Anyone hunt whitetail and mule deer with .243 win?

[Alberta shooter]

I took my whitetail buck this year with my .243. Always hunt with .308 but hadn't christened my .243 so figured why not. Perfect heart shot and he literally did a 1/2 back flip. didnt move 2 yards. Have also hit 500 yard steel routinely. 95 gr nosler ballistic tips with h414 keep the holes touching at 100 and knock deer out.

[Jpl]

Anyone have experience with the .243 Winchester deer season xp? Love the price but wondering if it's too good to be true...??

[Homes Outside]

Used a .243 for my first Whitetail hunt this past year 100 gr Hornady American Whitetail. Dropped on the spot. Couldn't be happier.

[J0HN_R1]

Originally Posted by Jpl

Anyone have experience with the .243 Winchester deer season xp? Love the price but wondering if it's too good to be true...??

Reports seem to be positive, but from cut-away pics it looks like the jacket is pretty thin...

Especially compared to a Nosler Ballistic Tip.

[teledogs]

I have 13 rounds of Winchester Power-Points 100 gr available for free to any of you 243 shooters.

Send me a pm...

[J0HN_R1]

Originally Posted by teledogs

I have 13 rounds of Winchester Power-Points 100 gr available for free to any of you 243 shooters.

Send me a pm...

You should give them to JPL, with the new rifle he would benefit the most.

[Double Dropper]

Smack and track, just my opinion.

[58thecat]

Originally Posted by Double Dropper

Smack and track, just my opinion.

Your aim is off if thats the case.

[dale7637]

Originally Posted by Double Dropper

Smack and track, just my opinion.

I would disagree as well. Any of the oodles of deer I have shot have been dead on the spot, or very close to it.

Mind you, I haven't pushed mine much further than 200 yards on deer.

[josh_beeks]

shot my first whitetail ever with a .243, barely ran 50 yards, double lung shot at 70yards. was about 6.5yrs old 144" 4x4, strong thick last week in november rutted up whitetail. 243 is deadly in that range, just be smart with your shot

[MitchP]

Love the .243! I find it the nicest caliber to shoot. Just remember it takes a shooter and a horse shoe to hit a target at a 1000yds, but it takes a hunter,patience and a conscience to ethically harvest a animal!

[Duramaximos]

FWIW, I'm firmly in the minority on this topic. I gave up on my 243 after having to deal with some very long runners. Many in excess of 100 yards that required hours of excessive tracking with very little blood trail to work with. I felt like it was only a matter of time and I would fail to recover a deer.

My experience was based on approximately a dozen kills. Believe it or not the deer that ran the furthest were double lung hits with ttsx or tsx.

I think the 243 is a marginal cartridge and might be justifiable as a dual purpose coyote/deer gun at best.

If you're set on 243 I'd suggest the heaviest Nosler Partition available, and stay away from ttsx. I like ttsx but not for this calibre.

In case you're wondering, i'm not a magnum fan boy in fact I only changed up to 6.5mm. So far so good.

Flame away! Haha.

[Sitting Bull]

I love my .243. I have only taken 1 mule deer with it but I love the light recoil . If I wasn't so addicted for different calibers and styles of rifles, I would only own 2. A .243 and 30-06 or .308. But since I cannot be content with only one or two, I must give in to my desires.

[roper1]

Bought a beautiful HB Sako .243 off a guy who was tired of recovering deer the next day. The gentleman had a lot of nice pictures & beautiful mounts of game taken with larger calibers............

[Smokinyotes]

I have seen many deer shot with the 243. It kills them but sometimes you can hardly tell they are hit. I have watched them run 300 yards before dropping. I prefer something with a little more punch.

[fitzy]

I've only taken one deer with my Mossberg .243 I was shooting whatever bullets I could buy at the local hardware... I want to say 80gr winchester silvertips. I was out pushing push and it's the lightest gun I own. Shot a dry doe through the top of the neck at 100 yards dropped her obviously. I prefer my 30-06 but my father in law only ever hunts with a .243 I can't imagine how many deer he's taken I've watched him take 2 moose with 2 shots each.
It's a very capable cartridge in the hands of a good shot.

[Walkin]

Something I've noticed about the .243 is that with different bullet weights and types the P.O.I. changes drastically; as much as 5" at 100 yd. with my gun.

Maybe because of the large difference in speed going from light 58 to 95 or 100 grains???

Anyhow, something to keep in mind and be sure you sight in with the load you will hunt with.

[winged1]

Over 20 years shooting 100gr, and recovered every deer squeezed on. Longest would be about 250yds. Daughter has inherited it and has a single harvest. I'm stepping up to a 270 this year just because the moose are everywhere and my priority is due.

[Double Dropper]

I love the comment "mind you Ive kept it under 200 yards" ....never had an issue. or maybe your aim is off. It is rare under hunting conditions that conditions and yardage is "ideal" thats why I dont believe its enough gun. I have shot some hog deer ( body mass ) with multiple calibres and have seen enough to realize big bodied deer deserve a little more gun if...if your wiling to push the shots to 250 plus yards. You can kill an elephant with a 257 Weatherby Magnum but should you and is it enough??? Real deer calibres start with 6.5mm and up with the exception of some magnum drivers (257 Weath ) JMO hey the 243 makes a great kids and ladies rifle. LOL

[Cowtown guy]

243 is more than enough. I've witnessed it drop some very large bodied mulie bucks down in grain country out to 400 yards. My uncle has hunted exclusively with one since the mid 60's. My Dad shoots one as well and it has smashed some very big deer also.
Uncle shoots whatever cheap box of ammo he can buy in 100 grains. I load 85 TSX bullets for the one Dad shoots.

[honda610]

I always thought bigger is better. Then I bought a .243 for my nephew. bang, trot, flop. His first buck was in a snow storm 200 m shot and a 20 yard recovery. 80 gr nosler ballistic tips pushing 3400 fps. I will say there was no exit. So a bad shot may have made recovery hard without an exit channel to aid in tracking. My buddy borrowed my .243 and shot 4 deer between him and his girlfriend 2 seasons ago. No tracking required. His buck was a large bodied 4x4 fell were he was hit. I had some 100 gr Hornady interlocks in my loading locker for this year. Another 2 deer no tracking required. On a side note I did shoot the biggest bodied deer of my hunting career this year with my 7mm remington and with no heart or lungs made it 120 m further into the Bush. Something to be said for massive energy transfer. Shoot a good bullet and hit the vitals. Heck a .270 win is only 130 gr I doubt a deers lungs can tell the 30 gr difference. My .2 cents

[WatermelonBoy]

I know a guy with a great 243 setup with a good long range scope. Shot a whitetail buck 2 seasons ago at 720 yards. Although i agree thats pushing the limit it did the job well

[tchardy1972]

Originally Posted by Double Dropper

I love the comment "mind you Ive kept it under 200 yards" ....never had an issue. or maybe your aim is off. It is rare under hunting conditions that conditions and yardage is "ideal" thats why I dont believe its enough gun. I have shot some hog deer ( body mass ) with multiple calibres and have seen enough to realize big bodied deer deserve a little more gun if...if your wiling to push the shots to 250 plus yards. You can kill an elephant with a 257 Weatherby Magnum but should you and is it enough??? Real deer calibres start with 6.5mm and up with the exception of some magnum drivers (257 Weath ) JMO hey the 243 makes a great kids and ladies rifle. LOL

257 weatherby as a minimum? Good god man. Deer are soft creatures that are very easy to put down. Cartridges like the 257 Roberts or 25-06 are more than enough to kill a deer on the spot. The old 30-30 has probably killed more deer than anything else out there and it is less gun that the lowly 243 Winchester. You have either never tried a 6mm or you need more practice in marksmanship.

[NPhillips]

Originally Posted by fatboyz

I've got one and both daughters use them. We have shot both mule deer and whitetails with no issue. We all shoot 95 grain Hornady SST's.
Here is a whitetail my youngest shot.

And a Muley my oldest shot this year.

very nice

[Fordevr]

Originally Posted by LKILR

My girlfriend shot a cow elk two weeks ago with .243 win 100 grain hornady out of a browning micro Midas. One shot 275 yards hit slightly high but it dropped in her tracks dead.

If it dropped dead in its tracks, the bullet wasn't high. 😉

[catnthehat]

Originally Posted by Fordevr

If it dropped dead in its tracks, the bullet wasn't high. 😉

I'd say it was bang on!
Although I have good friends who hunt with it and like it I never did warm up to the 243 for a couple of reasons, even if it was developed by one of my heroes!
Cat

[wind drift]

My first deer rifle was a Ruger 77 tang safety in .243Win. Killed a bunch of mule deer and whitetails with it, with no issues. I still have it. This thread is making me feel nostalgic and wanting to hunt with it again this fall.

[Lefty]

Originally Posted by Duramaximos

FWIW, I'm firmly in the minority on this topic. I gave up on my 243 after having to deal with some very long runners. Many in excess of 100 yards that required hours of excessive tracking with very little blood trail to work with. I felt like it was only a matter of time and I would fail to recover a deer.

My experience was based on approximately a dozen kills. Believe it or not the deer that ran the furthest were double lung hits with ttsx or tsx.

I think the 243 is a marginal cartridge and might be justifiable as a dual purpose coyote/deer gun at best.

If you're set on 243 I'd suggest the heaviest Nosler Partition available, and stay away from ttsx. I like ttsx but not for this calibre.

In case you're wondering, i'm not a magnum fan boy in fact I only changed up to 6.5mm. So far so good.

Flame away! Haha.

I believe you on the x bullets. I really like the 130 grain ttsx in 27 caliber so far, but the lighter 100 grain ones in 25 caliber did some very strange things in a deer and antelope. Double lunged an antelope at about 60 yards and it went a long way, double lunged it again and it still went a ways again. In 40 years of seeing people hunt deer through elk and moose with the 243 I have a couple thoughts. My cousin that I hunt with has shot all his moose and elk with it over the years. Sometimes one in the lungs and down on the spot, other times a few shots as just not much penetration in the lungs. I would not be comfortable using it for anything larger than deer. It is a caliber that people are able to shoot well and is great from that perspective as shot placement is the most important thing. On the other hand on some well placed lung shots we have had to trail deer a long ways to find them. When recovered we found only one lung had been taken out and the off side lung intact. This using the same bullet that dropped an elk in it's tracks. Sometimes light fast bullets do not perform as consistently as heavier grain bullets do.

[Tracker34]

I find the 243 Win. does just fine. Have not had an animal run much over 20 yards if at all. I have shot a few deer including a couple in the 170+ class out to 400 yards. This past fall, shot a yearling bull moose at 440 yards. 100 gr. sierra gamekings handloads.

[Redneck 7]

Originally Posted by Jpl

Anyone have experience with the .243 Winchester deer season xp? Love the price but wondering if it's too good to be true...??

I used the Winchester deer season xp this year in my 30-06, it was a consistent zeroing job and it groups nice, I'd tell you but I just shot one shot 2" high at 100 and left it. It tracked great while I was adjusting my scope. I shot a beautiful buck at 160 yards with it in Saskatchewan this year. Longest deer kill and was an awesome experience, one shot, both lungs and passed through, deer went 30 yards from initial drop from impact.

My main deer gun is my .243 I use open sights and that's why my deer kills aren't far out etc. I call them in easily to 40 yards and bang. .243 has never let me down, brother took his first deer with my 2nd .243 I own. Great caliber for deer, doesn't matter what it is if it's a bad shot, it's a bad shot. Shoot was comfortable for you and make good shots.