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

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.