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.243 for whitetails

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.243 for whitetails

Old 08-19-2007, 08:47 PM
  #11  
Typical Buck
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: St. Louis, Mo
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Default RE: .243 for whitetails

I bought a Remmington 700 in 243 last year and killed 2 deer with it, each shot was over 100 yards. One dropped in his tracks the other ran about 30 yards.I alsoshot a coyote at 70 yards and he dropped right there, never knew what hit him.
I use Federal Power Shock100 grain bullets that cost $10 a box at Cabelas and Bass Pro. You can't reload them cheaper than that. Nice gun for what you want.

Spudrow from Mo
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Old 08-19-2007, 09:24 PM
  #12  
Fork Horn
 
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Default RE: .243 for whitetails

i hunted with a 243 for about 3-4 years great gun never lost a deer i would definitely recommend
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Old 08-19-2007, 10:02 PM
  #13  
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
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Default RE: .243 for whitetails

Now this is just my opinion, and I will not offer it to be combative.
But my experience with Whitetail hunting, and I have more than 30 years of experience and well over 100 kills, is that if you are going to hunt whitetails, you want to have the best possible combination.

No one gun is good for everything. No one bullet is good for everything.

It would be the same as your personal private automobile. You would not take a Corvette deer hunting and you wouldn't want to drive a new Silverado 160 mph with BFG Mud terrain tires either!

Even though some Corvette's have more than 350 Hp - new from the factory, the same as a new fully decked out Silverado.

But just because they both have similar motors, transmissions and large tires - doesn't mean that they can perform the same task the same way.


So comparing a .270 Winchester to a .243 Winchester is not comparing apples to apples. More like comparing apples to potatoes.

The further NORTH you go, the bigger a deer gets. So someone from South Carolina - giving advice to a hunter from Maine just won't cut it either. They are hunting the same kind of deer, just that a deer from South Carolina might be 1/4th the size as one from Maine.

Yes, some inexperienced people should stick to smaller calibers, especially if that hunter is small and not very good with a center fire weapon.

But I am 6'3 / 270 lbs and can shoot in just about any position.

I would not want to generalize a hunter into one group or another, but here is my two cents.

A person from the city will not think twice about spending $100 on a good dinner in a fancy restaurant or going out to see a show - as long as the other half has a good time, money is no object. But when the same man tries to talk to the other half about spending $500 - $1000 on a good deer-hunting rifle, all sense of logic goes out the window.
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Old 08-19-2007, 10:41 PM
  #14  
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Idaho
Posts: 136
Default RE: .243 for whitetails

You didn't specify how much money you are looking to spend, or what type of action you prefer, but here is a recommendation. If a single shot is to your liking, look at the H & R Ultra Hunters. I have the 12 gauge H & R Ultra Slug Hunter, and have killed a whitetail at 150 yards with it. I also have an H & R Ultra Varmint in .223 that is really a tackdriver. These guns are really reasonably priced, and you canpick up other barrels for shooting alternate cartridges for them, for very cheap. I have found that single shots work really well for me, and since their is no bolt, the gun is much shorter for a given barrel length. The .243 is a wonderful round. Many others also. Its bigger brother the 7mm-08 is also a sweet round. This just moves you a little bit more towards big game hunting, and further away from varmint hunting but also does both well. The 120 grainers out of the 7mm-08 are quite a varmint killer, but for deer, the 140's are just the ticket. Good luck.
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Old 08-19-2007, 11:12 PM
  #15  
 
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Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Pennsylvania
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Default RE: .243 for whitetails

Is the caliber capable of ethically killing a deer? Yes, with the right type of bullet. Many deer have died under this caliber over the years.

Are you capable of killing a deer with this caliber? That depends on your dedication to practice and accuracy, ability to choose the right type of bullet setup for your game, and knowing your gun's and bullet's limits with that game and sticking within those limits. (Like required of any gun of any caliber.)

Will a larger bore be better? Yes and no. If a larger caliber with greater recoil and possibly heavier overall weight will cause you to flinch from the recoil or be uncomfortable shooting then no, that caliber wouldn't be better, because you'd be more prone to shooting inaccurately. No matter what caliber you stick on a gun, if the shooter cannot be accurate with it, the deer isn't going to die any quicker than a smaller caliber shot accurately would kill it. Like they say "A dead deer is a dead deer...there is no better case of death possible once it's dead."

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With all that said, I've been hunting whitetails with a .243 Win since day one and still do. I have confidence in my gun and wouldn't trade it for the world. Now on the same hand you don't see me going out bear hunting or elk hunting with this caliber. This is only for deer and predators and I will never use it for anything besides that. I know my limits and I don't cross them. The day I do cross them is the day I become an unethical hunter.

I've never lost a deer yet and most, if not all, of my kills died within 50 yards of where they were shot with a single well placed bullet. I've only had one deer that I didn't heart or lung shot on with the first bullet and that wasn't gun nor caliber error, but user error when younger and with a good followup shot I still had that deer down within 50yards. Several of my deer have even dropped in their tracks and had massive internal damage from the shots. To the point where the butcher did a double take when he saw the damage and found out what caliber gun I shot it with.

As far as bloodtrails go, I've experienced great blood trails on a few and good bloodtrails for the most part from all my other deer. I've only had one fluke instance of minimal bleeding from a perfect heart shot, due to organ blockage of the entrance and exit wounds. With that said, any caliber can experience a fluke instance where an organ or piece of blown up organ will plug the entrance and/or exit wounds up and prevent a good bloodtrail and minimal bleeding, yet be a well placed vital shot that brings the animal down. That's all part of hunting and needing to not only be a good hunter, but tracker too. No matter how good a shot you are there is always a chance of minimal bloodtrails and still having a vital shot on the animal. You should always try your best to track every animal you put the crosshairs on and pull that trigger even if you think you clean missed. Bloodtrail isn't a very good indicator on a dead animal. I've seen many times bad shots that were not lethal on animals bleed quite a bit and fool a hunter into thinking he has a dead animal to find out otherwise or lethal shots that bled minimal and the person thinks he didn't kill the animal, but finds it dead not very far away.

As far as equipment for a .243 Win there are a lot of good choices out there. I'd recommend going to a gunshop holding several different brands and models of guns in your caliber and finding one that is comfortable to hold in your price range. As far as bullets do your research find out the distances you'd like to try shooting out to and pick a bullet that can give good killing power out to that distance. Then try it in your gun and see how your gun likes the round. Not all guns like the same rounds of bullets and perform as well with them as the next, even guns of the same make and model. So, you may try a couple different brands and styles until you find one that will be accurate enough for you through your particular gun.

My gun is a Remington Model Seven SS. My gun is fitted perfectly to my size and I'm extremely comfortable shooting it. I shoot 100-Grain Federal Classic HI-SHOK soft points in .243 Win. Practice and good shooting is a must with any caliber rifle. Know your limits on not only your bullet's killing power out to certain ranges, but your own accuracy with the gun out to certain ranges, and don't cross it. But, that should be common sense for any caliber gun used for hunting any animal.

Good luck and hope you find yourself a gun that makes you happy and gets the job done!
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Old 08-20-2007, 01:57 AM
  #16  
Nontypical Buck
 
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Location: Tennessee
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Default RE: .243 for whitetails

It's usually best to shoot the biggest rifle you can shoot accurately without flinching, but you first have to find out what your limit is, and that's tricky, especially if you haven't fired a large variety of rifles and shotguns in the past.

So, I would recommend the 7mm-08, or the .308.

The 7mm-08, as previously mentioned, is pretty much the .243's bigger brother, and therecoil isn't much moreat all from what I hear, but the performance is definately better, since the 7mm-08, like the .308, at close range (up to 250 yards), is considered eithical, and sufficient for elk, whereas the .243 isn't.

The problem is that 7mm-08's aren't so common.....yet, the average round I belive is a 140-grain, which is more than the .243's 100-grain, but the recoil is just a little bitmore.

If recoil does end up bothering you, go to your local gun store, and get a Limbsaver, my Grandpa put one on his 30-06, and it now kicks less than my .308which hasthe factoryrecoil pad.

I'm sure if you applied one of those toa .308, is would kick for sure like the .243, ifnot less.

Like Rifleman said,there is noonerifle or cartridge foreverything, and manysmart people on here could tell you that the best rifle is the onethat fits you, and the oneyou're comfortable with.

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Old 08-20-2007, 07:33 AM
  #17  
Fork Horn
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
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Default RE: .243 for whitetails

The 243win. will be good for what you mentioned . I have a Remington 700 BDL in 243win. So far I have harvested five mule deer and one antelope. Dad has harvested alot of mule deer with this gun too.I use Remington factory 100gr. core-lokts and it hasn't let me down.
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Old 08-20-2007, 09:18 AM
  #18  
 
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Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SE Wisconsin
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Default RE: .243 for whitetails

I have a good friend that uses a .243 for deer. It hasnever failed him yet. He has never had one drop on its tracks, but he never lost one either. Place the bullet behind the shoulder, and you wont have any problems.
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Old 08-20-2007, 09:27 AM
  #19  
Boone & Crockett
 
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Default RE: .243 for whitetails

My son and I both use .243's for deer hunting in the Texas Hill Country. Deerin the Hill Countryare small by comparison to Midwestern corn-fed monsters. Bucks weigh in the 140-180 range. I used to use a .30-06, but switched to .243 after shooting my son's Model 7. I've found that bucks don't go any further when hit through the vitals with a .243 than they did when hit through the vitals with the .30-06. I've had just as many drop in their tracks with the .243 as with the .30-06. So, I've had the same performance, with less than half the recoil...
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Old 08-20-2007, 11:13 AM
  #20  
Nontypical Buck
 
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Location: Texas
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Default RE: .243 for whitetails

Glad to see so many happy .243 shooters. I mysef have been using one for about 25+ years. No problems killingdeer. It is one of the best calibers around and will make the top 10 if not the top 5 calibers for deer hunting. Its stood the test of time and has put other calibers to rest.
Most all .25's died to this caliber, the .25-06 is the only surving .25. As others have said a whitetail wouldnt know the difference between it and a 30-06. Put it behind the shoulder and you'll have a dead deer every single time. I dont care how big the whtetail is, it will not run far after being shot with the .243. The .243 for some reason makes mush of internal organs, every deer I have shot and gutted, the internals looked like soup.
The.243 is built off the .308 case which inherintely makes it accurate. The .308 case has spawned some awsome calibers and everyone of them seems to be super accurate. In my circle of friends I have conevrted about 5 people into using the .243 as there main whitetail gun. It has all the killing power of much larger guns with half the recoil. Most all states put the .243 as the minimum rifle for elk hunting. It has no problems on deer.
Wide selection of fairly cheap ammo. It shoots 70 gr to 100 gr very accuratley. So coyotes to deer using the same gun is awsome. They do make 55 gr ammo for it but I hear accuaracy falls off because of the wrong rate of twist for this small bullet.
I highly recommend the .243.
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