Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Comfortable Kill range for Deer with a .243s

What would be most of your guys comfort zone on deer with a .243? I know we would all like to have them broad side at 50 yards and next to the road or the truck? but that rarely happens, I know with my 30-06 and a 150gr. Nolser ballistic tip I'm comfortable out to about 300 yards after that I don't take the shot for fear of wounding the animal. I know there are allot of variables Load, Bullet weight, powder etc. I'm just wondering as a rule of thumb?
Thanks
Snidley

Many different bullets but I feel comfortable to 500 with my rifle. Berger vld are what I shoot mainly.

With the 105 amax, I'm comfortable to 750-ish. (Edit: but thats only because I haven't run that bullet farther than that yet on steel, in that chambering.)
Shot a big muley at 484 last fall, first one was hard quartering in front of the onside hind, and it rolled him hard at the hit. He did manage to get back to his feet, and since the shooting is the fun part I put a second one broadside through both shoulders just for giggles.
That one smashed him off his feet as well.

Mind you, that was with the AI version. A plain jain 243 is only good for women and kids, and only then if they keep the shots broadside and under 100 yards from a concrete bench. And you should probably keep a 375H&H handy for the follow up finisher that will be required........

I would be OK with maybe 600 with a fragile bullet. With the TSX/TTSXs that I normally hunt with I would not go beyond 400.

I wouldn't hesitate out to 600 with mine and a 95 NBT. haven't stretched it out much further than that on game.

Thank you guys for your posts and replies I'm looking at shooting the 95gr Nosler Partition with the Vhiti. H560 powder and thought I could reach the 500yd mark safely if I had to?

I like to stay within 300.

Eric

Wow!! With a 243?????

Kodak huntr, from reading your post did you ever in real life shoot a deer?

Meaning what exactly? Fairly positive I've killed a lot of deer.

Nope.

Around 400 for me preferably less but that is due to my shooting skills and ethics more than the cartridge. With the .243 and most others it is shooter skill plus the point where the bullet velocity drops below the optimum expansion level.

Laughin'....Yep. Didn't realize we had an audience where we were hunting.....How many deer have you tipped over 'man?

ABSOLUTELY rolled him, with both shots. First one hit him as he trotted after a doe. Was about a foot of snow on the ground and at the impact it collapsed him, legs kicking up a cloud of powder.

Second poke swatted him and he collapsed where he stood, and he rolled on the hill side kicking. On the offside exit there was a 1.5" long cylinder of leg bone hanging out of the hole in his hide.
Two things that stood out from that deer, was that it was about -12*C, and there were frost crystals haning in the air and bullet trace was easily discernable in the scope, and the second was that the impacts of both shots was quite likely the loudest I've ever heard.

T'were quite funny, as a lifelong hunting partner was with me, and all he could do on the walk in, was shake his head at the "mouse gun" I was packing.

With that deer we were both eyeballing him for quite a while head on as he stood facing us, but it wasn't until he turned to leave that we saw that he was a legal 4pt..."Hurry up, he's gonna leave" followed with "YOU ROLLED HIM, YOU F*CKIN ROLLED HIM!!!"....... That was followed up on the walk over to retrieve, with, "ok, I need one of these for deer."

I've killed more than enough deer, to know that it doesn't take a 300Ultra to knock them down. YMMV.

I shoot a 243 myself, not doubting its ability to kill. The last thing I whacked with one was a 300 pound boar. But it wasn't the impact of the bullet that slammed anything off its feet. A 300 Ultra won't do that either. Neither projectile carries enough momentum to transfer to a much more massive body and make it move very fast at all.

When a deer's body makes a fast move when hit by a bullet, it's the body's own reaction to being hit combined with whatever momentum it already carried that throws it whichever way.

In your present post you write the second shot collapsed him where he stood. That's physically reasonable, whereas the "smashed him off his feet" phrase I highlighted in the earlier post isn't.

To the OP question, if you are comfortable with 300 yards with your -06, the 243 is not going to do anything that I can think of to extend that range. It may be a little flatter shooting but you are giving up a fair amount of energy and the flatter trajectory is negligible inside 300 yards.
Your comfort level is your comfort level and only practice and experience will increase it.

Fair enough, but rolled is rolled, and both shots rolled him AWAY from the rifle at the bullet impact with feet in the air. Typical reactions from what I've seen from lead based, lightly constructed bullets that impacted animals at longer distances that were unaware of people in the area.

FWIW, the mountain grizz I shot this spring with my 300 Ultra merely started to run at the first shot and the only indication of a hit was that he faltered a bit, stumbled, and slowed to a stop on the slide, before he took a second one to the shoulders.

And if it helps you, the elk I shot last fall through both shoulders at 25 or 30 yards with that same Ultra didn't show ANY indication of a hit (other than red bubbles out of the entrance and exit wounds), and that one took a second poke at 100 yards (THS, where that shot resulted in an instantaneous roll, ass over teakettle.....) Any time a bullet impacts flesh, you can get a different reaction. But yes, I don�t disagree with you, that there aren�t any bullets out there short of a one ton pickup that will roll an animal off of its feet consistently at impact.

I've observed the 95 grain Bal Tip really hits hard for such a moderate size bullet out of a 243. Its BC may not be slick enough for the long range pursuits of some, bit I don't hunt at real long range.

I'm most concerned with:

1. My ability to put the bullet into the vitals.
2. Enough remaining velocity to ensure bullet expansion and thus enough vital organ damage.

If you use about 2000 fps for the 2nd criteria, that works out to about 500 yards, which happens to be, with the way the wind blows here, about the maximum I am comfortable with for criteria #1.

John

The bullet is capable at .243 velocities. Would depend purely on your abilities to put the bullet into he vitals. If you don't practice at 500 or beyond, you won't be effective at 500.

John

Snidley I have shot a few deer with my 243s . My longest shot was about 200 yds with a ruger 77 RSI. It dropped the deer like somebody pulled the rug out from under it. I later found the load was really quite mild and the 100 gr core lokt was loafing along at about 2550 fps. Since you generally limit yourself to 300 yds you should have no problem especially if you use full power loads and stay away from the explosive varmint bullets.

+1 Great post.

I prefer to keep them at 300 and under....but then, I prefer that all my deer rifles shoot well at 300 and under. I have been using the .270 for over 40 years...and I KNOW it will do better...but too long distance to me is possibly inviting a disaster, and I would rather not go chasing thru the boonies looking for a lousy hit bleeder. 2 cents.

I have killed several deer with a couple different 243. None have been over 200yrds, But I like to hunt. 95gr ballistic tips work very well, but so do 100gr Remington corelocs

If you're comfortable to 300 with the 30/06 you will be ok with the 243 too.

I prefer to keep most of my deer shots under 400 yards with the 6 mm's . I don't want to lose a animal due to poor bullet placement . What a rifle and bullet combination is capable of under ideal field conditions and what most people are capable of under most field conditions are two different ballgames completely. Most hunters aren't as good shooters in the field as they think they are . Wind is your biggest enemy in the field and unlike paper targets , Big Game Animals don't usually give you a second chance if you screw up the first shot.

What you wrote holds true for any cartridge.

you are right, i usually keep all my shots on deer under 400 yards regardless of the round i'm using

I like your 300 yd. comfort zone. That 's mine too with the .243 and most other calibers I shoot and even then it has to be in decent weather from a solid rest at a stationary animal. The .243 can certainly deliver a killing shot well beyond that, but unless you regularly practice shooting at those longer distances under hunting conditions, not from a bench, there are too many variables other than the cartridge itself that can make a longer shot go bad...wind, limbs or other obstructions that can't be seen, animal movement, adrenaline rush, quality of optics, etc. It's not worth the risk of a poor hit for me, personally, although no doubt others may be 100% successful beyond 300 yds.

With all due respect sir, I'm calling BS on this one. Everybody knows nothing less that a 50 BMG will suffice for a backup to a .243. Should the concrete bench not be available, a 37 mm. anti-tank weapon would be the bare minimum for a backup.

It's plain to see you aren't a stunt shooter.

This should be copied and automatically posted every time a novice on here starts asking about taking long-range pokes at big game. It can be done, but not one hunter in a thousand has the skill and experience to pull it off regularly. Nobody should try it unless they're willing to hike over and check for signs of a hit after their "miss". If you're one of those that can do it, good for you.

Hunting shouldn't be a long distance contest

Too many people THINK they are good shots at long range

With the 243's I've shot, probably not too much past 400yds would be the max I would feel comfortable with. They were very accurate guns, but with milder ammo. I know that there are a great number of guys with more specialized guns, but the few I've shot were plain off the shelf Rugers or Savages. If I could load a higher-BC bullet to a good velocity and shoot MOA from field positions, then I can see 600yds for deer with a 243. With 95gr Partitions, at 3000fps, shooting MOA, 400yds.

If I expected farther shots, I'd bring more gun, such as an '06 with 168 or 180 BT. Those are 600 yd combos. The great thing about 243s is that they are easy to shoot, and speed does kill. You don't need big or stout bullets to kill big deer when you can heart-shoot them.

Snidely,
If you keep moving your paper targets out progressively shooting 5 shot patterns at each distance, when you reach the distance where the 5 shot pattern has become about the size of a grapefruit, then you have found your maximum distance.

I wouldn't want to shoot at a deer in the field with a basketball size vital area with a rifle/load/scope combination that I couldn't hit a grapefruit with from a sand bag rest on a shooting bench.

From what I've seen, most people who can shoot 1" groups at 100 yards using a hunting reticle in a scope topping out around 9x, their group will get too big somewhere in between 300 and 400 yards. But just average hunters who use the same box of ammo for a decade will most likely not be able to do this well.

Your 95 grain partition ought to be able to penetrate well enough to kill with a hit at these ranges and beyond.

Under really good conditions I might go to 300 yards. But, I am certainly capable of missing a deer much closer.

Lord, you've described me to a "t", or at least a powder burn...

The "Complacent" shots are the ones I will miss...every time.

I am comfortable at 1/4 mile right now. Put 10 deer out there, and 10 deer will fall in their tracks.
I have shot one at 600yds, and it fell dead. I have shot them in the neck at 525yds. I only shoot a .243 with 80-87gr bullets. 26" heavy barrel. Topped with good glass.
I head shoot them at 200yds no problem. I may be a woman, but that .243 has killed a lot of whitetail deer. In the last 3 years over 150 deer have crumbled to the gun. We shoot all year long out of crop fields for depredation. I try all bullets to see what one works best for quick clean kills.
A .243 win is plenty gun for a deer, range depends on how far you are comfortable shooting.

Can't argue with experience! We westerners don't get that kind of deer-shooting experience in a lifetime.

I'll shoot a pig or coyote as far as I can see them, which is 500 yards on my place, but won't shoot at a deer at that range. I keep the deer shots mostly inside 300 to 350, and the actual average for the last 5 years or so is inside 150. Longest on coyote was 400 and on pig was 487, per the rangefinder. I'm using a 260 and 100 gr Ballistic Tips.

When around folks that talk about shooting deer at really long ranges, I tend to not believe them and I hope they are just BSing. I think that it's wrong to do that unless they are top notch shots, and people that shoot that good are rare.

My longest distance shot with my .243 Remington rifle was during an antelope hunt in western South Dakota. I'd climbed up onto stacked hay for a steady rest when I pressed the trigger. At the shot, the buck lay down and died. I paced it off to approx. 347 yards.

For this hunt, my ammo was by Black Hills featuring the 95 grain Ballistic Tip bullet. Deadly accuracy and performance.

Sherwood

We're talking deer with a 243...

With a good bullet as far as you can call your shot...

Only .243 bullet I used was with my Wby 240mag. Killed some big hogs with it along with long shots on deer.

I need to ask - are you using your bike as a game cart? or do you ride it out?

Hunting in thick woods with a partition or ttsx I'd say 400 max. In open country with a amax or Berger 700 in a mild wind condition.

I ride in they ride out. It's easy to walk along beside it and just keep it straight up. On flat land anyway.

Got it. Bad shots don't matter on a pig or yote, but they do on a deer. Makes sense( not much)

Vermin vs. game.

All vertebrates; no versus.

I really can't add much. Good advice here for the most part.

I've killed a pile of game, mostly whitetails with a 243. Never killed a deer past 294 yards. I'm sure the cartridge is plenty for further, but I've never pushed it. I find my 85 grain TSXs do fine at that distance-- never recovered one.

I take more gun on hunts where I anticipate a further shot might be taken, but honestly, wouldn't without a bipod or other very solid rest.

Haven't shot my Rem 700 .243 in years.. but despite the "book values" for velocity/drop, etc. I know it isn't as accurate as either the the 725 with 140 gr loads in .260 (rebarreled), or the M98 '06 (150 gr.) both of which group factory loads just over 2 inches (3 shot groups) at the 300 yards they are zeroed at for tundra caribou at the time. We are good to go to 500 with LRF....

The .243 did just fine on my first two Dall rams, however - the first at 50 feet, the second at 30 yards... And my wife's first and only moose at 80 yards. Plus several caribou and black bears under 200. I won't push it past 300, tho.

All of above with 100 gr factory loads...

1.7' 5 shot groups at 100 ain't all that shabby, given proper circumstance.... might have to try tweaking it somewith hand-loads one of these years- I've only had it since '73...

Ho Chi Minn would be proud of you. That is too cool.

Very interesting post and fun reading all the opinions from "great experience". The fact is that running the numbers shows that while the 243 is a great little rifle and it's very adequate for deer it does run out of energy. No mater what bullet you push down the tube, most run out of energy @ 300-400 yards. Energy is what kills the animal consistently. Everyone gets lucky once in a while but to kill consistently you need 900 lbs of energy +/-. That being the fact, unless you shoot really high BC bullets really fast the energy in a 243 runs out 350-400 yards with most bullets, some under 300 yards. So based on the numbers I'd question 400 yard + consistent success and definitely question hammer shots. Based on my experience( 40 plus years hunting) and the numbers I tend to agree with those who think 300 yards is the max.

That is the standard line for the 243: 300yd deer gun. I take a different view, because bullets matter a lot. There is a huge difference between a .3 BC Core-lokt and a .58 BC DTAC. Of course, you need a fast twist to shoot the DTAC, but it is going to carry that 300yd max to 600, or a more liberal 400 gets stretched to 800. That is what folks are doing, and how they are doing it. The headstamp is far less important than the bullet, powder capacity based on COAL.

for me Id say each individual shot will be a judgement call,mostly based on conditions under which the game is located at the time, Id have zero problem hitting a deer at 500 yards shooting from prone at a standing deer in bright sun light on a calm day, but under some conditions,like in the rain on a trotting deer,at a raking angle, Id be rather reluctant to shoot at over 60 yards. its not the rifle or caliber thats the only factor. I own a 6mm rem and a 257 wby , both excellent and accurate rifles , but there reasonable limits on what any rifle or its operator can be expected to do without potential shot placement issues in my experience.

Please explain how "ft-lbs energy" destroys tissue, and not placement, bullet construction and velocity.


Thank you.

Formidilosus, energy is what is needed, in the first place, to get the work of penetrating and destroying tissue done.

It comes from velocity (and mass) so saying that energy/velocity is required is, basically, quite correct, in my opinion.

The thing is that being necessary, it is not enough, so yes, you need a bullet of the proper construction offering a good balance of expansion and penetration.

And yes, you need to place it properly. In my opinion, as all bullets carry some energy/velocity, and all of them are capable of some kind of expansion and penetration, bullet placement is most important, there being no substitute for a well placed shot.

Saludos,

Alvaro

exactly, I've got a video of an antelope being taken at 930 yards with a 6mm VLD. no one told him that he shouldn't have flopped over and died right there. good thing for us he wasn't good at math.

Ok. Please explain how 900 "ft-lbs energy" destroys tissue. And does a solid destroy the same tissue that a varmint bullet does if they both have the same energy?

The 243 with a 105 is a completely different animal than a 243 with pretty much anything else lessor in BC.

I've been very impressed with the results of a 105 in mountain terrain with shots over 300yds, and do not/would not hesitate to take any shot at even the biggest bodied buck. Not far by any stretch of the imagination, but far enough that a poorly placed shot can lead to a very long and exhausting recovery process. I don't have a yardage limit, more of a common sense limit given the wind and terrain and what the consequences will be.

My opinion on "energy".

Kinetic energy as a measure of lethality, of and by itself, is useless.

To say that an arbitrary figure is needed to kill, without regard to placement, speed, or bullet type simply is not true.

There's more to it than just ft-lbs. The right bullet, moving along within its operating parameters and in the right place will work, regardless the mathematical calculation which incidentally favors speed.

This was 285 yds. One shot with the 105gr VLD.



This was 350yds with the same bullet/ same rifle.



This was 485yds with the same bullet/ same rifle.



This was 600yds with same bullet/ similar rifle.



this was 500yds with same bullet.



This is 400yds with same bullet.



Shot placement was great with all but then again that is what the .243 Win brings to the table.

Formidilosus,

I think that the explanation is in my previous post, already... "energy, being necessary is not enough... you need a bullet of the proper construction... there being no substitute for a well placed shot..."

While energy in itself will not do it, you will need energy to do it.

You need energy in the form of some mass -bullet, arrow, etc.- driven at some velocity... or please explain to me how do you expect tissue to be destroyed without using/spending any energy.

You think you deer will die by showing him a picture of a loded cartridge?

Alvaro

Momentum is what your talking about, Mass x Velocity. What ever pokes its way thru and makes a hole on both sides. Personally I am not a big hydrostatic shock believer...

I would not consider a shot over 300 yards in the rolling hills of middle Tennessee without a good range finder and very calm winds. That goes for any caliber rifle. The guns are capable but variables can be the trouble maker. I no longer want to try and trail a wounded deer thru thickets and creeks.
I should add that I am hunting for the years supply of venison and not trophies.
For smaller fields and woods hunting I take the 243 but if longer shots are expected its the 270 Win that goes with me.