243 big enough for whitetails?
#23
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 1,862
Agreed. If a .243 is the rifle you have, then use it. If one was purchasing a new rifle, then there are numerous cartridges that would be a better all around choice.
#24
I shoot 100gr Sierra Game Kings in my .243.....and it is plenty for deer!
#25
The 243 is more than enough to take deer with. This is even more true these days with all the great bullet designs available to hunters. The 243 is not a brush gun and is better suited to open ground hunting and this is where it really excels at.
For deer the one thing I truly know to be true is a well placed shot is much more important than the size bullet you are using. Shooting is a skill that must be practiced.
For deer the one thing I truly know to be true is a well placed shot is much more important than the size bullet you are using. Shooting is a skill that must be practiced.
#26
#29
I disagree with that statement. A 243 is less likely to hit brush than a 30 cal, and MUCH less likely to hit brush than a 45 cal. Bigger bullets busting through brush without a change in direction is aboslute B.S.
I'm not advocating shooting through brush under any circumstances, but if you were going to take a chance, a 243 would hit the target where you intended alot more often than a 45/70, 35 rem, or 44 mag.
#30