Am I crazy for thinking about buying a new deer rifle in .243 this year?
My first deer rifle at 12 years old was a Ruger 77 in .243 and I killed my first deer at age 13 with this rifle. The rifle got sold or traded after that and I was constantly using different guns for a long time. But as a lot of people, I had to keep pace with all my buddies and the bigger calibers they were using. 243s were for kids and girls, at least that's what I have always heard and seem to continue to read on just about every gun forum I see.
But as the calibers got bigger, I really had no practical reason for using them. Woods in my part of the state are pretty thick and the longest shot I've ever had was about 150 yards. So there was no need for me to be using half of the calibers I owned or still use to this day.
Now I find myself almost dreading going to the gun range to check my scope zero on all of my deer rifles. I've since bought a Caldwell Lead Sled because some of my rifles are just really no fun to shoot. I think I've gotten to a point in my life where I have my collector guns and then I have my functional guns. And if I don't enjoy shooting my functional guns, I see little reason to continue keeping them. So I've slowly weeded away all of my heavy hitting calibers and have dropped everything down a few steps in terms of recoil. It's not that the recoil hurts so much as it's just not "fun" to shoot. It feels like a job and I don't want my shooting to ever feel like it's a job.
So in an effort to get back to the enjoyable shooting of centerfire rifles (ARs not included because those are still tons of fun), I have really been giving serious thought to a buying a nice rifle in 243 and using it this year. Am I crazy to be thinking this? Especially considering I have several other guns in calibers such as 25-06, 6.5x55, and 270? Do experienced hunters really give the 243 a chance or is it like I read on every other forum and the 243 is only good for young and female hunters?
My first deer rifle at 12 years old was a Ruger 77 in .243 and I killed my first deer at age 13 with this rifle. The rifle got sold or traded after that and I was constantly using different guns for a long time. But as a lot of people, I had to keep pace with all my buddies and the bigger calibers they were using. 243s were for kids and girls, at least that's what I have always heard and seem to continue to read on just about every gun forum I see.
But as the calibers got bigger, I really had no practical reason for using them. Woods in my part of the state are pretty thick and the longest shot I've ever had was about 150 yards. So there was no need for me to be using half of the calibers I owned or still use to this day.
Now I find myself almost dreading going to the gun range to check my scope zero on all of my deer rifles. I've since bought a Caldwell Lead Sled because some of my rifles are just really no fun to shoot. I think I've gotten to a point in my life where I have my collector guns and then I have my functional guns. And if I don't enjoy shooting my functional guns, I see little reason to continue keeping them. So I've slowly weeded away all of my heavy hitting calibers and have dropped everything down a few steps in terms of recoil. It's not that the recoil hurts so much as it's just not "fun" to shoot. It feels like a job and I don't want my shooting to ever feel like it's a job.
So in an effort to get back to the enjoyable shooting of centerfire rifles (ARs not included because those are still tons of fun), I have really been giving serious thought to a buying a nice rifle in 243 and using it this year. Am I crazy to be thinking this? Especially considering I have several other guns in calibers such as 25-06, 6.5x55, and 270? Do experienced hunters really give the 243 a chance or is it like I read on every other forum and the 243 is only good for young and female hunters?