The 243 may be fine in some localities, but

[hendrix's rifle]

Was out with Malc on his permission in Sussex last year in January with my mate from Germany who is a vet so has years of experience but Malcs guiding assistants rifle was a .243 and my pal shot a fallow with it that was never found. No dog was available for follow up either. I reckon a decent 6.5mm should be minimum unless after muntis.

Stand 100 yards away and let me shoot with a 22lr. Could go to a 243 if you wanted but it wouldn't be very sporting lol

 

[Hereford]

These threads just make me want to throw it all in

 

[palmer_mike]

Was out with Malc on his permission in Sussex last year in January with my mate from Germany who is a vet so has years of experience but Malcs guiding assistants rifle was a .243 and my pal shot a fallow with it that was never found. No dog was available for follow up either. I reckon a decent 6.5mm should be minimum unless after muntis.

A bad workman............

 

[User00025]

Well you've been fortunate then because I could count on very few fingers the number of Sika stags I have seen shot in the ribs and drop on the spot regardless of chambering. Almost all run and sometimes for a long, long way.....I wasn't deriding the chambering, I've owned several .243 rifles. What I said was it wouldn't be my choice for Sika stags.

With you all the way there, having shot Sika from the Tweed source to Innerleithen over a few years. A .243w ok for neck shot and will do the job eventually chest shooting( note eventually). My preference (and I shot a good many) 7 x 57 with 140gr. I have seen them go 500 yds with the bigger, faster rounds when chest shot but I can honestly say with the old 7mm max run was 100yds with half a heart.

 

[Bavarianbrit]

Wasn"t me i"m just the messenger. There was no test shot taken with the estate rifle if my grey cells are still working.

 

[jamross65]

With you all the way there, having shot Sika from the Tweed source to Innerleithen over a few years. A .243w ok for neck shot and will do the job eventually chest shooting( note eventually). My preference (and I shot a good many) 7 x 57 with 140gr. I have seen them go 500 yds with the bigger, faster rounds when chest shot but I can honestly say with the old 7mm max run was 100yds with half a heart.

Yeh, we shot a lot up Tweed over 3 estates that were in the heart of the Sika population. Happily neck or head shoot with a .243 but wouldn't be as happy with taking chest shots on them. I'm not suggesting it won't kill them, it will. But other factors come in to play. How far will it run and into what kind of cover? Will that make recovery difficult or almost impossible? Is it last light? Etc etc. I tracked a fair number with my HS and one of the longest was around 600yds witnessed by 2 friends. Shot with a 140gr 6.5x55, through the lungs and liver...I've shot loads of young sika stags worh the .308 and 150gr bullets and they would still run 150yds plus! Maybe my guests and I were just unlucky???

 

[jubnut]

Was out with Malc on his permission in Sussex last year in January with my mate from Germany who is a vet so has years of experience but Malcs guiding assistants rifle was a .243 and my pal shot a fallow with it that was never found. No dog was available for follow up either. I reckon a decent 6.5mm should be minimum unless after muntis.

Your friend was out as a paying client with a "pro" stalker and no dog was available for follow up?

That's **** poor.

 

[User00033]

Was out with Malc on his permission in Sussex last year in January with my mate from Germany who is a vet so has years of experience but Malcs guiding assistants rifle was a .243 and my pal shot a fallow with it that was never found. No dog was available for follow up either. I reckon a decent 6.5mm should be minimum unless after muntis.

So as you will probably have gathered by now, I grew up in Sussex, and fallow were by far the dominant deer species. During my apprenticeship so to speak, I learnt lots about how to place a .243 105gr round nose Speer bullet, and the likely effects.

In that time, there were numerous occasions when deer were shot by such-and-such, and the deer ran off into the woods and was lost, or the dogs eventually found it after hours, or the animal ran and ran and ran but eventually fell over. The tales told at the pub would have you believe that these Sussex fallow must have been made of Kevlar and titanium.

Yet when I followed the guidance of my tutor - to the letter - the local fallow dropped on the spot. The guidance was very clear, crystal clear... The bullet had to pass through the front of the chest cavity. An imaginary line was drawn in the mind across the animal’s torso, between the two front legs at the elevation of the lower shoulder joint, just back a bit, slap bang in the middle of the line of the leg. Visualising that cross-section of the deer was easy after a bit, and as such picking the point of bullet entry when the animal was quartering away or towards became quite simple. These deer really weren’t hard to bang-flop, even off rickety home made sticks!

So what is it? A cartridge problem, or a shooter problem?

 

[CarlW]

@Muir , this really is the thread that keeps on giving, eh...?

 

[IrishStalker]

i have a 243 shot a fallow doe back in Feb at 100 yards and it ran couldn't find it spent hours looking for it, lung and other fragments on the ground. to be honest its the first time it happened most deer ive shot have either ran 10-20 yards or just drop like a stone, using premium ammo aswell. seriously thinking of getting rid of it and moving up a caliber i know they can run while shot with the big calibers its very rare to happen.

 

[User00033]

Well @IrishStalker I’ve got a 3.5L 300bhp car and I recently got my first speeding fine in over 30 years, so now I’m seriously considering selling it and getting a 1.0L 80hp hybrid. Or would that be an over-reaction?!

 

[foxdropper]

Seriously wonder why some go to the trouble of opening the cabinet as perish the the thought a deer should run after the shot .Its what happens when you shoot deer in the chest and no calibre can eliminate this .To me the follow up is as much part of the whole experience as the stalk .Savour it .Confidence in your set up and shooting skills will put you in no doubt that deer is dead ,just need to use a bit of bush craft to find it .
Shot all 6 with the .243 as have many other stalkers and never had an issue with it other than poor placement or bad shot choice down to me not the calibre .From 243 to 300 win mag ,the choice is personal but without the skill to place to bullet none of them are any good .
Ive seen sika run 300 yards shot through heart with a 30 cal and other times drop on the spot with my 243 .
Thats life and only experience will get you past the silly issue of calibre .

 

[Freeforester]

i have a 243 shot a fallow doe back in Feb at 100 yards and it ran couldn't find it spent hours looking for it, lung and other fragments on the ground. to be honest its the first time it happened most deer ive shot have either ran 10-20 yards or just drop like a stone, using premium ammo aswell. seriously thinking of getting rid of it and moving up a caliber i know they can run while shot with the big calibers its very rare to happen.

Buy a dog instead.

 

[Bestman]

Having chest shot a couple of hundred deer with 6.5 x 55 (Norma 120 BTs) and only about 30 with .243, (Sako 90 GH) my observation is, that at this early stage, small deer chest shot at circa 100m, are far less likely to run before expiring with the .243 - guess it's either the bullet or the speed - although there isn't much difference 840mps vs 863mps?

 

[bogtrotter]

Having read this thread from start to finish I have come to the conclusion that perhaps a .243 is not the
rifle for amateurs.

 

[Bavarianbrit]

So as you will probably have gathered by now, I grew up in Sussex, and fallow were by far the dominant deer species. During my apprenticeship so to speak, I learnt lots about how to place a .243 105gr round nose Speer bullet, and the likely effects.

In that time, there were numerous occasions when deer were shot by such-and-such, and the deer ran off into the woods and was lost, or the dogs eventually found it after hours, or the animal ran and ran and ran but eventually fell over. The tales told at the pub would have you believe that these Sussex fallow must have been made of Kevlar and titanium.

Yet when I followed the guidance of my tutor - to the letter - the local fallow dropped on the spot. The guidance was very clear, crystal clear... The bullet had to pass through the front of the chest cavity. An imaginary line was drawn in the mind across the animal’s torso, between the two front legs at the elevation of the lower shoulder joint, just back a bit, slap bang in the middle of the line of the leg. Visualising that cross-section of the deer was easy after a bit, and as such picking the point of bullet entry when the animal was quartering away or towards became quite simple. These deer really weren’t hard to bang-flop, even off rickety home made sticks!

So what is it? A cartridge problem, or a shooter problem?

He is a 30 years exp large animal vet and has a German RFD as a small trader in firearms and had his Jagdschein since 16 now he is 55, go figure. S h 1 t happens in everybody's life, it was not his day.

 

[75]

He is a 30 years exp large animal vet and has a German RFD as a small trader in firearms and had his Jagdschein since 16 now he is 55, go figure. S h 1 t happens in everybody's life, it was not his day.

And you honestly think a 6.5 would have had a different outcome?

 

[Hales Smut]

Found this by accident yesterday evening. Advantages of the lockdown.

 

[howa243]

I won't hunt with anyone using a 243 on the prairies anymore. Here shots generally begin at 200 yards distance. I have seen 4 deer lost in the last two years, all to a .243 at distances greater than 150 yards, and all on large deer. I keep telling these 6mm fanatics that it's a freaking varmint cartridge past 150 yards... at least were mule deer are considered... but, No. I spent way too much time tracking wounded deer this fall. The final nail in the coffin was listening to a recounting of an antelope hunt where the shooter (not the fellow on the phone, but his son) shot an antelope at 250 yards and "...saw blood running down it's side but it just stood there." For better than 5 minutes. When they stood up it ran and they chased it for 3 miles before putting it down. I didn't even have to ask: " A 243, Right??" You bet!

Woodland shooting or smaller deer, OK.
Not in my company anymore. No more hunting with anyone who insists on using a varmint cartridge for deer.
Rant over.~Muir

I love the .243 but would respectfully suggest that it is not a woodland calibre either.

 

[User00035]

Found this by accident yesterday evening. Advantages of the lockdown.

They also agree on Ridgeline clothing and that the wind in the Highlands blows your hair off.