Is .243 sufficient to dispatch deer?

[Speedfish]

Hello,

is .243 sufficient to discpatch Southern Whitetail Deer?

Thanks,

Speedfish

[idsubgun]

Hell yeah! I've shot deer with it and so has probably 100,000 others. It's one of the most popular deer cartridges. I've seen elk taken with a .243 before.

BTW, the deer i've shot were Mulies and they are a damn sight bigger then whitetails.

[justashooter]

100 grain soft point spitzer to 250-300 yards in the boiler room. works quick. 80 grain hollow point in the haunch or on the shoulder blade at 350 yards. no good. capische?

[idsubgun]

While a 100 to 200 fps faster, my favorite cartridge for deer, varmints, etc., is my 6mm with 100gr. bullet. Drops deer like a truck hit them.

[alphadog58]

Had one, shot a few whitetails with it, all good hits, but they all ran 75-100 yards after. Sold the rifle. Call me lazy, but I likes 'em to drop in their tracks. My .35 Whelen does it every time.

Larry

[Hole Puncher]

When I first started hunting deer at the age of 14 I was using a .243. I wasn't very good. I hit a female mule and had litterally blown her rear left leg off at the knee...

My father and I tracked her for about 2 hours, in which my dad found and hit his buc.

We finally found the female. My kill shot hit her in the neck... Needless to say, the only thing that was holding her head on was her skin!

At that age and seeing what high velocity rounds do to big game, I somewhat lost the thrill for hunting...

.243's do just fine.

[JoeLad]

Originally posted by idsubgun
While a 100 to 200 fps faster, my favorite cartridge for deer, varmints, etc., is my 6mm with 100gr. bullet. Drops deer like a truck hit them.

Which makes me wonder why the military isn't using such a round.
One shot stops on ragheads in Iraq or A'stan would be a good thing.

JoeLad

[georgestrings]

I've owned a .243 for quite some time, now - and it's become one of my favorite calibers - flat shooting, mild recoil, and most rifles in .243 are pretty accurate... I use mine mainly for coyote hunting, and long distance varminting - but feel it is plenty good enough for deer out to 250-300 yards - given good shot placement and a 100gr properly constructed bullet... I know a few people who sucessfully hunt deer with a .243, and they swear by them - to me, it's the best "dual purpose" cartridge available....



- georgestrings

[dougjones31]

Originally posted by alphadog58
Had one, shot a few whitetails with it, all good hits, but they all ran 75-100 yards after. Sold the rifle. Call me lazy, but I likes 'em to drop in their tracks. My .35 Whelen does it every time.

Larry

I have had the same experience. Tried a 243, 25-06, and 6mm. None of them delivered the instant dropping power that I wanted. I hunt on the edge of swamps, thick briars, and other places that a deer will instinctively run into. I do not ever want my deer to make it that far.

I admit that the load is the key factor in these calibers, but I have yet to find a load that works. I can find a good load for under 100 yards, but then the deer walks out @200 yrds and the load is not optimal for the range and the deer runs after being hit. Of I find a load that works at 200 yards and it blows right through the deer that is under 100 yrds.

High velocity and small caliber just do not work all that well for deer. Unless you make head shots everytime.

7 mm is the minimun effective caliber on whitetail deer(150 gr). Thirty Cal is the best. The 308 with a 150 gr nosler ballistic tip has been my favorite for Southern Whitetail Deer under 200 yrds. If I am hunting a soybean field then I use my 300 Win Mag shooting 190 gr Nosler BTs. If I am hunting thick brush then I use my 45-70 guide gun(350 gr). They do not run with that! I have been wanting to get a 35 Whelen though. I really like that caliber.

[Sig220]

Not to stir the pot, but a .243 is an effective deer cartridge. Shot placement is the key. I used to hunt our 100 pound whitetails with a .223 (legal here) and as long as I did my part with proper shot selection, I had no problems with it.

We are using two .243 for deer in my family now, by my wife and kids. They have all killed deer with the cartridge w/o problems........again they used good shot placement. The 100gn weight is the family favorite and shoots well in the Remington 600 and the Remington 660.

I think it all boils down to shot placement for a clean kill on whitetails, not caliber. Just my .02 worth, your mileage may vary.

[derek huffman, azexarms]

As a high-school-aged lad I used to knock the stuffing out of PA Whitetail with my trusty Rem 788 .243Rem bolt gun.

They never went too far.

D.
AZEX

[dougjones31]

I beg to differ. I have shot a deer in the heart with small calibers and they ran 100 yards! The bullet missed the ribs and puched right through the heart but did not explode it. The deer ran and bled out.

I have yet to hit a deer in the heart with a 30 cal where the heart did not split open causing the deer to drop instantly. I am not a ballistics expert, but I have had years of experience shooting deer and looking at the results of differnet calibers. I am not talking about 3 or 4 deer a year....I have shot 50 in a year before. No, not illegally....on a farm where we had a permit to shoot the deer. I have seen every kind of shot placement with every caliber made. I have even shot some deer with a .50 Cal.!

All of my experiences have taught me that the good ol' 308 give you the best versatility when shooting Deer. Sure you can kill deer with a .243, but more deer will run than with a 30 cal.

If you shoot the deer in the neck and hit the neckbone then the deer will drop instantly with any caliber, but shooting at the neck at long distances is not the best choice most of the time. I will shoot at the heart/lungs at distances over @100 yrds. You may hunt an area that all your shots are going to be short range where you can shoot neck shots.....if that is the case then you are fine to use a .243, but some of us hunt areas where you have to make longer shots.

[Lobo]

"7 mm is the minimun effective caliber on whitetail deer(150 gr)." You're kidding right??? I'll take my .270 over any .30 cal for whitetail. I have never had them not drop like lightning from a properly placed shot!!!!!

[dougjones31]

OK....I consider a 270 to be 7mm. I guess it is 6.9mm so sue me.
I was talking about bore size.

I have a personal distaste for the .270. I had a remington 7400 that froze shut and cause me to loose a 12 point buck one year. I know it was not the calibers fault, but I have avoided buying another .270. I have killed deer with one since, but it was a friends gun. I did have one run @ 50 yards that weekend, but I shot a little high.

[W.E.G.]

Originally posted by alphadog58
Had one, shot a few whitetails with it, all good hits, but they all ran 75-100 yards after. Sold the rifle. Call me lazy, but I likes 'em to drop in their tracks. My .35 Whelen does it every time.

Larry

I shot a 100-pound whitetail right through the heart at 40 yards with a 30-06 loaded with Remington 150-grain Core-Lokt softpoints. That 4-point buck ran clear out of sight. It was almost dusk when I pulled the trigger.

I waited a few minutes to trail it, because I knew I did not miss. By the time I stood up it was dusk and getting dark fast. I couldn't find the blood trail, and I had the rest of my hunting party to meet. So I left and came back the next morning.

In the light of day I could see a blood trail that looked like somebody had gone through there with a fire hose. I followed the blood trail about 75 yards to the dead buck, piled up against the base of a tree (probably ran into the tree - or it would have run further). Autopsy revealed a hole the size of a roll of quarters right through the heart.

I don't think you can go by that "drops 'em in their tracks" standard.Wild animals are incredibly tenacious. Unless the shock of the gunshot hits 'em in the central nervous system, don't be surprised if they run quite a distance - even shot through the heart.

A .243 (that's .308 necked-DOWN to 6mm) will whack 'em good.

I have an AR15 upper, with a 6x45 barrel (that's mousegun necked-UP to 6mm). My nephew shot a large doe in the neck with that rifle, and she dropped like a rock. Not even one step.

[Sig220]

Two years ago or so, I shot an 8pt off handed at 110 yards..........he took off so fast, I started to look around for a tree to bash my rifle on!!! I KNEW I took a good shot and I KNEW he was hit with a haymaker. Went to where I saw him last, and about 10 yards off the pipeline......there he was between 2 trees which probably stopped him. He had ran down the pipeline about 150 yards before veering off.

The gun........Remington 700 (mountain) in .308!!! It was the first deer that had ran on me with that gun. The shot was a heart/lung shot. The run had to been on adrenaline. Sometimes, that is going to happen to you. Another camp member shot a doe with a Marlin .444 that ran for over 100 yards with a heart/lung shot. What I am trying to say is a FATAL shot is not necessarily a DRT shot (dead, right there). Unless you interupt the spine or spinal cord they all have the potential to run.

That being said, the only trouble I had using my .223 was the rounds exploding w/o enough penetration. Using the same weight bullet (60gn) I slowed down the velocity and they started punching through the other side. Proper bullet selection is a must. By that I mean you must select the bullet that works best for you under your conditions........range, cover, temp, velocity, target.

The .243 is more then adequate for white tail size game and larger if you are skilled. Set yourself up for success in selecting your cartridge/bullet, optics and practice your shot placement!!

[derek huffman, azexarms]

I always had great luck with my .243 but I always tried to make the scapular shot so the front legs would collapse. SPs never had problems shrooming out and stopping them from going too far.

D.
AZEX

[dougjones31]

I never meant to insinuate that a deer will not ever run when shot by a well placed 30 cal.

I just meant to say there is less chance of a deer running. And when they do run...they will typically run a shorter distance.

50% run rate with a .243 compared to @ 10% run rate with a .308.

[Nickle]

A clean kill on something like a whitetail deer has several factors.

Deer size. In this case southern, so, I'd say small.

Cartridge power. 243 Win is what I'd call on the low end of medium power.

Bullet performance.

Shot placement.

My personal opinion is the 243 is more than adequate on southern deer (100 to 165 lb), if using a good (not great, Rem and Win are good) bullet with proper (not perfect) shot placement.

Try shooting deer in the mountains up here (VT) or Maine with that 243 and so-so shot placement, and good luck finding it.

Ask me about 2 friends that both shot moose last year, one with a 308, the other a 7mm Rem Mag. Guess which one was the cleaner kill, and the bigger moose. The 308 with 165 Sierra HPBT bullets (Game King).

The guy with the 7mm just bought 100 rds of custom ammo with the 160 Sierra that's identical to the 165, except 7mm not 30 caliber.

[Windustsearch]

Probably almost a quarter of Americn deer hunters say it is plenty sufficient.

[Opie]

Apples and oranges, really. If you are comfortable with a .243 and are accurate with it, then go with a .243. Doesn't matter at all if you are using a cannon minus the wheels if you can't hit what you are shooting at. I use an "obsolete" cartridge and rifle when I pull out my No4 SMLE for deer seaon. It's more then capable and I can put the bullet where it needs to go. I've seen Muleys soak up an unbelievable number of hits and keep going, to the tune of 3 .338 Win Mag slugs to the engine room (at 250 grains apiece) and run 2-3 miles before bleeding out and keeling over. On the other end of the spectrum I've seen Muleys dropped after taking one 90 grain bullet to the engine room from a 25-06, and have seen many deer DRT'ed by a 55 grain .223.

A .243 has enough to do the job as long as you do your part. Besides, you have the potential of destroying meat if you go too big or too fast.

[DJ]

I have a .243.......it's the only bolt-gun I own that I've never shot a deer with. I've shot hundreds of groundhogs with it, but never a deer. For some reason I just never had faith in that light little bullet. I grew up on 30-40 Krag's and 30-06's and I shot deer after deer with a .308. My father-in-law has a Remington 700 in .243 and thats all he's ever used for deer. He's shot some nice deer with it too. It'll do the job if you do your part.

[Nickle]

Originally posted by Opie
I use an "obsolete" cartridge and rifle when I pull out my No4 SMLE for deer seaon. It's more then capable and I can put the bullet where it needs to go.

I used a cartridge that was first used in 1891 last year myself. The longest used military cartridge, 7.62x54R.

When I did the list, I should've prioritized it. I'd put bullet placement at #1 for priority, bullet performance #2.

Old story, but what caliber has killed the most elephants?

303 British, so I'm told.

[idsubgun]

Doug, you must be a piss poor shot. I was hunting with a .308 before you was a gleam in your daddy's eye and have been using a 6mm for almost 15 years. I think a lot of your, and others, troubles is probably the bullet. I never use any of those fancy-schamcy bullets. Just plain old Speer 100gr. soft nose in my 6mm and Speer 150gr. Mag-Tips in my .308.

I guess you must need that bigger/faster caliber to make up for lack of markmanship. Too bad.

Hell, if you can't knock down those oversized dogs you call deer back east, how the hell are you easterners ever going to knock down a real deer like a Mulie? And what would you bring, a .458 Win Mag?

[Temp]

I just like the thought process that was behind the development of the .243.

Stick a 6mm bullet in a .308 case,.... twist it's ear and see what happens.

I had been looking for a nice Savage 99 in .308 for quite a while when I came upon a like new specimen in .243 a couple of years ago. The more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea of a sleek, straight gripped 99 in that hot 6mm caliber.

It's now fitted with a 2X7 Leopold scope and I can't imagine a more perfect sporting rifle.

You'll like the .243.

100 gr Hornady RNSP-40 grains of H4350 for deer.

[gunseller]

I have shot Deer with everthing from a 5.56 (M-16) to a 12 gauge slug and some times they drop and some times they run with the same bullet placement. I do not own a .243 but if I did I would not be afraid to use it on a Deer. A friend of mine uses it on Elk without a problem. Those that tell you need a bigger gun just want to use a bigger gun and think you ahould too.
Gunseller

[dougjones31]

Originally posted by idsubgun
Doug, you must be a piss poor shot. I was hunting with a .308 before you was a gleam in your daddy's eye and have been using a 6mm for almost 15 years. I think a lot of your, and others, troubles is probably the bullet. I never use any of those fancy-schamcy bullets. Just plain old Speer 100gr. soft nose in my 6mm and Speer 150gr. Mag-Tips in my .308.

I guess you must need that bigger/faster caliber to make up for lack of markmanship. Too bad.

Hell, if you can't knock down those oversized dogs you call deer back east, how the hell are you easterners ever going to knock down a real deer like a Mulie? And what would you bring, a .458 Win Mag?

OK....... SO you are atleast 58 yrs old....so What?

I am not a piss poor shot. I do not have a problem "knocking down" deer. I was just giving my advise to someone who might have a problem "knocking down "deer.

My advise and experiences are sound. I bet I have killed more deer than you and I am dead serious about that one. I will be 37 this season and have been killing deer since I was 13. I have seen it all when it comes to killin' deer.

A deer hunter needs something bigger than a .243. You can do fine with it but it does have it's limitations, so why chose it to begin with when you can make a better choice that does not have those same limitations.

One limitation would be if the only shot you had was a diagonal/quartering shot on a deer that is facing away from you. If you had to shoot at the rear of the rib cage to hit the heart. Then the .243 would not have enough penetration to do the job.

Beleive what you want about knockdown. My one example is reason enough to choose a round that is powerfull enough for any situation. Rule #1 - Don't go under-equiped. A .243 will not do well hitting ribs at an angle.

[Wadman]

Originally posted by dougjones31
I have seen every kind of shot placement with every caliber made. I have even shot some deer with a .50 Cal.!

What happened to those?

[scattergun]

The .243 is the minimum legal caliber for deer hunting here in Tennessee. Aside from that, the family has two .243's that have been passed around to whoever has young children at the time. A 10 year old can shoot it without worrying about the recoil. All the kids have killed their first deer with one of the two .243 Savage rifles. Now some of the much older relatives have gone back to the .243,because they can hit where they aim, and the little round makes them DRT. In MS they will use 22.250 and head shots to reduce the doe overpopulation.

[shootist87122]

I've never heard a deer complain one way or the other if hit properly.

I was walking to a stand with my son's .243 and happened on a 8 point Texas Whitetail quartering to me, at about 100 Yds or a little less. The 100 grain Nosler Partition entred just behind the front shoulder, went through the body and stopped against the hide on the opposite flank. The deer stood and shook as if being electrified for a second then dropped dead.

My son (8 at the time) took two shots to kill his on the same hunt. The first shot went through the soft part of the little bucks ear and he just stood and shook his head as if stung by a bee. I said, "Well Son, just shoot him again", and he did.

[AZ Dave]

Shot placement,shot placement,shot placement! .243 is perfect for deer! My dad used to hunt em with a 600 mohawk in .222. Saw him win $100 in 1966 when he shot a deers eye out at 200 yards. Also,a heart shot doesnt mean instant death. They will still have oxygenated blood in their head for a short time. The only instant kill is a shot to the central nervous system..

[ThePreacher]

.243 will do the job if you do yours I have hunted here in Tennessee MI IA and other places and am amazed at the callibers some of these guys use but then again I like to eat my dear not skin them and gut them with one shot. Sure a 300 ultra mag will do better than a .243 but wouldnt you like to have a little meat of that deer. If you want something on the wall to brag about take a .50 otherwise the 243 will do fine. (especially on these puny southern deer My experience is that the heart shot deer can run amazing distances. One of my first deer was shot with a 20 gauge slug at about 15 yd's hit him right through the heart not much left of the heart but he still ran 60+ yds the only deer I have seen drop in their tracks have had spinal damage or major bone damage.
BTW I personally prefer my saiga in 308 or my FAL.

[idsubgun]

Got ta hit bone to stop them in their tracks. Bust that front shoulder, forget the heart. Bust the shoulder and blow up the lungs. You'll stop them.

[Speedfish]

Thanks, for all the wonderful replies! I ask because my 7 year old son has been asking; " When do I get to shoot my first deer?" for two years now. He'll be 8 when hunting season opens this Fall, and I don't want to put him off any longer. My father put a telescoping stock on his AR15, for my son to use, but I am skeptcal that the .223 with 55gr will be adequate( This one is the old Vietnam type with the triangle handquards, so if I understand correctly won't stabilize the heavier .223 bullets.). I have spoken with others who said that I should consider the .243 as a suitable caliber for him to start with, but didn't want him hunting deer with a varmit caliber if that was all that it was suitable for.

Regarding deer running after being shot:

My father shot one buck last year right through the heart. He stood there for a moment after being hit then ran off. My father assumed that he had missed as he could find no blood trail. He went back up into his stand and waited until a second Buck wandered into his field of view. He fired one shot and the deer just stood there. So, he took and second shot and watched in horror as the second Buck ran off too. However this time my dad found a blood trail and followed it until he found the deer about 25 yards away from where he was hit. He observed that both shots entered within a 1/8" of one another (it looked like one great big entry wound.}, went straight through the heart, perforating it ,and blew a portion of the heart clean out through the exit wound where part of the heart dangled on the outside of the deers hide. I would not have believed it had I not seen this for myself. This is where it continues to get strange. The next morning, my father went back to the same location, that he had shot the deer, to have another look around. He found the first deer that he had shot about 15 yards from where the first one had stopped. He observed that this deer had also been shot through the heart as well. My father hunts with .308, and is a very good shot, so you can see why I am concerned and a bit skeptical.

Thanks again for all the replies,

Speedfish

[georgestrings]

Well, after reading the posts after mine, I think I'll add a bit: while I think the .243 will get the job done for whitetails, it's as small as I'd go, and would use something larger if available.... I cull deer for a couple of local farms, and have done the same in the past - I used to use a .22-250, but would no longer use one for deer after seeing a couple of less than totally effective kills... I bought my .243 mainly to hunt coyotes, and like Doug, I prefer a .30cal - I have shot a few with a .25-06, but no longer have one... I do an awful lot of deer hunting with 12ga slugs, and sometimes it can be amazing the amount of punishment a deer can absorb, and still keep on their feet... These days, the majority of my rifle hunting for deer is done with a .300WM, but unless I'm shooting long distances, it's really overkill for deer... I do think the .308 is perfect for deer - but also like the .270, .280, and 7mm-08 - and consider the 7mmMag to be an outstanding caliber, as is the .257WBY....



- georgestrings(.30cal fan, too)

[FTW2012]

I use either of .308 or 7MM REM MAG
depending on weather I'm going into woods or open area.
A good shot to the neck will drop a deer or elk pretty good.
You will also save your trophy and not destroy the meat either.

[idsubgun]

This is such a comical thread. The .243 has slain thousands of deer. It's probably one of the most popular deer cartridges and to have people claim it's not is truly funny.

What also kills me is people that use 7mm Mag's in the woods back east where a long shot is 80-100 yards. Jeez, you can almost throw your rifle and hit them.

Guess I'll have to take my .375 H&H out deer hunting this year as I feel undergunned with my 6mm now.



You know, I've killed Gemsbok in Africa with my 6mm (which is just a little faster then a .243) and while the Gemsbok isn't quite elk size, it's a damn size bigger then ANY deer we have in this country.

I guess knowing your rifle and how to shoot it comes into play here.

[shootist87122]

Speedfish,

I worked up a hunting reload for the .243 and then used the same powder and bullet seater settings to load an 87 grain Hornady (light recoil) for the 8 year old to practice with.. POA at 100 was such that all I had to do was make a 2 MOA vertical adjustment on the scope to change from one to the other.

Food for thought.

[Nickle]

Originally posted by idsubgun
Hell, if you can't knock down those oversized dogs you call deer back east, how the hell are you easterners ever going to knock down a real deer like a Mulie? And what would you bring, a .458 Win Mag?

South East deer are generally small. North East deer can get quite large. Remember the Moose is the largest member of the deer family, and they go up to 1400 lbs. I wouldn't advocate shooting Moose with a 243, but it'll take down North East whitetails, even the larger ones. And the larger ones run 165-225 lbs. If I were to hunt Mule Deer, I'd probably use the same guns I use for Whitetails, except, I wouldn't use the smaller guns (AK, SKS), though they'd work, assuming I do my part. I'd probably use a 308 (L1A1 or M14) or 7.62x54R (RomAK 3). But then, I didn't buy those just to hunt with.

[Nickle]

Originally posted by idsubgun
What also kills me is people that use 7mm Mag's in the woods back east where a long shot is 80-100 yards.

Try up to 400+ yards in my area. That's why I keep a "car gun". The 7mm Mag is in my opinion, the wrong gun in the woods. My favorite woods gun was a Ruger Red Label. 000 Buckshot in one barrel, BRI Sabot slug in the other.

But, the 243 is more than adequate in the woods, and out to about 200 yards (more IF you shoot properly). Just like the most popular cartridge up here, the 30-30 Win.

[Windustsearch]

White tails and mulies run 200 lbs in my neck of the woods and people down hundreds of them every year with .243s, and at ranges out to 300 yds. The .30-30, the .30-06, the shotgun, and the .243 are probably the 4 most commonly used deer guns.

[lonerunner1]

The .243 is a great round. I have killed a ton of dear with it. Right now I have been using my .257 Roberts for deer, but I still love the .243. The .243 is my favorite varmite round.

[KEMOSABE]

I bet I've killed nearly a truck load of deer with a 22lr, both whitetail and mule deer. Each and every one of them dropped in a heap and never took a step. None of them ever knew I was there. I don't recomend it though.

The caliber is only important in that it should be a match to your hunting ability, your marksmanship, and your terrain.

If you have patience, and can stalk your game, and if you can make a head or neck shot, you can use a small caliber.

If you're going to bust through the woods like a bull and take any shot you get, running, jumping, or only seeing only the hind quarter, then a .375 is not too much.

Open country is great for small high speed bullets, in brush heavy and slow, twigs do weird things to bullets going over 3000 fps.

Don't over estimate your marksmanship, don't try that neck shot at 300 yards.
If your game just moves a fraction, you might blow off his jaw, which is a slow painful death, and you will never find him.

For most people, shoot the biggest caliber you can shoot well, without flinching.
Learn to hunt, caliber is not a substitute for hunting skill.

I'm sure this sounds like a lot of blowhard bullshit, but think about it.

[Opie]

Originally posted by Speedfish
...but I am skeptcal that the .223 with 55gr will be adequate( This one is the old Vietnam type with the triangle handquards, so if I understand correctly won't stabilize the heavier .223 bullets.)...

Depends on what the twist rate of the barrel is. Current twist rate in AR-15/M-16's is 1/7 rather then 1/12 in the older ones. If it's 1/7 it's made for the 62 grain bullets. 55 grain ones will not stabilize with such a tight twist. AMHIK. I think that the 62 grain will be ok, but I'm not positive on that.

[dougjones31]

Originally posted by KEMOSABE
I bet I've killed nearly a truck load of deer with a 22lr, both whitetail and mule deer. Each and every one of them dropped in a heap and never took a step. None of them ever knew I was there. I don't recomend it though.

I bet you do not recommend it....I would not either because it is probably illegal in every state. I know it is illegal to use a rimfire in every state that I have hunted in.

[goldshlagerxx]

I'll admit it... I've seen 22lr take out a lot of deer also... thank god for the SOL

[Nickle]

Originally posted by dougjones31


I bet you do not recommend it....I would not either because it is probably illegal in every state. I know it is illegal to use a rimfire in every state that I have hunted in.

Well, you've never hunted in my state. The 22LR is legal, but, if you got caught using one, you'd get a long talking to from the fish cop.

FWIW, the tool of choice for deer jackers up here is a 22 Mag.

[JohnnyReb]

Speeking about .243's,

I have a NEF Handy Rifle in .243 with a Brownells Latago sling and 200 rounds of ammo for $200 shipped.

johnnyreb@nc.rr.com

[dougjones31]

Originally posted by Nickle


Well, you've never hunted in my state. The 22LR is legal, but, if you got caught using one, you'd get a long talking to from the fish cop.

FWIW, the tool of choice for deer jackers up here is a 22 Mag.

The thing of it is that it is not humane to shoot at big animals with a 22lr. A bullet that will just wound them if the shot is not to the head is not a cool thing to hunt with.

FWIW, the tool of choice for deer Jackers down here is a 22 Mag. Because it is quiet. Still does not mean it is the most effective tool, it is just the tool that is less likely to get them caught.

What state are you in? Are you positive that it is not illegal to use a 22lr to shoot deer?

[Nickle]

Originally posted by dougjones31


The thing of it is that it is not humane to shoot at big animals with a 22lr. A bullet that will just wound them if the shot is not to the head is not a cool thing to hunt with.

FWIW, the tool of choice for deer Jackers down here is a 22 Mag. Because it is quiet. Still does not mean it is the most effective tool, it is just the tool that is less likely to get them caught.

What state are you in? Are you positive that it is not illegal to use a 22lr to shoot deer?

Vermont. I never said it was humane, just not against the law. Up here we let people use common sense. Nobody really uses a 22LR deer hunting. Here's the link to the Fish and Game Laws. 22 Mag's are used because they're REASONABLY quiet, and won't get reported near as fast as a full power cartridge.

http://www.anr.state.vt.us/fw/fwhome...ont_Digest.pdf