Yet another 243 thread

[Pyscodog]

First off, I was born in 1949 so you do the math. But I've been using a 243 Win of some sorts for many many years and can not remember ever loosing a deer with the 243. Today, Sunday, I thought things had changed and for the worse. My deer season has really been tough as almost all the deer have stayed nocturnal due to warm weather and full moons. Yesterday I saw a yearling fawn and that was it. Last night the forecast was cloud cover and cold for Sunday. Well we had cloud cover but temps were low 50's. Anyway, I'm in the stand before sun up, waiting and hoping today would be better. My rifle is a Sako and wears a Leupold 4.5-14x40 and I'm shooting a Sierra 100 grain Pro Hunter bullet. Just about 7AM, I see a large body deer about 100yds away and coming my way. Of course I get antsy and ready for action, but no clear shot. I finally get a good look and its a nice big 8 point with his nose to the ground and in no hurry. All the time I'm watching him get closer but I have no shot. Finally he gets within 60 yards and there is an opening in the trees and I put my cross hairs on his shoulder and let the Sako loose. A clear wide open shot, and he trots off like nothing happened. What the heck just happened? How do you miss a deer at 60 yards? I climb down from my stand and go to where the buck was standing and no blood.......nothing. I do this three different time and nothing. I ended up very upset but stayed in my stand hoping he might come back or maybe another would come by but nothing. My buddy messaged me and wanted to know what I shot and I told him the story. He said he would come up and help me look. Well, he takes a short cut to my stand and walks right to the buck. Seems the Sierra took out his shoulder and hit vitals killing the buck. He went about 30 yards and expired in the tall grass. From my stand, I never saw him go down. There was not a single drop of blood. Nothing for me to even know which way to start looking. I actually thought I missed him. Of course finding the buck sure changed the mood and if it hadn't been for my friend coming to help I might have fed the coyotes tonite. I can usually track a blood trail but this one had me stumped. Even worse was thinking I missed a deer that close. That;s a hard pill to swallow being rifle chairman at my gun club. I'd never heard the end of that. Sorry for the long story, just rantings of an old fart that still loves to hunt.

 

[jimmymac]

Tip from another old guy. After the shot, always...always pay attention to the direction that the deer runs. If no blood is found where the deer was standing, there may be significant blood only a short distance away. Glad you got him.

 

[WyleWD]

Don't be hard on yourself or the rifle, just be thankful for your friend finding it. If you hunt long enough you'll run into all kinds of oddities similar to this one. Great campfire story too.

Just look straight up, say thanks to the big boss, and take your friend to breakfast and give him a package of venison. JME. WD

 

[HTSmith]

You have a couple of years on me. I like an exit wound. The 95 or 100 Gr Nosler partition will give you that. I'd send you some, but I have exactly 12 left. Hopefully things get better soon. Glad you found your deer.

 

[NC308]

60 yards with a 243 is moving pretty fast. I have found that bullet construction is everything with lighter caliber guns. The pro hunter are good bullets but nothing bore than a cup and draw bullet. Move to something bonded or the Barnes line. We kill several deer a year with a 223. Bullet construction and shot placement is everything! Put the bullet thru the Lunda and stay away from the shoulder!!

 

[86alaskan]

Similar thing happened to me last year. shot a doe at last light using the 243 and 100gr speer hotcor. shot was about 200yds, clean no bone right behind the shoulder. deer reacted to the shot and took off. sun was down before I got to the spot and not a single drop anywhere. ended up following the track and found it piled up 50yds later. clean entrance, good damage but no pass through, and no blood trail. unless it's in my 338, I'm done using cup and core on anything other than ground hogs. copper all the way for me.

 

[Pyscodog]

Tip from another old guy. After the shot, always...always pay attention to the direction that the deer runs. If no blood is found where the deer was standing, there may be significant blood only a short distance away. Glad you got him.

I really didn't go into a lot of detail about after the shot. When I shot the buck, he really gave no reaction of being hit which I thought was very strange. I hunt pretty heavy woods and was also on the top of a draw. I did see the direction he went but only for a very short time as he headed down the draw and out of sight. I guess the lack of a reaction from being hit and no blood just through me into a WTF just happened and just didn't look in the direction he went. Dumb on my part. It wrecked his shoulder and did kill him, but was so unusual I just started thinking I blew it. I'm not a big fan of shoulder shots either and usually try to double lung deer. The shoulder shot was probably a mistake on my part but at least it turned out for the best.

 

[10XSHOOTER]

Wish Nosler would make a 105 gr Accubond in 6 mm!

 

[3Sigma]

I think this happens to a lot of us at some point.

My instance was a smaller doe shot at 25 yards with a 30-06 with a165 Sierra Game King. Thick woods in the snow, saw blood, but very little, and lost the trail when it got dark. Found her 50 yards across a fence that wasn't in any direction the trail lead.

It was a full through broadside shot, thru the heart, but little blood and a small exit wound.

I think that impact velocity is critical in bullet performance, and pushing too fast is as bad as too slow. It also depends on the size of the animal... something too small without sufficient inertia allowing pass-through without expansion.

 

[jcm800]

I used a 243 pistol for many years w/ 80-100 gr bullets ( Rem, Hor) and deer almost always ran at least 50 yds with a double lung. Odd thing is I rebarreled it to a 6br w/ 105 amax and probably 80% are DRT.

Congrats on a nice buck!

 

[john 800]

I hunted near my uncle for years who shot a 243 for a while. While the round is absolutely adequate for deer, bullet performance is very critical. What you described sounds pretty typical of what he and I whitnessed. Dead deer, no exit, usually not drt. If I were hunting deer with a 243 I would look to a light to mid weight for caliber nosler partition at full speed.
So the bullet entered through the shoulder? What kind of angle? Did you recover the bullet? Curious how far it penetrated. I would guess it ended up in the ofside hide. Was this the case?
Still seems odd he didn’t react to the shot.

I had a recovery simalor to yours this year. I hit mine forward and high, almost missed lungs completely. Found 3 total drops of bloodin about 100yds, I had a very bad feeling, luckily my 10yo daughter was with me and noticed some movement through the brush 90degrees to the direction he had been going and I was able to finish him off. Without the little ones you g eyes, I may have fed some wolves, she also found a drop of blood I walked past so i was glad to have her around

 

[Bill Norris]

Happened to me this year on a 6 point buck in the basically thick swamp here behind my house. He came out onto my corn pile facing me @ 60 yards. I also hunt with a .243 Model 7 Predator with 90 gr. Nosler Accubond. I kept hoping he would turn and give me a broad-side shot but I realized it was probably not gonna happen so I took the shot center of the chest. He jump straight up and did that heart-shot kick and run to the left from my corn pile. I immediately got up and upon reaching the corn pile I realized there was no blood at all but it was mid-evening so I had plenty of time to look around and I was certain I would find him close by. At around 50 yards or so there he lay with still no blood at all leaking out which was a first for me after hunting for many years. Always a first time for anything I suppose.

 

[stacy]

NICE DEER I HAVE TO SAY THE 243 HAS ALWAYS DONE WELL FOR ME ALL I SHOOT IS 85GR SIERRAS BTHP (1530) AND I HAVEN'T SHOT A DEER YET THAT LIKED THEM

 

[K22]

I've used the 243 Win on and off for over 50 years now. I've taken varmints, predators, and deer with it. I've tried a variety of bullets including the 100 grain Pro Hunter. In the early days I used the factory 100 gr Rem Core Lok bullets. Never lost a deer either to the 243 if I hit it. They would run with the 100 grainers however so some tracking was necessary and usually with not much of a blood trail.

Several years ago I switched to the 85 Sierra Boat Tail Hollow Point on advise from my gunsmith. I was quite skeptical so I only, a first, used it on doe's. If hit behind the shoulder, they would drop in place or run a few yards and pile up. I began using it for bucks and it worked equally well but the key is to stay off the shoulder and go for a broadside shot behind the shoulder. If hit in the vitals, it does a lot of damage and in my experience they don't go very far before piling up. Of course there are always exceptions, nothing is absolute when it comes to hunting.

No matter which bullet you use, like someone else says, watch the direction they run and try to pick out a land mark. If hunting in the big woods, I mark where I took the shot with a paper towel so I can recreate the image of the shot if I have trouble tracking / finding the deer.

The 85 BTHP can be used as an all purpose bullet, i.e. varmits, predators and deer which can provide year around practice / familiarization building field shooting skills and confidence.

 

[AckleymanII]

Psyco, 243 Winchester, 100g Hornady(flat base if you can find them), R#26, CCI 250 primer may get 3200 in a 24" barrel...you will be very close. You will get an exit and blood trail.

Many 243's struggle to get 2900fps.

I have shot 95g partitions since the mid 80's, you get two holes and sometimes 3 where the bottom and top break apart. The 95g Partitions do not leave much blood at all with the front end expanding plenty.

So, shoot them through the running gear when you can, or aim for the off side shoulder, they go down and do not get up.

Lately, I am shooting 95g SST after a friend in New Zealand sent me pictures of all those HUGE deer down there that he has shot that go 350-450 lbs at some distance also. R#19(215s)with the 95's is 3100 fps on my 24" Rem 700. SST is a TOUGH bullet for penetration with some good expansion also. I have complete confidence to shoulder shoot deer with the 95g SST.

 

[Bojo]

NICE DEER I HAVE TO SAY THE 243 HAS ALWAYS DONE WELL FOR ME ALL I SHOOT IS 85GR SIERRAS BTHP (1530) AND I HAVEN'T SHOT A DEER YET THAT LIKED THEM

Same here this bullet does extremely well.

 

[Bojo]

When shooting deer if you blow the heart apart the only leaking you get is gravity / spillage out of whatever hole or holes are left from the bullet.
I’ve blown clean trough both side with180gn out of a 30-06 and had very little blood, the down side of the 243 or smaller bullets is the fact that they expell all of their energy inside of the chest rarely leaving an exit wound unless it is a complete broadside 2 lung shot only. Shooting into or through the shoulder and that slug is expelling the majority of its energy in the shoulder and not leaving a whole lot for the vitals.
that said I also use a 243 win as well once in a while and see nothing wrong with using it.
one other thing to remember is that a hunter should never underestimate the desire for a wild animal to live. Gut out a deer that has chunks left for a heart and gelatin for what used to be lungs only to look back and realize that it ran 75 to 100 with neither intact before it fell over dead. Wild animals can never be predictable, hunt enough and it never seems to fail to hear yourself say “well I never seen that before”.

 

[NC308]

I tell you a bullet that works extremely well if your gun will shoot them. That’s the federal fusion. That bullet always hold together. Bonded and preforms awesome out of every caliber I’ve used them in. If I could find just the bullet it would be my go to in anything smaller than 30 cal.

 

[Bill Norris]

When shooting deer if you blow the heart apart the only leaking you get is gravity / spillage out of whatever hole or holes are left from the bullet.
I’ve blown clean trough both side with180gn out of a 30-06 and had very little blood, the down side of the 243 or smaller bullets is the fact that they expell all of their energy inside of the chest rarely leaving an exit wound unless it is a complete broadside 2 lung shot only. Shooting into or through the shoulder and that slug is expelling the majority of its energy in the shoulder and not leaving a whole lot for the vitals.
that said I also use a 243 win as well once in a while and see nothing wrong with using it.
one other thing to remember is that a hunter should never underestimate the desire for a wild animal to live. Gut out a deer that has chunks left for a heart and gelatin for what used to be lungs only to look back and realize that it ran 75 to 100 with neither intact before it fell over dead. Wild animals can never be predictable, hunt enough and it never seems to fail to hear yourself say “well I never seen that before”.

Absolutely. Shot one some years ago at @ 35 yds. broad-side shot. He ran at least 100 yds. with a pile of mush for heart and lungs.

 

[WyleWD]

Lately, I am shooting 95g SST after a friend in New Zealand sent me pictures of all those HUGE deer down there that he has shot that go 350-450 lbs at some distance also. R#19(215s)with the 95's is 3100 fps on my 24" Rem 700. SST is a TOUGH bullet for penetration with some good expansion also. I have complete confidence to shoulder shoot deer with the 95g SST.

+1^^^
I've used the Sierra 85gr HPBT for a long time with a 243. I took along some 95gr SST's to a state where I had multiple tags. The 95gr SST's worked really well and I agree with AckleymanII's assesment of them. I still like the 85's slightly better. JME. WD