.243 for whitetail

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SJCbklyn

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We had three deer taken with .30 cal. Variants this season and all were extremely destructive to the meat. One frontal shot and two shoulders. Way too much meat was pulverized.

Got me thinking about downsizing to the .243

I have one I use for target shooting but it's way too heavy to jackass around the woods. I am very familiar with its ballistics and no shot would be over 300 yds.

Looking for input from those that actually use one for deer hunting.
 
One frontal shot and two shoulders.
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I'd say the biggest problem is shot placement.

That said, a 243/6mm will kill deer as efficiently as any other cartridge, and will damage nearly as much meat with poor shot placement.
 
Shoot a deer through both shoulders with a 243 and you won't have to worry about boning them out. Just like other high velocity deer rounds, they will both be torn up.
 
It's not the arrow it's the Indian. .243, .308 or .375 H&H, you're going to ruin a lot of meat with a shoulder shot.
 
Most "deer load" bullets expand properly, at the common ranges. I've never had a problem for ruining meat with my '06, since I don't shoot the eating part. I've had equal success with my .243. Even the handloads, with "blowup" bullets work well with neck shots or cross-body heart/lung shots.
 
I deer hunt with a .243 most of the time for two reasons. Less recoil and less meat damage. I shoot right and left handed from my stand so low recoil is a benefit and I only shoot them in the rib cage behind the shoulders. I've watched all but one fall after the shot. Just my experience.

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I have been using the .243 Win for a while now and its a great whitetail cartridge. I've shot, or seen shot, about 20+ deer taken with the .243 and it drops them just like larger rounds at normal distances with clean shots.
Shoot them through the ribs to avoid meat damage and you'll be just fine.
 
Meat damage is solely dependent on bullet selection.
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I disagree. For years I shot deer with a 6MM Remington using an 87 grain Hornady Varmint bullet. I always shot them behind the shoulder and always waited for a standing side shot. Little to no meat was bloodshot or turned to mush despite the fact that a varmint bullet is the wrong bullet for deer.
 
Meat damage is dependent on shot placement and also how the bullet behaves on impact so high velocity frangible bullets will be worse.

Because of this, shot placement being equal, your 308 can lob much heavier projectiles than the 243 and at moderate velocities cause considerably less meat damage than a 243. Think 30-30 performance wise.

So don't shoot the shoulders or if you prefer to then use something like a 180 grain interlock or pro hunter.

That said something like most 25-06 or some 243 bullets will often kill quicker with heart/lung shots than most 308 loads.
 
In years past I've harvested more deer than I can count from memory using a 6mm (.240 Wthby). None did more than flail for a second in the spot where they stood, however all but one was taken with a shot to the neck just below the jaw line. One buck was a lung shot, but he was laying down and the shot was unintentional.
(A story for another time but suffice it to say that I've never flipped off a safety before I intended to pull the trigger since, especially in bitter cold and snow with heavy gloves on. Binoculars are a regular field item for me as well, I no longer use the scope as a general purpose optic, just an all around poor practice.)

I like to hang my deer skin on to age the meat for as long as conditions allow. The blood hemorrhage that migrates beneath the skin caused by a chest shot goes rancid quickly when they hang, and though it doesn't necessarily effect the meat, I just don't like it.

6mm = neck shot for me and it's proven very effective.
Though I can count from memory on both hands the number of deer that I've harvested not shooting them in the neck regardless of the caliber I used.

.243 using an appropriate weight/constructed bullet is plenty if you do your part.
 
+1 on shot placement being the issue.

What .30 cal rifles were used, what bullets and weight, as well as range all three deer were taken at? Going down in bullet size and increasing velocity is rarely the answer.
 
What they all said. It's about shot placement. The only shot that guarantees meat won't be damaged is a headshot. I don't think it's an ethical shot but behind the front shoulder works pretty good.

The only meat I don't mind messing up is organ meat.
 
meat

I don't get enough meat from the neck or shoulders of our typical whitetails to worry too much about losing some to a bullet that clips same. I cut the shoulders into stew meat anyhow, so paying a bit of attention to other cuts will yield enough stew meat to make up for any lost to a blown shoulder. The neck, if its big enough, will go for a roast.

Yes, I do use the .243 for deer on occasion.......the slug is 100 gr Nosler Partitions, running about 2850 fps or so from 20" carbines. I really don't see a big difference, if any, in killing power, or destructiveness, in the .243 or other deer calibers, when shots are placed as they should be.

Elmer Keith used to write about "eating up to the bullet hole" and as he favored large caliber, slow bullets, I suspect something like that might yield the least bloodshot meat from a firearm...say 405 grain traditional 45-70?

What will indeed yield zero ruined meat is a broadhead centered through the lungs!
 
I have used a .243 in the past for whitetail hunts and coyote hunts. When planted on the shoulder, with a 100 gr. Core-lok, that rifle would do just as much damage to meat as my 300 Win mag throwing 180 gr. Ballistic tips.
The 243 never had any problem putting deer down. I just dont believe you will do much less damage to your edible portions if you continue to thump em in the shoulder. Over the years, i have become slightly more wise and dont go for the "drop them " shot anymore. I agree with other posts, try and punch em in the rib cage and avoid losing meat.
Chris
 
A .243 will wreck as much meat as most anything.

I use high shoulder shots with mine...lessens destruction and increases DRT.
 
The spine in the neck provides a tiny target in a long, thin line, compared to the heart/lungs/liver area which provides a larger target from any direction. I realize some hunters still aim for the neck or shoulders but I just can't understand why they would do it if they know the three-dimensional size of the heart/lungs/liver. The heart/lungs/liver is the BEST lethal target for most animals and certainly for deer. And the .243 is fine for whitetails, although my preference is a .270 for our larger northern whitetails (unfortunately excluding my home state.)
 
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A 243 is darn near the perfect whitetail cartridge, and it is effective past 300 yards if the shooter is. But it won't destroy any less meat. As others pointed out that is about shot placement and bullet construction.
 
"For years I shot deer with a 6MM Remington using an 87 grain Hornady Varmint bullet.
Depending on which Hornady 87 grain that was, it may not have been a "varmint" bullet. The old 87 spire point with the "coke bottle" core was one of the best 6mm(.243) deer bullets I've ever used.
Regarding the .243: I don't even recommend shooting bigger deer in the shoulder with the 243/6mm due to the many failures to penetrate seen in the past. Catching a little bit of shoulder on a quartering shot is one thing but purposely aiming to hit the point of the shoulder is a whole different scenario.
I mostly shoot a 25/06 with 100 grain bullets(to get the flat trajectory and expansion needed for 350-400 yards) and specifically avoid "shoulder shots" especially on bigger bucks at any range.
 
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