Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting .243 for Mule Deer

95g partition will make a believer out of you, quartering coming or going!

I've killed a lot of animals with a .7mm Wby Mag I used to own. I have killed black bear, Russian boar, elk (2 or 3), deer (maybe a dozen), and antelope (2 or 3). Using Weatherby's 154 gr bullet, I got more than my share of one-shot bang flops, than one morning, I put one through a young doe (drought hunt) that was quartering away about 150 yds. The bullet went though without opening up. It took two more shots to kill the poor thing. Based upon that one experience I would have thought the caliber/bullet combination to be worthless on deer. Occasionally one-off things just happen when hunting.

BH63

I grew up in Utah. A place that had LARGE mulies when I was a kid.

While some of my friends parents gave them their first center fire hunting rifle. I had to buy my own. Most of these kids were given .243's. I bought a M77R in 30.06.

Now, here comes the truth about any rifle used for hunting. A well placed shot is critical. So, whether you're a fan of using a .22-250 for mule deer, or a .30-378 wthby, the key is a well placed shot.

A bigger cartridge might help with an advantage of poor placed shot and increase blunt force trauma, but a poor shot is a poor shot.

Practice, practice, practice. Chose a caliber that you can shoot well, not flinch due to recoil and a proper bullet style for the game that is being chased, and you should do well.

Just my opinion.

Good luck !

^
That is very true. However, sometimes even a well-placed lung shot (or at least as good as can be expected in field conditions) can miss bone and simply poke a tiny hole though the lungs without opening up.

I have hit quartering mule deer at 150 yds with the 154 gr Wby round and have had football-sized holes in the off side rib cage, yet that deer I mentioned above only had two small holes through her lungs.

That is why I like shoulder shots, but with those it is important to use enough gun to break the near shoulder and continue on through the heart/lung regions.

Apparently from the posts on this thread, the .243 with a 95gr bullet has enough juice to do that.

BH63

PS. Personally I would rather be shot in the chest with a .22 short than a .44 Mag, but that's just me.

I'd rather not be shot through the heart by either. Either way, you're screwed.

Dropped a nice buck using that bullet at about 100 yds, drilled both shoulders just like my 260 did the other that crossed the same trail. It dropped in sight.

Shot a few others using that bullet in a 6mmBR.

FYI, that bullet is my GO TO bullet in any 6mm/243 round. It will penetrate and expand at most sane distances, has the accuracy and downrange energy/speed retention to work well, and it does.

Hunt with confidence. Stoney...SLG888 has layed MANY deer/hogs low using that bullet in his 243. Cannot go wrong.

There is no doubt that the .243 is a killer.

How is it for blood trails given a hit in the lungs? Or maybe as compared to a 30-06 standard deer load in 150 or 165 with a chest cavity lung shot?

Probably hypothetical because of so many variables but in thick woods a deer even well hit can be tough to find sometimes. I have seen deer run almost 100 yards after a lung hit ( and heart for that matter) 100 yards of bush can seem to swallow up a fatally hit buck if the blood isn't decent.

Sam, I've sectioned both and I can't tell a darned bit of difference between the 90 and 95, as it relates to jacket thickness. The 90 gr NBT is a very tough bullet, so much that on broadside shots at deer I can't tell the difference in exit wounds between them and TSXs on close shots from my WSSM or vanilla 243. That's not usually the case with most cup and core bullets, in my experience. Using a max load of I4350 in my Tikka 243 Win, I put one through the shoulder and offside leg joint on a good sized buck a few years ago at around 50 yards. After that I decided not to worry about its construction.

Found a picture of the 90 vs 95 grain...

I no longer own a .243, but took a few mulies with one. I like the 100-grain Interlock, or 100-grain Partitions. The only thing that lacked a time or two, was a big blood trail-but that is not a game changer.

I have a 6mm Rem that I have used on over 100 white-tailed deer. I shoot the 100-grain Hornady at about 3000 fps and it has been as good as any rifle out to 400 yards ( I have not shot one farther than that). I use it primarily for deer depredation hunts for my neighbor.

I would not pick either one as my rifle, if I invested a lot of money in an out-of-state hunt, but they will kill. The weight issue is ridiculous. A .243 weighs just as much as any other short-action rifle.

The blood trail thing has been my experience with .243s

Some leave no blood whatsoever with a good hit, and my last one left a trail Stevie Wonder could follow in the dark.

Looks like the only difference is the bigger tip on the 90...probably where that other 5 grains went....

You're probably right.

2 years ago I had the chance to go hunt wild donkeys back in Peru.
Used a CZ550 in 243 and the Win Silvertips (95BT).
The donkey took hits at 2-300yds uphill, it was a 400lb animal determined to live, despite being dead on the hoof - 1 tight behind the shoulder and 1 broke the femur at the pelvis as he turned and run uphill. Finishing shot in the neck/brisket with it bedded, at steep angle.

Based on my limited experience I would not hesitate to use it on mule deer or whitetails or shooting a big donkey like this one again. Blood trail was easy and finishing shot was to avoid suffering, though lung shot had already done him.





This is me with my white ass on my knees


Big Ass Hoof

I will add that the finishing shot was done from the same position as the initial shot and only head/neck was exposed with animal bedded. "Blood trail" was seen upon hiking further uphill for recovery and not needed as he dropped 20-30yds from first hit.

Bigger tip, bigger hollow point = quicker/more dramatic expansion.

I was thinking the same....

when I am feeling under gunned with my .223 I stop by the house and get my .243 A.I. Rio7

Yep. My .243 is now my "big" gun.