Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Realistic .243 range on deer?

Depending on the twist/bullet, deer at 800 is easily done with a 243. Headstamps don't kill things; they are not very relevant. What is relevant is how far the bullet is going to be accurately placed on animal vitals. If the bullet is stubby, or not going very fast at muzzle, it is going to be difficult to place in vitals very far out there. Farthest I've shot deer with 243 is about 400, where it was still carrying plenty enough energy for elk. That was using a 105 Amax or HPBT. I'd trust the HPBT on any broadside elk, btw.

Personally, for myself, I'm only good to about 600 on deer with my 243AI and a 105 Amax, given little wind. I don't shoot enough past 600 to be confident in my placement.

Farthest I've killed a deer with that one (that I know of for certain verified with a LRF that is) was at 494 yards. That one was a rather large muley, that took one from the last rib and exited in front of the off shoulder, and since the shooting is the fun part, when he managed to slowly get mostly back to his feet I shot him again through both shoulders. That one took about 2" of leg bone with it out through the hide on the off side.

I think that I likely did kill some deer a bit farther out than that as a youth, given the holds that I was told to use by my dad when I started out with a 6mm Remington though.

Why do they need to fall where they stand? Sometimes I get that, but I've trailed so much stuff through s texas brush and never had an issue, I don't much get it.

Of course you do have the right to drop em where they stand if thats what you need to make you happy, but as another said a double lung shot does not mean you are a bad shot...

Thanks guys...I am not comfortable shooting much past 300yds with a small gun, on unwounded game, like the .243, but that's "me", as I've said often I am a very poor judge of the wind "out there". Yeah, up to a 100, maybe 200 "if" I have good indicators I'm pretty fair, but past that, ugh! ha My main thing is how the little round ( and the 6mm Rem) did further out on the lighter stuff. I have no problem head/neck shooting hogs, but deer and such have to be pretty close to me, under 200. I also find that I don't shoot the lighter rifles well enough in the field to be that comfortable past 350, in this case this .243 is in a Sako Forester, what I and others call a "walking varminter" or some such. If I hunted out in the prairie/big open spaces as often as some folks do, then give me a tricked out "Sendero" or similar heavy rifle, but I don't and find I much prefer the "light Sporters". Where I grew up in East Texas I only saw 4 guys who used .243s, 1 bolt gun, 2 BARS and 1 Savage 99E ( horrible spongey trigger!) I saw many, many Mod 742s in 6mm Remington and one old .244 bolt gun. 100gr was the common bullet used. I have read years ago about a writer named Byron Dalrymple who shot and recommended shooting Hill Country deer with the 80gr and high lung shots as the quickest .243 killer. For sure, out West here, there are gobs of .243 factory rounds available!

Jim: you asked for experiences. FWIW, Last week I took a nice blackbuck. 180 yards. 243FWT, 100gr Nosler Solid Base (pre BTips), launched at 2900 fps. Just behind the shoulder, dropped like a sack of potatoes. Pass thru

I always thought the Nosler solid bases were great bullets.

For many years I considered the 243 o be marginal on deer. Yet, when I got to thinking about it, it was apparent that it was the shooter, and not the fault of the cartridge. I've not used it on deer a lot, but I've killed several with it. I'm a big believer in bullets on the heavy end of the spectrum, rather than the lighter. With that being said, given a scenario where the bullets are pretty much equal in performance, there is a no reason a 243 shouldn't be just as good as 257 Roberts, or a 250 Savage.

As for as a choice for coyotes go, I shoot the 58 grain VMax at about 3775, and it will absolutely give a coyote a dirt nap in a millisecond. I also use a 22-250, and as good a choice as it is for coyote hunting, it simply can't compare to the 55-75 grain bullets in the 243.

I have a buddy who has taken more than a dozen elk, some really BIG ones, with a .243 shooting 87gr HPBTs. Add to that more than 100 deer and several caribou, and I think you get the picture. The .243 is the only rifle he's ever owned, and he says that it's not the caliber, it's the hunters ability to place the shot that is the deciding factor.

Same with your .243 and deer. I think the real question is how far can you shoot your rifle and hit a pie plate with the first shot under field conditions?

Roger that!

350...? I kill deer without issue at nearly twice that with good bullets in the 223. Headstamps don’t mean anything, bullet do. Want more damage- shoot different bullets. There are 6mm bullets that will make most gag at the wounds left at 600 yards.




As for distances on deer with 243s, it’s the same as someone else pointed out- minimum impact velocity. That combined with bullets designed to/do cause massive tissue destruction means animals die really quick.


As for me-

115gr DTAC- 597 and 620 yards

105gr Hornady HPBT and AMAX- multiple to 500.

105gr Berger- multiple to 500.

95NBT- more than a hundred between 300-427 yards.


Placement, bullet design, impact velocity.

The old 80 grain cup and core killed quick, left a huge mess, much wasted meat, huge exit holes, sometimes as big as a softball, I was so glad when we finally tried the 100 grain bullets!

But I'll take an 80 ttsx and some of the longer cup and core like the 105 scenar etc..

With old loads IE my 105 speeds I had no issues out to 600. I've no clue how far I'd feel good with these days. Probably quite a bit further actually. I'm comfortable to the long side of 700 with the 308 and probably further but I just have not had time to confirm data enough past 800 with it yet, so I"m pretty sure I'd be good past 800 with it, and I'm pretty sure I'd be good to 800 plus or minus with the 243.

5o Years ago, my Dad built a rifle for me while I was in Vietnam. I thought I wanted a 264 Win Mag, but he thought I needed a 243. I killed my first mule deer with it at 325 yards. The 105 Speer SP didn't really expand. The bullet channel was like a pencil hole, but with complete pass through. The good thing was the placement, as it broke a couple of opposing ribs, as it took out the top of the heart. He took one shaky step and keeled over, DRT. Since then, I have used it on a fair number of woodchucks, whitetails, muleys, and coyotes, and never had to look very far from where the animal was hit to find it. With modern bullets, I don't feel undergunned at all with a 243 for deer sized game.

Self imposed @ 250 metres, but that far is fairly rare for me.

Boreal forest ='s 50 - 100 metres maximum, unless your hunting a clear cut, or hydro ROW.

Further than 250, get closer, it's what hunting is all about !

IMO it's because it's very deserved.....I've hunted with a lot of folks that use a .243 for deer and it's proven itself again and again....it's a splendid deer rifle and to 400 yards if you know what you're doing.

If you are RIO7, I believe its about 1067 yards. LOL.

a .243 will shoot 250 easily.

And much farther.

-jake

Always enjoy these kinds of threads, it's interesting to read what other hunters and shooters think of different rounds (calibers) I live in a different hunting environment than most here on the fire. we are required by the TP&W to take off number of whitetails off the ranch each year, the number is based on our game survey which we are required to do each year before hunting season.

Our average year the number will be around 400 deer but we have had years where we needed to take 550 deer and other times we have had to take 350 deer. let me tell you after the first 100 deer this turns into work, an accurate, reliable, and deadly rifle is very important we don't have the time it takes to spend all day looking for a wounded deer, we keep tracking dogs that help us get wounded deer out of the brush in minutes, we rarely lose a deer. We try not to take what I call low percentage shots, meaning low light, bad angles, and to far, most deer are killed inside of 300 yrds.

Over the years I have seen deer shot with everything from .204 to .458 lott, deer are not hard to kill with a reasonably well placed shot, it's up to the hunter to do their job and do it well if they want to eat backstrap. I use a .243 that's my choice for daily use, the .243 is not the end all be all caliber but a good .243 is a accurate reliable killer. P.S. just my 2 cents worth Rio7

Rio, that must be a Texas sized ranch. That's more deer than some counties here kill in a year. The only thing in common that we might have is the wounded deer thing, as due to the small size of farms here, it can be easy for a wounded deer to cross a property line.

I have a 300 acre farm, and there are 7 different properties surrounding me. There's a lot of deer hunting done on 3 of these properties, with 2 of them being about 15 acres in size, and the hunters all hunt within a few hundred yards of the property line. Nearly every year, I get a call asking permission to come on me and look for a deer. Most of it is poor shooting, and simply shooting a deer that they know is likely to fall on my side of the line. I have quit giving permission to one landowner because I know they purposely hunt the line, and were shooting deer on me. It is doubtful that a large caliber gun would do any better than a 243 in preventing a deer from going a few yards across a property line under these conditions.

I've shot more than a few deer with the 243, and seen many more shot also. As with any other caliber, it will vary from deer to deer as to what happens. I've shot the biggest majority of mine with a 270, and had more DRT kills with it than anything else. But, you're going to shoot more deer in a year than most hunters will in a lifetime, probably even two lifetimes, so you're experience is very telling.

JamesJr, Our ranch covers parts of 3 counties, and the adjoining ranch's are bigger than we are, so we don't worry much about property lines, if a deer did leave the ranch before we killed it we can call or neighbors and get permission to recover it. that's only happened once that I can remember, they have called us once that I can remember.

We have very good neighbors. Rio7

When a 243 will do this with Nosler accubonds at 500 yards, in a 20 mph gusting wind...
That's a business card I'm holding above the marks.



Furthest I've taken a whitetail with the 243 has been 425-450 yards. They're rather small around here. I took a nice sized doe whitetail in Missouri across a cornfield at a measured 387 yards on a cold, crisp, calm morning. That doe field dressed 145 lbs by the processor's scale.

Placement and practice and bullet selection is the key. With the first two being the most important.