Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Predators and Varmints I got a .243 and I'm going on a predator hunt(for Mounting)

I am going on a predator hunt in Texas for bobcat and coyote. I would like to mount both of them.
I have a .243 for a rifle. I saw some posts where it said this caliber tears up the hide and fur. Since it's just a 2 night hunt It seems silly to buy a new rifle.
So, can I make my 243 work for his hunt.
Could it be possible to shoot a non franigible heavier deer bullet.
Maybe a basic remington pointed soft point in 80 grains.
Any ideas it recommendations is much appreciated
Thanks so much.
W:)

If you reload you can easily make it work. I've used the 55 Nosler ballistic tip and the 58 Hornady vmax with H4895 loaded to 3600 fps* and they will not exit a coon size varmint if shot broadside through the ribs. If you hit big bone it will probably be different. Any of the light bullets work if you reduce the velocity enough.
FMJ might be the key if you want taxidermy quality specimens though.
*I went back to look at my reload notes and the velocity was 3600 fps.

I should've added I don't reload.
W:)

Silly to buy a new rifle for this hunt? SACRILEGE here! Someone get some rope and a fire started!!!! Doesn't Re Load? Double hot fire!!!!

Do you have or can you get a 22WMR? They can be had inexpensively and often are ideal for that class of game.

There are a couple of companies that load ammo with the Barnes Varmint Grenade, which USUALLY blow up inside of an animal, but if they dont', the pelt damage will be quite severe.

I think you have a PERFECT excuse to buy a 222, 22 Hornet, or other adequate and fur friendly rifle. 17 Remington is often cited for this purpose and MART from here has used one a great deal for furbearer hunting.

Find a freind who will help you load up the right load. If you lived near here I would invite you over. Just bring the supplies. Handloading and Reloading are fun hobbies in themselves.

Good Luck! Sounds like a really fun hunt!

I've called and shot a lot of coyotes over the years. My experience with the very light 243 bullets and high velocity has been just the opposite. When I lived in the lower 48 I skinned coyotes for several of my friends who called a lot of coyotes as well as handling my from trapping and calling. I got to see first hand what worked and what didn't. I've seen a number of coyotes that looked like they swallowed a hand grenade after being hit with a 55 grain 243 Ballistic Tip. I expect the results would be worse on the light and more fragile foxes and cats.

I'd go heavy (95-105 grains) and moderate velocity if your saving the hide for a mount. There's no guarantee that you won't get some foxes or cats with big exit wounds but the odds are in your favor. The bigger bullets just don't seem to tear them up so bad, especially if you can keep the shoulder out of the shot. You'll have an exit wound but it should be minimal, one inch or less. I think I'd also give the FMJ's a try. I really never had much success with them in 22 centerfires on coyotes but in a little larger caliber and on the lighter foxes and cats, they might work alright.

Mark makes a good point on the 22 magnum. Its a great round, along with it's little brother, the 17 HMR. Both will work on called in predators and pelt damage will be minimal to non-existent.

Good luck. Predator calling is a great thrill.

Mart is right on target with this advice (although i don't care for--or recommend--fmj pills on bigger canines such as yotes).

with bigger calibers, i've even shot coyotes with nosler partitions, and they work very well indeed.

guys will tell you it's too expensive to use this pill on yip dogs, but you have to think well beyond that, to the ultimate purpose--the pelt--or in your case--the mount.

Hi Vel,

I'm right with you on the FMJ's although I've never tried them in anything larger than 224, nor did any of the guys bringing me coyotes ever use them. I've always been curious if the larger diameter FMJ's would offer any better performance than the 224's. The times I've used them in 224 they were uninspiring to say the least.

I have had good luck with the old Speer 80 grain spitzer back when I had a 6mm Remington. I don't have a broad cross section of fur bearers to draw from with that bullet but of the couple dozen fox and coyote I shot with that bullet, most only had a 1-1.5" exit wound. That's acceptable when it comes to sewing up hides. Unfortunately for the OP no one loads that bullet commercially and in fact Speer has discontinued it.

I guess for the OP I'd recommend getting a box of either Remington 100 grain Core Lokts or Winchester 100 grain Power Points and shoot a few coyotes with them. If they do a good job then try them on a cat. Cat's take a little more work and I'd hate to turn one inside out because I hadn't tried my bullets out on coyotes first.

Good Gawd, man.......at least go somewhere that the critters grow fur.....and don't use hand grenades on stuff you want to save.

Thanks guys. Its an add on to a desert mule deer, javalina, and free range mouflan hunt in west Texas.
W:)

Just use the Factory Loads with a 100 gr deer bullet or better yet use the factory load with barnes txs or nosler partitions and try for lung shots only and stay away from major bones

True dat! Our critters wear summer clothes through the winter! Kind of like all of us!


DMc

This!

For deer I will use my 300 win.
Bringing 2 rifles.
Thanks.

woodsie,

I have shot bobcats and coyotes with my 243 using 95 gr Nosler Partitions and it has been one caliber sized hole in and one caliber sized out. The best part is that the same bullet will work for deer and javelin, unfortunately I have no experience with mouflon so no advice there.

drover

Ditto. Same experience of small entry and exit holes on coyotes and bobcats with the 95 grain Nosler Partition -- as long as you keep the bullet away from major bones. You wouldn't want to see the crater that bullet caused when it hit pelvis however.

Most of my calling shots are very close at slow moving or stationary critters so I can often place the shot. That's not so likely in your hunt I'd guess.

The risk of a big hole in the hide is there with any bullet in .243 unless maybe it is loaded way down slow. If using that rifle and wanting a minimally damaged hide, I would opt for a big heavy bullet that doesn't expand much.

Re FMJ: A friend and I tried FMJ to save hides when fur hunting with my 30-06 and his 300 magnum many years ago. We had too many runners for me to use FMJ again.

Mart,

i didn't have very good results with fmj, and gave up on them in short order.

however, my friend bob s. used them almost exclusively--primarily the 50 gr remington metal case pill in .224, but he also shot a considerable number of yotes with the .308 win using the 147 gr fmj pills. in professional fashion, he brought them all to bag--but had many runners in his predator hunting career.

though i prefer shooting yotes with .224 cal, i have used bigger calibers, up to and including .270 win. around about 1974, i discovered that the nosler partitions were the best pills in the larger calibers--very unconventional, but they worked very well indeed...

if i recall correctly, i believe shawn heyden uses the remington 80 gr pointed soft point in his .243 rig, with great results.

I used a few of the Remington 80 Core Lokts back when I had a 6mm. Seem to remember they weren't too awful hard on the coyotes. I only used a few though because the Speer 80 grain was such an accurate bullet for me.

I have had too many runners with 224 FMJ's to ever trust them. I'm not convinced the 243 FMJ's would do any better although to be fair I will try them. One prolific caller up here uses nothing but 80 grain FMJ's in a 6mm PPC and reports good results. I'm still more comfortable with a non FMJ, even if it means sewing a minor exit wound.

You mentioned the 270. I had a guy who used to bring me coyotes to skin and the only rifle he had was a 270. After a few years of putting his jigsaw puzzles back together I convinced him to buy a 22-250. I never saw anything take a coyote apart like a 270 with 130 grain bullets. Partitions weren't available in factory ammo back then or I would have had him try them.

I think I'd go with the Partition and see how it worked. Moderate MV is a good idea.

While this was taken with a 25-06, it is close enough to see what you are looking at damagewise.
Hornady 100g spirepoint 2800 fps 40yds

[img:center]bobcat 2013 014 by weimsnks, on Flickr[/img]

[img:center]bobcat 2013 004 by weimsnks, on Flickr[/img]

[img:center]bobcat 2013 011 by weimsnks, on Flickr[/img]

I'd try to find some factory loads w/Barnes X's, the heavier the better-Muddy