Jason Broom
Well-Known Member
I've seen more bang-flops with a 243 than any other cartridge, when the right bullets are used.
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.243 Win or 6.5 Creedmoor?
- Thread starter Osceola
- Start date
Gravel Road
Well-Known Member
Today I got to see the results of a poacher head shooting a doe at less than 20 yards with a 243. She dropped right there but lived for about 5 minutes. He hit her right above the nose as she was looking directly at him. I figured it would have blown out the back of her head, but no exit at all and really not much damage. Maybe it was a varmint bullet? The wildlife officer thought it was a 22 mag but I had heard the shot and said it was a centerfire (confirmed 243 after he was caught). Anyway, I thought it was an interesting result.
Mennoniteman
Well-Known Member
So I'm assuming that his .243 got took from him (hopefully)
Gravel Road
Well-Known Member
No, he just got a ticket. Not sure, but the game warden guessed it would be around $200 plus court costs around $100 (depends on the county). Not much of a deterrent, but better than nothing. I'll check once it goes through the county court and see the final results. He could have been charged with wanton waste too, but the warden thought it might have been hard to prove and the guy said he was going to return later and retrieve the deer.
Berserker
Member
I just saw Hornady 6.5 creedmoor for $21. So not terribly expensive, but 243 is more common.
I had a buck come in this year, never stopped, shot walking away. Never made that shot before, but glad I had 45-70.
There is a fad with some people to go with small calibers. Fine if you can wait for perfect shot, or wide open spaces, where you can find the deer easy.
If you load your own, either will work. If stuck buying store bought ammo, 243 is probably way to go. 6.5 is trendy now, and is bigger than 6mm.
People will tell you I shot X deer with small caliber, and deer didn't know. But again, if you lots of chances to shoot, and can wait for broadside shot, or got farm fields or wasteland to find it.
If you look at most deer calibers in small rounds, your only getting around 3k fps. Might as well go with 150 grain 30-06.
I had a buck come in this year, never stopped, shot walking away. Never made that shot before, but glad I had 45-70.
There is a fad with some people to go with small calibers. Fine if you can wait for perfect shot, or wide open spaces, where you can find the deer easy.
If you load your own, either will work. If stuck buying store bought ammo, 243 is probably way to go. 6.5 is trendy now, and is bigger than 6mm.
People will tell you I shot X deer with small caliber, and deer didn't know. But again, if you lots of chances to shoot, and can wait for broadside shot, or got farm fields or wasteland to find it.
If you look at most deer calibers in small rounds, your only getting around 3k fps. Might as well go with 150 grain 30-06.
Mennoniteman
Well-Known Member
In Pennsylvania they'd've taken his gun, ATV and his pickup truck and his hunting license plus around a thousand dollar fine.
Gravel Road
Well-Known Member
That would be perfect as far as I'm concerned.
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Mennoniteman
Well-Known Member
That's the upside of the PGC, very aggressive. The downside is that they are that aggressive that if you shoot a bear legally they might come out and test your soil, and say that it has minerals in it, and confiscate your bear and fine you, this actually just happened to an innocent friend of mine. They pretty much use Gestapo tactics against hunters/ landowners.
Berserker
Member
I can't stand DNR. Traitors to this country. Violating 2nd and 4th Amendments. I don't care if you got deersking lamp shades, I am not calling them.
If they were not such jerks maybe, people would call them. But they do not want to be sportsman's friends.
My great aunt called, 70s, to say she found deer without horns. They gave her gried and accused her of killing it. Morons too. Why would she report it?
One followed snowmobile tracks to property, and let himself into home, while woman was breast feeding. Should have been shot. Husband rode on county rode. First big fricking deal. 2nd take some pictures. No warrant, just walked in. Wasn't fired.
In IL humane society took in a fawn. They staked them out. Then barged in swat team style. Could have knocked and asked them. They then killed the fawn.
Screw the DNR.
If they were not such jerks maybe, people would call them. But they do not want to be sportsman's friends.
My great aunt called, 70s, to say she found deer without horns. They gave her gried and accused her of killing it. Morons too. Why would she report it?
One followed snowmobile tracks to property, and let himself into home, while woman was breast feeding. Should have been shot. Husband rode on county rode. First big fricking deal. 2nd take some pictures. No warrant, just walked in. Wasn't fired.
In IL humane society took in a fawn. They staked them out. Then barged in swat team style. Could have knocked and asked them. They then killed the fawn.
Screw the DNR.
sagittarius
Active Member
Yes, a .243 will zap deer dead no problem. But, as someone mentioned on another thread, I’d like a bit more guarantee of an exit wound. Someone in the family will always be carrying a .243 during gun deer season, might even be me. Don’t need a 30’06 or Magnum cartridge on deer, but if you shoot it well, by all means use it if you want to. I often carry a 7mm-Mag Abolt with a stock BOSS muzzle break, kicks like a .270, and is a pleasure to shoot. 7mm-08, 6.5 Creedmoor, .270, 280,and the like just do a bit more without over doing it. JMHO
Berserker
Member
22 will do the trick, if you can wait for a shot, and don;t have to worry about tracking. New expanding bullets are a lot better than years ago.
This was my first year not making broadside or facing shot. People in deer country, can wait for tomorrow.
IMO an able bodied man should not be using these on deer. Unless a long shot and he thinks recoil will be to much for him. Unless yo gain speed needed for long shots, why? Or worried about flinching on long shots.
This was my first year not making broadside or facing shot. People in deer country, can wait for tomorrow.
IMO an able bodied man should not be using these on deer. Unless a long shot and he thinks recoil will be to much for him. Unless yo gain speed needed for long shots, why? Or worried about flinching on long shots.
Osceola
Active Member
I understand the temptation to do it, but any single observation, or any single hunter's lifetime of observations is completely inadequate from a statistical credibility standpoint to have any meaning when it comes to the effectiveness of a deer cartridge. Too many variables. Any time someone says, "Every deer I've ever seen shot with this round was DRT. On the other hand, I once saw a deer shot with this round run 1/2 mile and when we recovered it there was no exit hole...", this tells us nothing about the effectiveness of either cartridge.
It seems to me the best way to pick a round is to use the collective wisdom of the marketplace and choose a cartridge from the list of top ten best sellers, or if you prefer a less common round, pick one that has similar ballistics to one on the list. This list changes from time to time with some cartridges joining and others falling off for one reason or another, but every list I've ever seen has included the .243 Winchester. That many hunters can't be wrong unless they're all coyote hunters.
It seems to me the best way to pick a round is to use the collective wisdom of the marketplace and choose a cartridge from the list of top ten best sellers, or if you prefer a less common round, pick one that has similar ballistics to one on the list. This list changes from time to time with some cartridges joining and others falling off for one reason or another, but every list I've ever seen has included the .243 Winchester. That many hunters can't be wrong unless they're all coyote hunters.
Berserker
Member
I bought mine for coyote. But so far just paper.I uThat many hunters can't be wrong unless they're all coyote hunters.
sagittarius
Active Member
NO doubt. Energy wise, the .243 is usually the lowest on the list.It seems to me the best way to pick a round is to use the collective wisdom of the marketplace and choose a cartridge from the list of top ten best sellers, or if you prefer a less common round, pick one that has similar ballistics to one on the list. This list changes from time to time with some cartridges joining and others falling off for one reason or another, but every list I've ever seen has included the .243 Winchester. That many hunters can't be wrong unless they're all coyote hunters.
Mennoniteman
Well-Known Member
One big reason that the.243 is so popular is because it's just downright fun to shoot one. I like my.300 mag for it's performance on big game like moose, and I enjoy talking a few shots, but that's enough. My .243 is my favorite centerfire to get out of the cabinet to do some plinking or hunting, because of less noise and recoil, but still has reasonable power to hunt just about anything in the US. And if you downright enjoy shooting a rifle you will be shooting it well. The ideal solution would be to have two identical rifles, with a lighter one like the.243 that you enjoy to shoot, and a heavier one for elk and bears. A bears vitals are protected like an armored tank and IMO a .243 is bit light for bears.
Osceola
Active Member
Perfect rifle battery?:
.22 LR for practice/plinking
.243 Win for deer/coyote
.338 Fed for elk, moose, bear
Gravel Road
Well-Known Member
Osceola
Active Member
I just kind of threw this out there for fun. I'm not sure what I would pick for a devoted elk, moose, bear gun. A good ol' 30-06 would be a good choice. I've always thought it was overkill for deer, but a great elk round.That would make some room in the gun safe
j-bird
Well-Known Member
I shot a 243 for the first time the other day. My buddy received it as payment for about 2 hours of work. Brand spanking new Weatherby Vanguard with a 2 to 7 Leopold scope on it! You can imagine the questions I asked about the type of "work" that was done for a payment like that! Sweet little gun - shot very similar to my 22-250. .243 is the legal minimum deer cartridge here. I would think the off-the-shelf availability of the 243 would be greater than a 6.5, and that will affect most no hand loading shooters. I told my buddy that as long as he put it where it needed to be it would be fine. Not so much of a "brush" gun like the slug gun he was using....not even close. He was pretty tickled with it as well. I told him that 243 would be better suited fro hunting my place with more wide open spaces and longer distance shots, but to keep that slug gun handy should he want to hunt deeper in the woods.
