.243 shot placement on deer

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I have taken three deer with my .243 and a half dozen with my .30-06. I generally try for neck shots or base of the neck. None have run off after a shot and dropped where they were standing. I use soft points in my rifles and they get the job done. Most shots have been between 25 and 75 yards.
 
woodshunter said:
I'd use 100gr nosler paritions, you can buy federal factory loads or if you handload you can load up a batch to use. They are very sturdy and will push thru pretty well, will go thru the shoulders on a high shoulder shot? probably break one for sure but a heart lung shot will kill quickly and probably give an exit hole for a blood trail. My 243 used to shoot thru 1/4 steel with 100gr soft points, wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it.
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Yes, 3/8 steel isn't much cover for a 243, either.

10672193_696182910486827_5448439257841307721_n.jpg
 
I'm another fan of heart lung shots.

I don't get the fascination with DRT, cause the few times I've had it, was because I screwed up the shot and either hit shoulder, or high in the spine, in both cases it equaled wasted meat. The one time I actually tried for a DRT was while still hunting in 28+ MPH winds on a little 8pt bedded down at about 20 yards. I shot him in the back of his head, cause it was the only shot I had. Blew an antler off, but he wasn't exactly a trophy to start with. The majority of my animals have to be "tracked" anywhere from 10-60 yards.
 
Congrats on your son making a successful shot on a deer!

I haven't used these loads, but I have purchased them and have high expectations.

Underwood - 90 grain Accubond @ 3200 fps

https://www.underwoodammo.com/colle...grain-accubond-spitzer?variant=18785712275513

Norma - 100 grain Oryx @ 2990 fps

http://www.selwayarmory.com/norma-u...er-100-gr-oryx-protected-point-box-of-20.html

The Accubond has G1 BC = 0.376 and polymer pointed tip.

The Oryx has G1 BC = 0.261, semi-spitzer design with a more blunt tip.

Both are bonded bullets. Nosler says 60% - 70%:weight retention for the Accubond and 1800 fps minimum impact expansion velocity. Norma says 90%+ weight retention for the Oryx and 1500 fps minimum impact expansion velocity.

Best wishes going forward to y'all!
 
Mr. Zorg said:
Congrats on your son making a successful shot on a deer!

I haven't used these loads, but I have purchased them and have high expectations.

Underwood - 90 grain Accubond @ 3200 fps

https://www.underwoodammo.com/colle...grain-accubond-spitzer?variant=18785712275513

Norma - 100 grain Oryx @ 2990 fps

http://www.selwayarmory.com/norma-u...er-100-gr-oryx-protected-point-box-of-20.html

The Accubond has G1 BC = 0.376 and polymer pointed tip.

The Oryx has G1 BC = 0.261, semi-spitzer design with a more blunt tip.

Both are bonded bullets. Nosler says 60% - 70%:weight retention for the Accubond and 1800 fps minimum impact expansion velocity. Norma says 90%+ weight retention for the Oryx and 1500 fps minimum impact expansion velocity.

Best wishes going forward to y'all!
Click to expand...

Pretty impressive numbers from factory for these bullets.
 
Mr. Zorg said:
Congrats on your son making a successful shot on a deer!

I haven't used these loads, but I have purchased them and have high expectations.

Underwood - 90 grain Accubond @ 3200 fps

https://www.underwoodammo.com/colle...grain-accubond-spitzer?variant=18785712275513

Norma - 100 grain Oryx @ 2990 fps

http://www.selwayarmory.com/norma-u...er-100-gr-oryx-protected-point-box-of-20.html

The Accubond has G1 BC = 0.376 and polymer pointed tip.

The Oryx has G1 BC = 0.261, semi-spitzer design with a more blunt tip.

Both are bonded bullets. Nosler says 60% - 70%:weight retention for the Accubond and 1800 fps minimum impact expansion velocity. Norma says 90%+ weight retention for the Oryx and 1500 fps minimum impact expansion velocity.

Best wishes going forward to y'all!
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I would put a hefty bet that the Norma wows ya. It'll be less demanding of rifle twist and hit harder with the protected point design on flesh. I've run other protected points and when they hit, they HIT! The accubond isn't a bad choice either, good luck sir! I for one would look forward to seeing results!
 
Chuck R. said:
I'm another fan of heart lung shots.

I don't get the fascination with DRT, cause the few times I've had it, was because I screwed up the shot and either hit shoulder, or high in the spine, in both cases it equaled wasted meat. The one time I actually tried for a DRT was while still hunting in 28+ MPH winds on a little 8pt bedded down at about 20 yards. I shot him in the back of his head, cause it was the only shot I had. Blew an antler off, but he wasn't exactly a trophy to start with. The majority of my animals have to be "tracked" anywhere from 10-60 yards.
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I agree completely. Dropping the animal on the spot equates almost always to a shot that wastes meat. The most likely circumstance where I'd try to drop an animal in its tracks would be if I took a shot in fading shooting light. Most of the time I quit long before then because a perfect lung hit where the animal doesn't get too far still might take more time to find than I have light. An animal in shock doesn't necessarily take what you consider the most logical route, and the blood trail doesn't always start right where he was hit. An animal can be sixty yards away from where he's hit, especially in heavy brush, and it doesn't always work out that you can walk straight up to him.
 
As chance would have it, while deer hunting this past week, I had the opportunity to take a 191 lb boar hog. How do I know he weighed 191 lbs exactly? Because after I shot him, and he ran about 10 yds before expiring, I was able to take him to the processor and he weighed 191 lbs on the processor scales.

.243 - 100 gr Hornady at 2900 fps. Enough said.
 
Varminterror said:
Why destroy so much valuable shoulder meat, regardless of the cartridge used?
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While I have killed deer, I got over it and have not shot enough to be an expert in shot placement. But I consider a shooting bud of mine well learned in this, based on the number of deer he gets every year. He hunts in heavily wooded areas, and a 200 yard shot is a rarity. Just this week I talked with him about bullets and shot placement. He uses 165 and 190 grain Hornady SST's in a 16.5 inch barreled M40X 308 Win. The velocity he gets with a 190 is about 2300 fps. The rifle is silenced, which adds ten inches to the over all length.

He used to place the bullets behind the shoulder and lost deer at sundown. The deer would run off and die about 200 yards from the point of impact. Next day he would find the deer eaten by coyotes. Hornady told him the bullets would not reliably expand in the thin chest cavity, and so it was. However, once he started aiming at the intersection of neck and shoulder, he never had to track a deer again. There is enough meat and bone to reliably upset the bullet, and enough blood vessel and arteries to end the animal's life quickly.
 
bearcreek said:
Never lost one that was lung shot, but I suppose if I was shooting a deer that was near a bunch of cliffs I might reconsider that (though in my case, if I needed rappelling gear to get to the deer, I'd get my rappelling gear and get to it.:thumbup:)
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And if you don't own rappelling gear, there's ways to improvise. Either way, getting the deer back up where you want it may be a lot of fun. :thumbdown:
 
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On a number of occasions with the .243 and similar cartridges, I've made heart-lung shots, and the animal did just drop in its tracks. So far as I could determine no central nervous system or spine was touched. I suppose there's always a possibility that with a bullet that expands rapidly a fragment took something that I didn't see.

I've had this happen, especially with caribou, an animal who on the whole that seems less alert to the presence of man.

My theory is that when you shoot an animal who is completely relaxed and either doesn't know you're there, or like the caribou, doesn't care, they die easier. I've noticed this effect as much more prominent and likely to occur with rapidly expanding high velocity bullets like the .243 than with large, slow moving cast bullets out of say a 38-56, 40-82, or 45-70.

If someone disagrees with the possibility of this phenomenon and wants to call it more a product of my imagination, or odd impressions interpreted wrongly, they could be right. My experience is limited. While I don't have an exact count, I'm sure I couldn't have shot as many as three hundred big game animals, and most of those small deer.
 
Steve Traxler said:
I purchased a .243 for my son to hunt deer. (He has taken one deer with it.) I have instructed him to only shoot deer in the heart/lungs and pass up anything that is not either broadside or quartered away. Does anyone have any experience with shoulder shots with a .243. Have they been successful? Will a .243 go through both shoulders on a 120 lb deer?
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Yes it will. I have shot them at 200 yds with complete pass thru, and I use my loads with Sierra 100 gr. Pro Hunter bullets.
If the shot is straight on shoot through the middle of the neck, that bullet will shatter the CNS and it will be a bang flop.
Quartering away just don't aim too far back or too high. Shooting downhill, this is a flat shooting round so don't aim high.
 
Highland Lofts said:
I have shot deer with my 243 for over thirty years. Every deer shot died, most droped in it's tracks.the ones that did run only went a few yards, but I shot only walkingnor standing still deer. I don't take running shots or shot at deer that are walking fast.
Shot placement is the key to any caliber.
A friend on mine does a lot of elk hunting in several western states and his elk gun is a 243.
Another friend does guided hunts for mule deer and elk. The guide service he uses has 243 caliber loaner guns for guest to use if their gun malfunctions and need something to shoot.
They have the clients shoot targets from a hundred yards, two hundred yards, three hundred yards and on to see what they can hit at the different yardages and only let them shoot at their competent range and rifle capability.
I will call him and see what his safe shot distance is on elk for his 243.
This past New York deer season I shot one buck and four does ranging from fifty paces out to two hundred paces with 87 grain FBSP bullets traveling at 2750 FPS. One went about five paces and the other four droped where that stood.
My brother shoots a 7mm08, he generally gets a deer a year. In the past fifteen years or so all of the deer he shot dropped in their tracks except one. Two years ago a big doe he shot went about fifteen yards and folded up.

I am buying a Remington model 7 in 6mm to use next deer season. Sunday night I loaded up ladder loads for it.
100 grain SPBT over Alliant Reloader 19.
Next weekend I will load up somemore 100 grain SPBT projectiles over a couple of different powders to test the 6mm rifle when I finnish paying it off.
I will be putting a Leupold 3x9 scope on it and when I test fire it I use a lead sled rifle rest.
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I really want to know how that Mod. 7 6mm shoots !
 
For all those dissing the shoulder shot, (yes I prefer heart/lung) however here are the situations that I take shoulder shots.

1. Rain
2. Close proximity to property lines
3. A quartering to shot
4. Hunting on crowded public land

In the end I would rather loose some meat then loose the deer
 
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mshootnit said:
Yes it will. I have shot them at 200 yds with complete pass thru, and I use my loads with Sierra 100 gr. Pro Hunter bullets.
If the shot is straight on shoot through the middle of the neck, that bullet will shatter the CNS and it will be a bang flop.
Quartering away just don't aim too far back or too high. Shooting downhill, this is a flat shooting round so don't aim high.
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The neck is a little target for my son (admittedly I have taken deer with neck shots.) It looks like at a very minimum it will penetrate a shoulder to the vitals possibly exiting. What I was originally concerned about was the bullet being stopped by the shoulder.
 
I don't get to use a .243 here but I am getting to be a fan of shoulder/neck shots. I hunt a 55 acre beanfield that belongs to friends. It is a travel route for deer and has been a productive spot for me. The thing is, if I were to post up in the center of the field I would have no cover, no stand, and almost all shots would be towards neighboring houses/barns etc.
If I sit at the property line, I can be in an elevated stand and shoot towards the middle of the field where the bullet is guaranteed to hit dirt before getting anywhere near a property line. The downside is that most of the shots I get are at deer within 50ft of the property line. I have made good lung shots and then ended up shooting a 2nd or 3 time to ensure the deer didn't make it across the line. Breaking shoulders, or neck shots tend to drop the deer very close to where they are hit and saves me the stress of them getting away, and in the end it wastes less meat than taking the 2nd shot at a running wounded deer.
 
Steve Traxler said:
The neck is a little target for my son (admittedly I have taken deer with neck shots.) It looks like at a very minimum it will penetrate a shoulder to the vitals possibly exiting. What I was originally concerned about was the bullet being stopped by the shoulder.
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well make no mistake. it will penetrate a deer shoulder up to around 250-300 yards. defiantly would use a 100gr soft point. i take heart and lung shots, neck shots, shoulder shots and head shots. just depends on the situation. here in kansas you are allowed 5-6 whitetail deer a year and i have been filling tags for the last 17 years of my life. with an average of 4 deer per year. also have taken numerous hunters out to help them fill tags. i reload commercially for local people and sell on gunbroker which i get tons of picture feed back from customers. i have seen several calibers and bullets over the years from 770 yards to 30 yards. the 243 is on a minimum of what i would call a true deer round. it isn't as forgiving as a 30-06 or 308 but it is a lot better than a 223 or Valkyrie.

i would estimate i have seen no less than 70 deer after the fact shots from a 243 and only witnessed one occasion where the deer didn't go right down like a 30-06 or other similar rounds. it was a poor performing 95gr. ballistic tip that did not open up much at all ( a shoulder shot would of been ideal with this bullet). the only limit i would impose on a 243 shoulder shot would be as stated above a 250-300 yard max distance.

as far as the talk of ruining meat is concerned. it depends on what meat you prefer. shoulders on a whitetail doe average 11 lbs of meat together. if you heart and lung a deer you ruin the heart meat and rib meat and possibly blood shot the back strap and shoulder meat. a neck shot or head shot are the 2 best at saving meat. neck shots and head shots are also the most risky.
 
In the last 4 deer seasons, my buddy and I have killed 8 deer, one with a .270 through the heart and seven with .243. The .243 kills were with 100 gr soft point or 60 gr HPs. All seven were head or necks shots between 40 and 150 yds. Not one of the 8 deer took a single step. Every one dropped where they stood. My buddy and I both value single shot humane kills and we work to make sure we have an excellent shot before taking it. Happy to say that the last 4 were killed with my 60 gr reloads. Both of my .243s will shoot under 1" groups at 100 yds with my reloads.
Also have friend who does not hesitate to shoot deer out to 300 yds with his .243, usually shoots lung shots. And lastly, my brother has killed dozens of whitetails with his favorite deer rifle a .243 Ruger #1; he prefers shoulder shots. So, is .243 adequate? You bet!!
 
Steve Traxler said:
The neck is a little target for my son (admittedly I have taken deer with neck shots.) It looks like at a very minimum it will penetrate a shoulder to the vitals possibly exiting. What I was originally concerned about was the bullet being stopped by the shoulder.
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We have not pulled the trigger this year. Last year my 8 year old shot three deer. The first deer he shot was a doe right at 100 yards. Crosshairs on the neck and pulled the trigger she dropped. Thirty minutes later a nine point walked out and at about 8 yards crosshairs on neck pulled the trigger and he dropped. The third deer another doe a few weeks later roughly 100 and neck shot and drop. So far we have had no wasted meat and no need to track or a second shot. I had always shot
 
camsdaddy said:
We have not pulled the trigger this year. Last year my 8 year old shot three deer. The first deer he shot was a doe right at 100 yards. Crosshairs on the neck and pulled the trigger she dropped. Thirty minutes later a nine point walked out and at about 8 yards crosshairs on neck pulled the trigger and he dropped. The third deer another doe a few weeks later roughly 100 and neck shot and drop. So far we have had no wasted meat and no need to track or a second shot. I had always shot
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Congratulations on your son’s three deer that is quite an accomplishment.
 
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