Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles .243 WINCHESTER AND THE WHITETAIL DEER

I am not a big fan myself. Kills them dead but always had to track them.. Used the 06 before and had always dumped them where the stand.. Had better results with the 257 Roberts than the 243. But with the bullets they make today may preform better..

Use enough bullet.

First elk for the boy, the tenth elk for the 243 and 100gr NPt's.
Since then he's killed another elk--both of them at 300+ yds.

15 Tennessee whitetails have fallen to my 243s. I prefer Hornady 100 gr interlock flat base bullets over a charge just under max. Powders preferred in my rifles would be IMR 4350 and Varget. The flat base bullets are slightly more accurate in my rifles. All have been 1 shot kills and 7 dropped in tracks. None traveled more than 50 yards. Shot placement is most important with 243. Meat loss is minimal and that is important since venison is our primary meat for the year. I am after the tender 2 year old, not the tough 7 yr old that you will seldom see in Tennessee.
None of the deer were shot at over 200 yards. I self impose a 250 yard limit on shooting deer with 243. There is considerable energy drop off after 200 yds and I will only fire when I am confident of fatal heart cavity hits. The caliber is capable of long range accuracy but not with the energy of larger calibers.
A wounded deer traveling hundreds of yards might be on private land where there is no permission to hunt.

For 48 years; Rams, deer, pronghorns, and a big bunch of predators fell victim without incident. I'll never badmouth a 6mm.

IME my .243 kills quicker than my 7mm-08 & 30-06. My son and I both have a .243 and load 100gr Corelokts. We never had a reason to change. All of my shots have been under 100 yards. My son shot a doe in NC at a longer distance and his buddies asked what he was using after looking at the damage. He told them "my dad's load" (100gr Corelokt, 46gr H450, and a Win primer) and they told him to tell me to back it off some. The damage to my deer were "eat up to the holes".

Back to factory ammo. For the last many years, I have had exceptional success with accuracy and terminal performance with the cheapest (blue box, these days) version of Federal ammo. This is especially so in my .308. Half to five eights groups of three are the norm. Reports from others about different calibers, makes me want to try them.

Jack

Dave,

I had a buddy that swears by the 100 Core-lokt (and another that swears by the 100 grain Pro Hunter). I will have to try both before the season goes out.

Dave,

Forgot to add that my buddy that shoots the Core-lokts said he believed his 243 with Core-Lokts killed deer faster than any other rifle he had ever used except a 300 Win Mag with 150 grain Core-Lokts. Interesting that you think yours kills them faster than other larger calibers too.

Ha! I got ya!!! I'm getting 3415 fps out of my 243 with the 80 gr TTSX and 46.8 grs of Hunter.

Pretty much my experience, too. I've had more bang-flops with a 243 than with a 223, 30-30, 270, 7-08 and 44 mag. I can't explain it, but it just works. Most of my dozen or so 243 kills have been with a 100 gr. Partition or a 100 gr Sierra Game King.

After using a 243 for 20 years with so much success I have to wonder why I ever spent the money on a 7-08.

Mine likes Barnes 85s. Very effective on deer.

243 winchester = death and destruction

You guyre killin me, geting the 7mm-08 ready to go and now all this 243 talk. Have a bunch of Hornady and Speer RN's at 100 and 105 grains that I bet would do the trick

Funny how the .243 got badmouthed 30 yrs ago. First time I heard of a guy useing it on deer I thought the old man was nuts. Went on to say he has about 20 bucks in northern Wis and none went anywhere. Used a Hornady 87 gr bullet . Even got a 300 lb bear with it. Might be in the bullets these days but it was a 30-06 for deer cause a 30-30 was just on the small side. My only experience with a .243 was 5 yrs ago when my son, Chas used one on a youth hunt . I was nervous it wasn't enough gun but it was all he could handle. A big doe broadside at 60 yds . He shoots it farther forward than the front shoulder and it went 50 ft. I was very imporessed. We used a Speer 100 gr boattail.

80 GMX and 80 TTSX from my 243 for deer and so far it's been great.

The 100 grain Partition in the 243 and the 115 grain Partition in the Roberts have both given me similarly outstanding results. I have more experience with the Roberts, but when I have been able to take out at least one shoulder it's DRT with either. That's very important to me in the thick dark woods and fading light conditions I normally hunt in.

Over the years I have used 30/30 30-06 7mmRM 280 Rem 7-08 Rem 8mm Mauser 303 British and the 243 Win on whitetail. I have had deer run off with no blood trail on everyone of those calibers at one time or another and in every case it was because I hit high. My longest run on a deer I shot was with a 30-06 at about 70 yards and I took the heart out. The dang thing ran a full 100 yards on a dead run. Now days I don't care what I shoot anymore, I just use the round within it's capabilities and put it in the proper location.

Last year i took my 1st deer with a 243. i had zero doubt in the rifle that evening when I went out for the hunt. My 243 is a Sako LH bolt action and the rifle/load combo shoots 1/2 moa. It did a wonderful job on a 3x3 white tail buck. I couldn't be happier. Normally I am a 270/7mm Mag/300 RUM user. This year I'm leaving the big gear home and will be hunting with either my 243 Sako or my 6mm Ruger #1.
i would love to take a nice mulely with the #1.
good hunting to all this fall,