I had to pass on the shot because of deer standing with the line of fire going towards an establishment, (hunting cabin, farm house).

I've never had one get away with my .243 yet

Here legal is +.23cal. Personally for our larger sub species ofdeer,quarter bore(.257 cal) min.

As long is it is legal and you know your equipment/ability/gamethen knock yourself out.

I don't consider the head/neck area regardless of tool/cal used a good place to shoot. I have had more then a few debates on here over the years why I feel this way. So,I'll just say my personal ethics dictate this as a no shoot situation.

So you would have took that shot with a smaller caliber??

The "ethical/unethical" debate is getting old and is just an excuse to stir up crap and belittle fellow hunters on message boards.

It is a fact that not all hunters can make head and neck shots, so a small caliber (ie 22-250, 223) would not be a good idea for deer hunting. On the other hand, I have known some guys that only made clean kills on about every third or fourth deer they shot at with a 300 WM because they were scared of the gun.

What is good for the goose may not be good for the gander. If a hunter shoots a rifle in a caliber he is comfortable with he will more than likely practice more and be more competent with it.

I DO NOT advocate head/neck shots, but if a hunter knows his gun and can shoot it accurately, there is no reason why a head/neck shot would not be "ethical". I like a nice bang/flop.

Hi Zrex,
I know you are a fan of the 243 as am I but this confuses me. If there is a house, cabin etc beyond and in the line of your shot it shouldn't matter if you are shooting a 300 winmag, a 243 or 22 hornet.
you may be thinkingpenetration (i do not know that you are) but what if you miss?
This just doesn't seem safe to me

Well if i had my hornet on two of these instances I would have taken the shot. There was a lot of woods between me and the cabin. I use 45 gr Hollow Points and I know for sure the first twig it hits it will come apart, thats if I missed. The other instance, Hmmmmmm I just dont know if I would have taken it, probably not.

Can't go wrong with a 308 or 30-06.

What if you are offered a shot at a 250lbbuck at about 100 yards. He's quartering towards you so you need to get through the shoulder to hit the vitals. Will a 50gr bullet from a 223 have enough power at 100 yards to penetrate the heavy muscle and plow through the shoulder bone of a 250lb buck? will it getthrough that, wreck thevitals and exit in the back far quadrant of said buck? Sure, 50 yard shots at broadside standing deer is easy. A tough angle at the buck of your dreams? Why chance it with barely enough gun? Why not be prepared for anything?

Because some people don't mind it being challenging that is why some take to the woods with a recurve and wooden arrows.

As long as you know your gun isn't capable of that shot it really doesn't matter. You could use a .270, 308 or 30-06 and still screw that shot up if you didn't have the proper bullet to get enough penetration.

Paul

My buddy use to shot a .243 and killed a lot of deer with it and never lost one that I know of.