243 for Whitetails?

[Madman1]

So I know shot placement is everything... anyone with comments on a 243 being too small regardless? Looking to get my slightly built lady her first rifle.

[Hawkeye]

White tails are not that big or hard to kill.
A .243 is ample, with a solid hit.
My son shot a nice muley with a .243, blew through the heart and lungs, bang flop, dead right there.
Make sure it fits her well; if she has a small frame, you might consider a youth sized stock.
Good luck in your quest (nice to hear she is on board with hunting).

[CanuckShooter]

I've taken mule deer and black bears with mine, more than adequate.

[Eagle Trapper]

First year my ol lady dropped a buck in his tracks with one, last year he ended up getting away on her. So 50/50 with her. 243 thus far, btw she was using a 100gr. Hornady American white tail, maybe because it was a canadian white tail it didn't work

[crownb]

I have harvested 12 bull moose, 2'bull elk and countless wt and mule deer with mine, then I passed it down to my wife and she is 3 for 3 on bull moose. Her first moose was 279 yards.

[Hunter1602]

Love my .243, taken deer with no issues.

[ForwardBias]

If your worried about it go 260Rem, or 7mm-08.

[58thecat]

Originally Posted by Madman1

So I know shot placement is everything... anyone with comments on a 243 being too small regardless? Looking to get my slightly built lady her first rifle.

243 for white tails yes but I would round up to the 7-08 for more versatility in bullet weight with hardly any noticeable recoil.

[edmhunter]

With the proper shot placement an arrow will kill any critter in north America, so will a 243 and at way longer ranges!

[russ]

Originally Posted by edmhunter

With the proper shot placement an arrow will kill any critter in north America, so will a 243 and at way longer ranges!

Wonder how a .243 would do on a buffalo?

[edmhunter]

Originally Posted by russ

Wonder how a .243 would do on a buffalo?

Wonder no more hehe Personally I would go with a 30 caliber.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgUGFjY2Rqo

[russ]

I've seen enough of the .243 to know that there's definitely better choices.

[Icouldeatababydeer]

Bought my wife a 243 couple years ago, it is all I have used since we bought it. Perfect deer gun!

[Rage.0]

Killed a lot of deer with my .243, will kill many more with it. Highly Recommended.

[russ]

Originally Posted by edmhunter

Wonder no more hehe Personally I would go with a 30 caliber.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgUGFjY2Rqo

missed that when I was replying lol. The .243 is fine for most things, I have one in a BLR, very nice gun but I grew up using a .270 so I do tend to lean on it more.

[ATE]

A .243 can kill anything and a lot of guys have used it very well, but in my opinion it is a bit small and I think a lot of animals have run away wounded that would have been stopped with a slightly bigger gun. I would go .270 minimum, especially with a new hunter, then if the trigger get's pulled a bit soon while the animal is slightly quartering or you hit it in the neck it won't go as far.

[fish_e_o]

i used to bug a friend of mine who went out for deer with it. then he shot one...

it dropped on the spot and the partition went clean through

we then turned the corner and i shot another deer with my 300wsm that ran 80 yards

[DiabeticKripple]

.243 is perfect for deer.

i went with a 7mm rem mag so i can shoot anything.

[Grizzly Adams]

Originally Posted by russ

I've seen enough of the .243 to know that there's definitely better choices.

x2 from personal experience. Top varmint caliber in my book.

Grizz

[north american hunter]

No personally experience with the. 243 but I am sure it would work great

[jayquiver]

I bought my deer gun late last year, haven't shot anything with it yet. Wanted something smaller and more fun to shoot then my 7mm Rem Mag and to get my daughter (14) into shooting. She had no problem shooting it at the range.

I considered the 243 but went with the 7mm-08. Better bullet choices, recoil isn't much different (probably cant even tell the difference) and future proofing myself, incase I want to use it on moose or elk at close range.

243 is fine for deer, 7mm-08 could be a better choice. I love the 7mm-08!

[Icon]

My sons and I have taken many deer with the .243 win.

The only thing that I didn't see mentioned yet would be bullet selection. You will need a premium heavier bullet for the deer. There are smaller bullet selections out there, but those are mainly varmint loads.

[dmcbride]

Originally Posted by Icon

My sons and I have taken many deer with the .243 win.

The only thing that I didn't see mentioned yet would be bullet selection. You will need a premium heavier bullet for the deer. There are smaller bullet selections out there, but those are mainly varmint loads.

X2, Just stay away from the varmint rounds. I have used the 100 grain core-lokt by remington and they are just as dead as using a 300 win mag.

[Madman1]

Bullet selection is important for sure, I would prob set her up with 85 gn Barnes TSX

[Prairiewolf]

A .243 is actually fun to shoot - I'd say it will lead to better practice and accuracy when the big game comes calling. A 7-08 is good too, if you ever wanted to go shoot more than deer though.

[adogwiththumbs]

.243 is a perfect deer calibre. Only caution I would give you, be very careful on not hitting shoulders. Quartering towards you shots can be difficult because of that. Patience must be exercised is all.
With my .30 calibres, hitting a shoulder is a little wasteful, but otherwise irrelevant (mostly). Hitting a whitetail square on the shoulder with a 95 gr bullet from a .243 will often be followed by chaos.

My wife has shot a ton of calibres/configurations.
She settled in to a .243 for 99% of her hunting.
The other 1% is her .270 wsm.

[gobigorgohome]

I personally never have shot a deer with a 243, however, my dads best friend for the last 20 years until he passed always shot a 243. Remington 788 in 243 and dropped many, many deer both mule deer and white tail deer. Longest shot was a hair over 300 yards. Dropped instantly on a nice large white tail buck. But typically he shoots at 150 yards and never had an issue. However for moose, he always shot a 7mm mag

[Rage.0]

Originally Posted by adogwiththumbs

.243 is a perfect deer calibre. Only caution I would give you, be very careful on not hitting shoulders. Quartering towards you shots can be difficult because of that. Patience must be exercised is all.
With my .30 calibres, hitting a shoulder is a little wasteful, but otherwise irrelevant (mostly). Hitting a whitetail square on the shoulder with a 95 gr bullet from a .243 will often be followed by chaos.

My wife has shot a ton of calibres/configurations.
She settled in to a .243 for 99% of her hunting.
The other 1% is her .270 wsm.

Hitting a deer square on the shoulder with any caliber rifle is a bad decision. I grew up with a .243 and have never had a problem recovering a deer. I have moved on to .270 just for the versitility of handling all big game and come deer season everyone else wants to use the .243

[The Flint&Fly Guy]

I have shot and killed 12 whitetails with a .243, none of them escaped. so, yes, it does kill them just fine. but in my experience it will kill them but not stop them or knock them over, so on a calm deer with a perfect shot your deer may well fall right over, but on a deer that's moving, or alarmed, or your shot is still in the vitals but not quite perfect, you may well end up with a longer tracking job. of the 12 I've shot with it two dropped on the spot, 3 fell within 50 yards, 4 ran 50-150yd, and 3 ran over 200yd. also 5 were one-shot kills and the rest took 2-3 shots, one might have done the job, but in my mind if a deer has ran 30+ yards it needs another shot, generaly. so in conclusion it works decently, but if I were to use it on big game lots, or bigger game on a regular basis I would up the choice to a slightly larger caliber. hope this writeup helps you to make a wise choice and happy hunting!

[Xbolt7mm]

Originally Posted by The Flint&Fly Guy

I have shot and killed 12 whitetails with a .243, none of them escaped. so, yes, it does kill them just fine. but in my experience it will kill them but not stop them or knock them over, so on a calm deer with a perfect shot your deer may well fall right over, but on a deer that's moving, or alarmed, or your shot is still in the vitals but not quite perfect, you may well end up with a longer tracking job. of the 12 I've shot with it two dropped on the spot, 3 fell within 50 yards, 4 ran 50-150yd, and 3 ran over 200yd. also 5 were one-shot kills and the rest took 2-3 shots, one might have done the job, but in my mind if a deer has ran 30+ yards it needs another shot, generaly. so in conclusion it works decently, but if I were to use it on big game lots, or bigger game on a regular basis I would up the choice to a slightly larger caliber. hope this writeup helps you to make a wise choice and happy hunting!

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