Thought you guys here in the Predetor forum would be the best group to ask this question. It may be splitting hairs but if you had to choose which one would it be?

I am selling my only "middle of the road" caliber, Savage in .243, because I just can't get used to shooting this gun. I don't feel comfortable, the trigger is as light as it will go and is still to stiff, the palm swell in the grip is to fat and the action is extremely long making it very difficult to position a scope to my liking.

Anyway, I need to replace it.

My hunting situation: I do all of my hunting in Missouri. The only game that this gun will see is deer and coyotes. I am joining a hunting club whose property mainly consists of several small patches of woods ranging from 20-75 acres with remainder in large agricultural fields. The club manager says that the deer and coyotes are thick and 300+ yd shots are not uncommon.

The gun will not to be viewed as my first choice for either species as I have other calibers better suited if it were one or the other. Looking for the best choice to efficiently take down a midwestern sized whitetail yet not destroying a coyote.

Thanks for your help,
Toby

the 25-06 would be a better deer rifle but is over kill on a coyote.the 243 i also a good deer rifle and is slightly easyer on pelts but depending on what bullet you use it could do as much damage as the 25-06.you need to ask your self what do i want to do with the critter after he is down,save the palt or leave it for the buzzards.also if 300 + yard shots are going to be the norm for deer i would deffinetly lean towards the 25-06.the 243 looses alot of steam at those yardages,this could be a problem when hunting big game animals such as white tails.

I agree with Coyoteseeker. I would choose the .25-06 over the .243. I imagine that with careful bullet selection you can minimize pelt damage. I have a friend that used to hunt predators with this caliber and loved it. If iI can find him I'll ask him about it and let you know. The .25-06 is an excellent deer round. Shoots flat and hits pretty hard. Puts 'em down quick. I know the .243 will take deer but I consider it too small for that purpose. It just has no room for error. Besides, I just feel more comfortable with the larger caliber bullet. Choose whichever one you want. They both will work fine. The .25-06 will just give you a little more room to compensate for those actual "hunting conditions".

Hey thanks for the input. As for the 300+ yd shots, I would have to believe, at least I hope, the land manager was referring to the yotes more than the deer. He claims the deer are thick and I would like to think I could manage closer shots than 300 yd on a whitetail. For that matter I would hope for closer ranges on the yotes as well, but as you know those wily little rascals seem to have super bionic senses and the long-range shot may be the best you get. So I guess I might rephrase my original question and change the 300+ to maybe 200+, this is probably more realistic.

As for general usage it will probably kill more deer than coyotes. Generally speaking, I don't use the coyote hide for anything specific other than my own personal use/trophy. I just don't want to destroy the hide with softball sized exit wounds.

I have experience with the .243 and I think it is a fine caliber. My handloads are usually built with the use of 80gr to 100gr bullets and were used for the dual purpose of yotes and deer. On the other hand, I don't have any experience with the .25-06 but the thing that caught my eye was the bullet weights ranging from 75gr all the way up to 120gr. It seamed to better fit the dual function bill.

Any further input is appreciated.

Thanks,
Toby

i would go with the 25-06 which is what im trying to sell to my brother as the perfect compromise cartidge.

propmahn
save the world, reload your brass