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

We still use ours for deer, every season, as it is the smallest, legal centrefire we own !

Big or small, they all die, if you do your part.

Simple as that Pard!

My wife uses Nosler 95,grain Etips . Never had to trail one yet!!

Sure is. I hope you and your family had a great Thanksgiving Les. I've been teaching my girlfriend to shoot her 243 at distance. She's loving it! We were at the range the other day and I was going over the ballistic plex reticle with her. A guy sitting at the next bench over stopped shooting. And when she was done, said, "I wish I could get to that level of shooting, she's making it look too easy!!" She was tagging the targets using the holdovers from 100 to 400 yards.

She even got a little full of herself and started hitting the yote silhouette in the head. I told her, when she can make constant hits with boring regularity, then I'll take her jackrabbit and coyote hunting. That is where she is going to do her best learning!!!

I'll put my marksmanship skills up against anybody here and I still prefer a bigger hole in my muzzle for hunting in cover. My niece killed a nice 162 lb dressed 8 point on opening day this season with her .243. It killed it alright, one shot. Her and her dad did have a time finding it though as it went a good 100 yards in thick cover and didn't bleed. It was lung shot with no exit. I don't know what bullet was used but her dad is an experienced hunter and rifleman and wouldn't have her using varmint bullets.

The 80 wasn't the problem. Seen too many killed with an 80 grain Sierra Varminter SBT. They get unalive very quick.

I have seen some of my fastest kills in a 243/6mm with an 80 or 85 grain bullet. Next up would be a soft 100 or 95 grain Partition which has a softer front core than most realize.

Like you say, it's the Indian not the arrow.

I’ve killed a ton of deer and coyotes with a 243 using a maximum charge of IMR 4350 and 95 grain Nosler Ballistic Tips. I made it look so easy it convinced several others to go to it. I never tried factory loads so the people having trouble it might be the bullets they are using.

A guy I used to converse with on the old Huntamerica boards was a professional game manager with 20 years experience responsible for culling 600 deer per year. He used a .243 for awhile and then abandoned it. Said it didn't produce good blood trails consistently enough to suit him. Of course I'm sure the campfire crowd are all better marksmen and trackers than he was and kill far more deer as well. I filled my buck tag last Saturday morning with a 165 grain bullet fired from my .30-06. One shot, off hand, 50 yards, instant dead. I'm amazed it didn't break my shoulder and in fact I didn't even notice any recoil. Apparently my shoulder just isn't quite as tender as most here so I'm having a hard time seeing a downside to using my old '06. If it hadn't been raining I would have been carrying my .30-30 and the buck would have been just as dead but my '06 is stainless/synthetic so it got the job that morning. I agree the .243 will kill deer and is a good choice for little girls or old men with dainty/tender shoulders who have a hard time with recoil but I don't fit either description and have no trouble placing my shots when using something bigger.

Aside from 3 inline muzzleloaders, three 243's have accounted for more vension donors in the freezer here for me and my boys, 10 to 15 per year, than any other firearms we have. Good all around dependable meat gathering workhorses. Tree stands, still hunting, open fields...10 to 400 yard shots, don't matter. Paste crosshairs and send it.

Blackheart, OK You don't like the .243, it's good you know your limitations, I think it was Elmer Kieth that said do your hunting and tracking before you pull the trigger, Blood trails are not all that wonderful no matter what you used to shoot a critter, I prefer a good tracking dog they save a lot of time playing Indian Tracker, We shoot about 550 Whitetails and about 250-300 Exotics a year, not all with a .243 but more than a few, we rarely have to track a critter but when we have to it's the shooter not the Cambering or bullet used it's 99.9% the shooter. YMMV Rio7

So DRT from an 06 is more dead than drt from a 243 or 6mm??

Got it.

I shoot a 243 or 6mm a lot not because of recoil but because I don't see much need for more just to kill a 200# animal.

Shot quite a few with a 270, 30-06, 7mm Mag and 300 Win mag. Can't see where they were any more dead.

And you're shooting off hand, in the woods, at varying angles with obstructions between you and the deer ? I doubt it. And I did not say I don't like the .243. I've kept one around since the '80's and have killed a pile of deer and assorted varmints with it. In fact, I'll be taking mine to fill some doe tags on a farm next week where I'll be shooting from a stand in fields or open hardwoods. It has it's uses and limitations.

You can't count on DRT with any of those cartridges barring CNS hits and you can't get CNS hits if you don't have a clear path to put a bullet high shoulder, head or spine. With lung/heart shots ALL of them will produce runners but SOME of them will produce bigger, more consistent exits providing more consistent, heavier blood trails.

Blackheart, We do a lot of Spot And Stock hunts, and usually carry shooting sticks for our selves and our hunter, but some shots are off hand in heavy cover, Whitetails during the rut, we do a lot of Rattling and moving,we do not spend a great deal of time sitting in a blind unless our hunter has limited mobility or the weather is terrible, Every environment is different, we use what works best for us as I am sure you do. Good Luck Rio7

For me the .243 limitations start at around 600yds because I don't shoot past that. For culling does I shoot a .223ai and I don't remember when the last one ran off.

I killed a bunch with .22 rimfires when I was a kid. Doesn't mean it was the best deer rifle going and I certainly wouldn't lung shoot deer in thick cover with one and expect to have an easy job finding it.

Blackheart, What ever your drinking or smoking tonight is a little to much your comments are not making sense, come back when your sober. Rio7

I don't drink or smoke. Your comprehension appears to be lacking. I've killed deer with centerfire .22's too, .222, .223 and .22-250. I don't care for them in heavy cover either but they're fine for hunting fields or open woods.

We had a great thanksgiving, I hope you and yours did as well buddy. It looks like she’s learning fast with her .243, that’s one of the great things about it. I bet she doesn’t have any problem taking game either! 😉

I paired my son with my 243 in '98 when he came back from the Marines. He immediately killed a whitetail doe. 85 gr X bullet and she didn't run. Hit the left front shoulder and we found it in the right ham. I know that is impossible here at the fire. But she was hit with a 243 85 gr X bullet and was DRT! RZ.