Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting deer with a .243 vs. 30-06

Some bullets provide a larger shock to the nervous system that can cause temporary paralysis. So if you have a bullet that provide a shock circle the size of a dessert plate and you shoot close enough to the back bone, the shock will drop the deer. The other thing to consider with a double lung shot is lung capacity. Did you shoot the deer on an inhale or exhale. Similar to holding your breath. If you only hit the lungs they will begin losing some blood, but you still have whatever oxygen was in their blood stream and all 4 legs and brain is still working so they can run a ways.

On a side note, I shot a nice doe with a 358g powerbelt bullet from a 50 cal muzzle loader this year. Good lung shot as you describe but had a poor blood trail. I looked for 45 minutes until it got dark. Then when it got dark the blood was actually easier to see with my headlamp since it was shiny and reflective. Drop by drop I tracked that dang doe for 75-100yds through thick woods and brush. She got a ride home in the back of the truck. High shot can also bleed less as the body cavity fills with blood instead of leaking from the hole.

Took my first .243 buck a couple weeks ago. Perfect shot, watched her run by with the exit hole side facing me as she ran past. quarter size hole with blood spraying everywhere as she tried to breath. She went about 50 yards. Good round I will not hesitate to use again.

Just my thoughts

He's a gun wizard......you best pay attention,Scott. Maybe you'll learn something! I gotta go call my Mom right now and stop her before she heads out to her stand with her .243. She's never had to shoot a buck twice, so there's gotta be a better cartridge for her to use.

To the OP. If you have lung, I suspect you have a deer, and not very far away. Hopefully the critters don't beat you to it.

Jeff

Amen Steelhead!

If given the opportunity (and I am, every fall) to use a .243 or a .30-06, it's completely a toss up in my book. The only reason that I use a .30-06 instead of a .243 is that the .243 is "Mom's gun" and I will inherit it someday, so I'm not buying a .243 of my own, I split the difference with a .260 Remington, which I used successfully on three does last weekend, one DRT (centered the spine on a running shot at 50 yds, she wasn't going another step, wish I'd been 6 inches lower...), one went 20 yds after a good running double lung shot, the other was discussed here https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthread...Interesting_experience_today#Post4638574 and it wasn't bullet/gun failure, it was shooter error. The .243 is PLENTY of deer for gun, I've seen some amazing DRT kills with the 100 gr. Partition out of mom's .243, both with me behind the gun and her behind the gun.

Did you hear this from Douchebeer?

buckhorn: you do not say where you are. in az the whitetailes are 60 pounds. were you shooting in alberta where they are 300#?

I hear Bushnell is coming out with a scope with a built in range finder coupled with an image stabilizer and computer. It will have a selector switch that allows the computer to time a shot to hit the animal when the lungs are full or empty, or when the heart is full of air or empty.
Hearsay has it that they have had DRT kills on buffalo, rhino, and moose using full jacketed 22 magnum ammo...
Could be just a rumor, though...

Fred

I'm guessing not more than 100 yards from where you shot him. Get a crew together and go find him. Start from where you seen him go last and make some swings around the ares.

Was it raining or something? no other blood trail?

The 100gr Partition is not a bad option!

How many of you wait for the deer to exhale??????

I also wait for them to pee, poop, put near leg forward, drop right there & field dress themself.

Geez............

I need to tell my wife's 243 that her Dad didn't kill 50+ deer with it, it was all a dream!

I should tell gunweirdo how many deer my late grandfather killed with a .17 Remington. It would snap him

Better hide all 22-250's & 223's.

My opinion (for what it's worth) is that the .243 is deadly on the deer I have seen killed with it (mostly by my late father) but I have a bad back and if I don't want to do any dragging I use my .348 Model 71. Also, I still don't understand why the .250 Savage is ol' death and destruction while the .243 gets a bad rap. Thanks...Bill.

I used a 243 for the first time on deer last week. I was impressed to say the least. Was shooting factory 85gr TSXs. From now on, Ill always have a 243 in the safe and Im kind of wanting another one just for the hell of it. Damn good coyote rifle as well. The deer you shot is laying somewhere close.

I had a friend, who's uncle's sister, met a guy, who's step-father once claimed to know of a dude on a farm in Tenn. who once put the eye out of a 238# 14 pointer and dropped it dead where it stood...all with a Daisy Red Ryder!

Because it's a larger caliber and more effective on deer, obviously!

I can't help with a comparison, because a .243 is the only cartridge I've ever used to shoot deer, and my sample size may or may not need 2 hands to count. Though all were recovered, each of the deer ran further than I had wanted. As such, I determined that a .243 wasn't enough cartridge for deer hunting.

This, however, was > 25 years ago, back in my teens. I was shooting a Remington 788 carbine with the 18.5" barrel. I'm sure that it would have helped if I would have shot more than 8 or 9 rounds through it before the season. I would also wager that using hearing protection might have prevented me from becoming afraid of the copious muzzle blast, and developing the flinch I carried for years. Heck, shooting lots more rimfire than I did would likely have made me a much better shot. In short, I'm sure the fault was mine, and not the cartridge's.

To this day, though, I maintain a dislike for the .243. In fact, I don't care much for any of its -08 bretheren, either. It's totally illogical, and I'm well aware of that. I'm just thankful there are still many dozens of other cartridges out there for me to be smitten with.

This process probably has happened with all cartridges. I was the only fool in elk camp with enough gall to carry a .30-'06: everyone else knew that was far too impotent a cartridge for such tough, noble, & worthy creatures. But it sure worked like a charm on the elk that I shot. So now, with my sample size of 1, I shall henceforth go confidently into the field chasing elk with it, knowing that it worked for me.

The next time I do go deer hunting, I'll very likely be carrying my 7x57. I'm sure it won't kill the deer any deader, or any more quickly, than a solid shot from a .243, but I'll feel better about carrying it with me.

I hear folks talking about "finding their huckleberries". Though I'd never encountered the phrase before I came to this site, I'd surmise it applies pretty aptly to cartridge selection. And if your huckleberry differs from my own, that's OK.

FC

We discussed a similar issue with humans in my concealed carry class. Technically they are suppose to teach you to shoot center mass. The problem is that a human can live up to two minutes even with a proper kill shot in the chest. You guys think my response is funny but go ask the dead police officer who thought the bad guy was done for how funny it is. It was simply a statement that just because you hit a deer in a magic spot don't assume they should just fall over. Most will run if physicaly able. Duh!

what if the person was breathing out? will it work then?