Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting The @#$&* 243 Winchester

The boys have always had deer run after being shot with 243 very few dropped in their tracks.

We have both been losing deer and having trouble finding deer. Last year my youngest shot a big mule headed doe at about 140 yards. I was watching through my 10x Swaros and seen the bullet her. The doe ran 100-120 yards and we never found a drop of blood. The bullet hit just behind the shoulder slightly below center of her chest.

How far behind the shoulder? Get much over 3" and you're getting into liver only territory. Straight up the leg bottom 1/3 centers the lungs much better.

When I shoot for heart/lung I try for that. If they are behaving and under 100 give me a high forward shoulder/neck shot for instant kills.

Never been a fan of the cartridge my 15 yr old son has one he’s shot 2 deers with it and I used it to kill a 20” 8 pt out of all 3 deers 7 shots were used

A Partition is made so that the front expands fast, pretty violently actually.

Usually smearing all of the front portion away. The rear part, behind the Partition is what punches through, usually a small exit.

Bullet?

Placement?

I have killed probably 20 with a 243 or 6mm. Dad killed 20 or more with my 6mm, 85 grain Sierra Varminter.. My pard has killed over 50 with the 243. We never noticed them lacking provided they were shot where they were supposed to be shot and with a semi soft bullet.

100 grain Gamekings and 85 grain Sierra Varminter SP gave the quickest kills with a 95 grain Partition close behind.

80 grain Sierra Blitz Varminters are rough on em too.

Smaller calibers and railroad spike tough bullets on an animal that weighs 250# at most makes no sense.

Literally almost touching the shoulder (1/2 to one inch) behind the shoulder.

If they were blowing legs off, gut shooting or shooting them in the azz it’s not the bullets fault.

I can’t figure it out why the poor performance unless it’s simply bad luck. Nosler nots going to put thousands of partition seconds out that are no good. Can you imagine hundreds of unhappy people posting on the net.

I would expect better blood trails from a 22 WMR than what we have been getting.

It's a Partition in a smallish caliber. Don't expect bloodtrails from a .24 caliber hole. Partitions are a small diameter when expanded, it's their design.

Get that bullet into meat and/or bone for instant or very fast kills.

I don't shoot hoping for a good bloodtrail, shoot em where they live, you won't need trails.

Shoot thru that shoulder and disable the pump. Game over.

Pretty much. Pic has aiming point higher than I would want for a heart/lung shot but you get the point. Like I said, if they are within 100 yards and behaving I would be about 2" higher and to the right for an instant kill.

Wait for the 95BT to go on sale at SPS and pick some up. Shot lots of deer with them out of my 243 and never had to shoot one twice, never lost one either.

I have a pair of 243’s with 100g NPt’s 2nds that have accounted for 14 elk. I’ve been the shooter or standing beside the shooter for all of them. One cow ran 80 yds, another cow ran 40 yds and required a second round, everything else died within 30 yds, none of them fell down and died on the spot.

I’ve been using almost exclusively Partition, Ballistic Tip, and Accubond 2nds for 15+ years and have never seen any evidence of inferior performance.

Nosler is adamant 2nds are simply blemished bullets, and the unblemished bullets from the same production run go out the door as 1sts.

There is always a chance a production run of bullets with some kind of flaw made it out the door. But that would be based on bullet performance, rather how far the critter ran.

I have always been a armpit shooter when possible, but I’ve witnessed enough elk, deer, pronghorns, and one moose shot through both shoulders with an exit and still run a ways that I have never bought into the concept breaking shoulders stops critters on the spot.

With the recent batch of 2nds you’re using has the range the deer are being shot changed? I ask because I have noticed at hair burning range Partitions seen to open a lot quicker and penetrate less.

That sounds like a lung hit and no big bones or spine broken. I would expect that deer to run 100 yards or so. That high I wouldn’t expect much blood trail with anything.

95 gr ballistic tips 100 gr fusions 100 gr pro hunter

All shots less than 100 yds not impressed
The 20” 8 pt I used it on took a 95 gr ballistic tip thru the boiler and just stood there 25 yds looking 😳one more he tipped over.My boy is dead eye dick and shoots like pops he’s jumping on the 270 band wagon or 308 😉

How many hit the deer?

Did you like the Prohunter performance better than the performance of the "tougher" bullets?

Never been a fan of tough bullets and a .22 or .24 caliber on deer. Get that bullet turning loose and it flat kills.

That 95 BT is what some call "tough", the exact reason I haven't tried em.

Want a bullet that flat kills deer and most die where they stand, get some Sierra Gamekings. Yeah they are rough on meat but you don't have any rodeos and you see em go down in sight, none of this following blood BS.

Yesterday just before last light a friend at my camp popped a buck with a Game King, a 150 grain launched from a 30-06 shooting Federal ammo. Range was about 80 yards I think. Quartering on shot angle, bullet entered the onside shoulder and was found under the hide on the opposite side ribs. The jacket was peeled well back and what remained of the core was still stuck in there. It was tough on the impact side shoulder, but there was still some good meat for sausage remaining. The buck dropped straight down.

It's the Indian to a far greater extent than the arrow. Shooters are often at fault when things go awry, in my experience, but the bullet gets blamed.

I've never seen anything shot well with a 243 not die. I've never seen a Partition fail to kill an animal shot in the front half, though some animals seem to want to live more than others.

As far as deer-only hunting goes, I generally label the 243 a "big gun," with a 223 being more of a standard. I often see deer shot with 30 cals that run farther, sans spine hit.

In my experience, there is nothing wrong with Nosler seconds in terms of accuracy or terminal performance.

I've shot deer broadside through the lungs and quartering away through the lungs breaking the offside shoulder with the 85 grain BTHP Game Kings and had them run 75 - 80 yards more than once. There are no absolutes. The one shot quartering away into the off side shoulder the bullet did not exit and left no blood trail. Not the kind of performance I prefer when hunting thick cover.

I have shot a handfull of deer using the 243. All 100 grain slugs, Federal blue box factory loads, handloaded Hornady 100 btsp and Speer Grand Slams. Never lost one, never had a DRT, usually run about 50-75 yards and VERY skimpy blood trails. I still hunt with one on occasion as I like the gun but can see the advantage larger calibers provide. YMMV

I'll sometimes get a headscratcher of a terrible blood trail, even with a good exit location with a 7mm or .30cal bullet, but those are the exception, rather than the rule. When they do happen, it's often because of some tissue clogging the hole temporarily. I've had my share of hands and knees searching for blood when trailing deer shot with 6mm bullets, and while the Partition is my #1 pick there, I still had tougher trailing on average than when I used a larger caliber. Nothing is absolute, but trends are trends.

I'll also add that "dead is dead" for sure, and most lung shot deer are going to run anyway, but searching for pinpricks of blood by flashlight on pine needles in a briar thicket always sucks. I like to keep that stuff to a minimum by using a bit more rifle for hunting deer. If talking about critters of opportunity, like a hog or perhaps a deer that pops up while you are doing chores, just use whatever you've got handy, be it a .243, an AR, or even a shotgun.

The last deer I shot through the lungs was a buck from a few weeks ago at maybe 70 yards. At the shot, he ran right at me and bounded by, perhaps 10 yards from me. Looked a bit spooked and alert, but not mortally wounded (like an archery-hit lungshot). He went about another 40 yards into the brush and I heard him crash. Very minimal reaction on the deer's part. The rifle was a .35 Whelen shooting 200gr Fusions and the woods were certainly painted red for the entire run, but he still went about 100yds. Guess he didn't know he'd been shot by a "big gun".