.243 for Mule Deer?

drayweb · Nov 1, 2017

Too light a gun? I'm shooting a 100 grain Hornady Interlok bullet. Most of the shots I've made on mule deer have been under 200 yards.

huffranger · Nov 1, 2017

Will work just fine if you do your job,

Opinions will run the gamut, this is my $.02

Wife will be killing her deer this year with a .243 AI flingin 105gr A-max's

I will be shooting a 22-250 AI with 75gr A-max's and I am willing to bet the deer will die good.

Both will be running SRT cans, I don't like loud bangs anymore.

cooter00 · Nov 1, 2017

Will kill just as dead as any other caliber

LBrandt · Nov 1, 2017

If you shoot well they will die well.

Big Iron · Nov 1, 2017

After watching my friend shoot a bedded mule deer in the neck with a .243 last year and never recovering...Bigger.

Kurtr · Nov 1, 2017

looks like your friend needs to practice shooting. i always love bad shot placement equals bigger gun. Having shot a whole bunch of mule deer and white tails with a 243 only thing holding it back is the shooter. 95 gn sst 400 and in was a dead deer. run one of the 105's and watch them flop.

Sub_Elect · Nov 1, 2017

Been shooting deer with one for a few years now. Recovered every one. Some run a bit and some flop but all died quickly. I don't think you will have any problems with one.

Big Iron · Nov 1, 2017

Kurtr said:
looks like your friend needs to practice shooting. i always love bad shot placement equals bigger gun. Having shot a whole bunch of mule deer and white tails with a 243 only thing holding it back is the shooter. 95 gn sst 400 and in was a dead deer. run one of the 105's and watch them flop.

Cant disagree with that.

Mort · Nov 1, 2017

Man...everyone knocks and mocks the .243, thats just sad, like mentioned before, all boils down to the shooter with shot placement, so to everyone with .243 go get 'em! So if a guy wounds a deer with a .300 mag, we going to tell him he needs a bigger caliber??? I think not.

Hail to the .243, I have one, so call me a wussy I don't care....lol

Downrigger · Nov 1, 2017

:;:imwithstupid

I would much rather shoot a smaller caliber but shoot dimes. Yep I'm a wuss too!

I don't have a .243 but if I did I wouldn't hesitate to use it.

huffranger · Nov 1, 2017

I've seen a vanilla .243 kill a couple black bears, I'd sure hate to get shot with one.

NDSportsman · Nov 1, 2017

It'll bounce off!

Seriously though the .243 is a great deer gun. Put it in the boiler room and you'll have a dead deer.

SupressYourself · Nov 1, 2017

Big Iron said:
After watching my friend shoot a bedded mule deer in the neck with a .243 last year and never recovering...Bigger.

Some people swear by neck shots, but it's not a good bet. Sure, hit the spine, or a major artery / vein, and they're down quick. However, there's a lot of room in there that is not vital. The ribcage is the only sure thing.

I've killed scores of deer (whiteys and muleys) and pronghorns with my 243 over the years. Never lost one. IMO, you don't need anything bigger until you get into elk/moose/grizzly territory. Also, muleys aren't any tougher than whitetails. What works for one will work for both.

Wildyote · Nov 1, 2017

Big Iron said:
After watching my friend shoot a bedded mule deer in the neck with a .243 last year and never recovering...Bigger.

Bad shot placement and poor bullet selection are not the guns fault. The 100 grain hornady interlock will make it to the opposite side of a moose so you will be just fine with mule deer. If you put it in the lungs and shoot at standing or bedded deer and run it in the lungs you will have a dead deer quick. I have seen Magnums fail when shot placement is poor.

Allen · Nov 1, 2017

Wildyote said:
Bad shot placement and poor bullet selection are not the guns fault. The 100 grain hornady interlock will make it to the opposite side of a moose so you will be just fine with mule deer. If you put it in the lungs and shoot at standing or bedded deer and run it in the lungs you will have a dead deer quick. I have seen Magnums fail when shot placement is poor.

That is correct. I watched a fella shoot a WT doe with a 300 win mag one time, maybe 250 yds. With the wind and all, we didn't hear the bullet hit and she just stood there for a few seconds before trotting over a hill. We found her about an hour later, had a damn hole in the far side with her liver hanging out. She made it about some 300 plus yds to where I eventually found her. Shot was clearly fatal, just not immediately fatal.

We all had given him a hard time about "missing", in reality it was just off by 10 inches from being a much quicker kill. Point is...a bullet in the chest will put a deer down quicker regardless of what large (normally acceptable deer round) a person decides to use than any magnum just behind the ribs.

My 11 year old son shot a WT doe this fall. He did his job and she travelled all of the 2 ft straight to the ground.

I shoot a large enough caliber to make me comfortable with the energy it carries out to about 400 yds to put the bullet through the deer, or at least leaving the bullet in the hide on the far side. Several articles I've read suggest about 1200 ft lbs of energy is the magic number (whatever). That leaves my 25-06 good to 400 yds, and my 7 mm good to distances at which I won't shoot.

KDM · Nov 1, 2017

A 243 is plenty gun. Blaming the gun for a lost game animal is akin to blaming the hammer for a smashed thumb.

Bowhunter_24 · Nov 1, 2017

SupressYourself said:
Some people swear by neck shots, but it's not a good bet. Sure, hit the spine, or a major artery / vein, and they're down quick. However, there's a lot of room in there that is not vital. The ribcage is the only sure thing.

I've killed scores of deer (whiteys and muleys) and pronghorns with my 243 over the years. Never lost one. IMO, you don't need anything bigger until you get into elk/moose/grizzly territory. Also, muleys aren't any tougher than whitetails. What works for one will work for both.

I would not agree with this

- - - Updated - - -

This has been hashed over a million times. Yes a .243 is "big enough" for a mule deer. I wouldn't be afraid to use one.

People always say with the right shot placement when they talk about it. Well with the right shot placement a .22 will also kill a mule deer. There is a reason people use bigger guns for bigger animals. That is all.

Lycanthrope · Nov 1, 2017

Ive killed more than a couple deer and goats with my 243 and 85 tsx...

Enslow · Nov 1, 2017

I loaded some 100 grain partitions for a friends daughter and she crushed a 170 + muley with her .243 last week. A.243 is plenty big for muleys with good bullets like the partition.

deactivated · Nov 1, 2017

I think it would work. I also think there are better calibers to choose from.

.243 for Mule Deer?

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