.243 for mule deer?

[Jseime]

A female hunter, with five witnesses, shot a sizable running Mulie buck, 5 times in a pie plate sized group, at 200 yards with a .243... she was an awesome shooter... The buck ran 200 yards before it fell.

I hate to be a skeptic but im not buyin that unless you were one of those five witnesses. I shot four deer with the .243 and my brother took two when i had one. Every deer except one that i gutshot dropped within 50 yards of a single hit from a 100gr Nosler Partition. My longest shot was about 200 yards and the closest was made by my brother at about 40.

In my opinion the .243 is definetly adequate for Mulies you just have to select your shots. I've seen deer shot with 7.62X39, .243, .303 Brit, .30-06, .270 Winchester and 7mm Magnum. As far as i know the deer cant tell who has the bigger gun if you put the bullet into its heart or lungs (with the possible exception of 7.62X39mm which IMHO isnt a deer round).

 

[Huffmanite]

Had a hunting buddy that used a 243 for three years. He was a very very good shot and 5 of the 6 white tail deer he shot those years ran a while before falling. His bullet placement on the ones that ran were good and all of them were hit at around 100 yards away. Only one that didn't run. he put the bullet in its head. My friend loved the rifle, but switched back to a 30 cal cartridge for deer.

 

[buckster]

243?

Shot placement is critical with the 243. I personally use an A-bolt 7mm WSN which covers white tails up to caribou because of the variety of loads for the application. It would be great for trading on up. Good youth rifle. Being 50+ I don't want to chase down a almost kill. The 7 gives you more room for error. My .02

 

[mikejonestkd]

most deer will run

Even when hit in the heart of lungs with a larger caliber round, deer can still run 50 - 100 yards before they drop. I haven't noticed a significant difference between any of the deer I have shot or seen shot by others and the caliber used. I've seen some deer hit with the .243 just sit down on the spot and die, and I've seem some deer hit well with 12 ga slugs run for 100 yards.
The only ways to ensure the deer will drop instantly is to sever the spinal cord or take a brain shot. Some guys can do it almost all the time and the deer drop on the spot. It's too small of a target for most of us to try in my opinion.
Any deer hit in the heart and lungs with an appropriate bullet will drop eventually, and the .243 will do it as well as larger rounds. I am not claiming that it will penetrate the length of a deer or break both shoulders but it will do very well with a well placed shot.