06 with 117 SST's against your 243 with anything you want to put in it. but I think that just about anything you put in your 243 is plenty for a deer if you hit 'em

Virginia7

Can't speak for James, of course, but I've never had to track a deer much. Mostly now use my carbine chambered to 358Win., with those SLOW 200gr. bullets by Winchester.
Deer don't run much with BIG holes in 'em.

James B

Zrex. Thats right. I never have had to track a deer. However let me qualify that a bit. I hunt the prairie areas of Western SD. I have had some deer run a short distance but they can't often run out of sight. There is no forest to hide in. If they get into the river breaks then you are not apt to find them for the cedar trees ere so thick that you often have to crawl through on your hands and knees. We hunt mostly from ambush spots where the deer come out to feed on the wheat and hay fields. I seldom if ever shoot until they are well clear of the cover of the breaks. I am ready to shoot and have a solid rest before they ever show up. Thus shot placement is pretty easy. The only ones that have run very far were when I used the 243. They often ran several hundred yards and sometimes over the next hill. Thats why I am sour on the 243. It was not that I woke up one morning and decided that I didn't like it for deer. It earned its distrust with me. 99 percent of the deer I hit with the rifles I use now don't go more than 20 yards and often in just a small circle. I had better luck with the 243 when I used the 100 grain Hornady round nose and later the Nosler Partition. These are very large mule deer even the does go well over 200-250 lbs. All grain fed and alfalfa stuffed year around. Its probably a different kind of deer hunting than most who hunt the woods and forests are used to. Sorry to get off topic too. If I really don't want them to run, I would most likely grab the 308 or 6.5x55. However the 25-06 worked very well last fall.

frizzellr

I grew up hunting in the thickets and swamps of Southeast Texas before I was moved to Northwest Louisiana. Not a whole lot of difference in the terrain. It is still thick in most places so you don't really want to have to worry about tracking deer. That being said, the only time I had a deer run over 40 yards on me was one I shot with a 222 Rem. Tracking a deer through a briar patch will put a damper on one's opinion of a cartridge for sure. Granted that was back before any so called medium game bullets were loaded in 22 cal, but I still wouldn't use one again. I realize there is not a magic bullet out there that will drop a deer in its tracks every time, but I do believe some are far better than others. Between a 30-06 and a 7mm-08 Rem, and 308 Win, every deer I have shot dropped on the spot. Most dropped with the 270 Win, except for one that made it 20 yards before it realized it was dead. The 243 Win has never dropped one in its tracks, but has held within 40 yards for me. Never had one drop with a 30-30 Win either nor have I ever seen one drop with a 30-30.

Gundigest

You don't judge how well a cartridge performs on a good hit but rather how well it will perform on a bad hit. Just because a .22LR will kill a deer doesn't mean that it is a deer gun. I would shoot a deer with a 60gr Partition or a 53gr X bullet out of my .223 but it would not be my deer gun. I have a 7x57, 30-06 and 300 WSM for big game.

SWAMPMAN

just because a 22lr will kill a deer doesn't mean it's a deer cartridge. Thanks Gundigest, Several of us have been trying to convince a few folks of that very thing for about a week now. You put it very well. Maybe the point has finally been made.