deer rifle

[coldweld 65]

I agree with most on the thread but lets look at the first post .

 

It do's not to me seam like the person asking the question is going to be taking neck shots.

And i based my post on a heart lung shot hence big hole is desirable.

 

My reasons are ;-

 

Bullet in excess of 129 grn

 

Not hyperspeed potential of meat damage [ although if through ribs should not happen ]

 

Small grn bullets don't always exit [ lack of blood trail ]

 

.243's don't all like 100 grn and above pills [ bad grouping ]

 

My first two seasons on fallow and muntjack with .308/.260 resulted in 15 beasts down all heart lung shots ALL RAN at least 20 m bar one muntie that dropped to shot ,Ranges from 30m to 150m .

 

I read the words of the enlightened and could not belive it when my first deer ran !

[SNAP SHOT 194]

If you take a heart lung shot, providing the animal hasn't seen you it will just walk around in a dazed fashion until it drops, if it's adrenalin is up and has spoted you at some time in the stalk then there is a good chance it will run, follow it quietly and keep your eyes peeled....

But differing land will have differing needs to the stalk, remember the decision is yours. A blood trail will help but do you always get a blood trail everytime you fire with a larger calibre, not in my experience, depends where the bullet entered and what it hit on the way through,

i shoot 95 grain sst for all deer species, although i think you can only shoot 100grs in scotland i believe.

 

i hope we all learn something after every shot we take, its how we should gauge our sucess and our personal limits.....

[mattydski 560]

If you take a heart lung shot, providing the animal hasn't seen you it will just walk around in a dazed fashion until it drops, if it's adrenalin is up and has spoted you at some time in the stalk then there is a good chance it will run, follow it quietly and keep your eyes peeled....

But differing land will have differing needs to the stalk, remember the decision is yours. A blood trail will help but do you always get a blood trail everytime you fire with a larger calibre, not in my experience, depends where the bullet entered and what it hit on the way through,

i shoot 95 grain sst for all deer species, although i think you can only shoot 100grs in scotland i believe.

 

i hope we all learn something after every shot we take, its how we should gauge our sucess and our personal limits.....

On anything above Roe snappy.

[SNAP SHOT 194]

yes i was talking reds only sorry my mistake.............

[snapper5 0]

Not being an expert in any of this, the one thing that crosses my mind is what effect the different calibres and speed of the bullets have on the animal. I use a 6.5 x 55 and I have found the exit hole on Roe is always a very neat one inch diameter hole. I have seen a photo of the exit hole caused by a .243 and it was large and messy in comparison - not saying they're all like that, just the one I've seen. Surely this should be taken into account too?

 

S

[mattydski 560]

Not being an expert in any of this, the one thing that crosses my mind is what effect the different calibres and speed of the bullets have on the animal. I use a 6.5 x 55 and I have found the exit hole on Roe is always a very neat one inch diameter hole. I have seen a photo of the exit hole caused by a .243 and it was large and messy in comparison - not saying they're all like that, just the one I've seen. Surely this should be taken into account too?

 

S

 

And of course, the bullet type and weight would be taken into consideration. Even within calibres

[gluebeam 0]

i guess the 243 is one of those calibres you either love or hate. whatever floats your barrel eh?

[mattydski 560]

i guess the 243 is one of those calibres you either love or hate. whatever floats your barrel eh?

[SportingShooter 0]

i guess the 243 is one of those calibres you either love or hate. whatever floats your barrel eh?

[Mr_Logic 5]

I have had roe quite happily with 243 at 200+, longest was 256 yards, deer fell over without so much as a twitch.

[Deker 3,478]

I agree with most on the thread but lets look at the first post .

 

It do's not to me seam like the person asking the question is going to be taking neck shots.

And i based my post on a heart lung shot hence big hole is desirable.

 

My reasons are ;-

 

Bullet in excess of 129 grn

 

Not hyperspeed potential of meat damage [ although if through ribs should not happen ]

 

Small grn bullets don't always exit [ lack of blood trail ]

 

.243's don't all like 100 grn and above pills [ bad grouping ]

 

My first two seasons on fallow and muntjack with .308/.260 resulted in 15 beasts down all heart lung shots ALL RAN at least 20 m bar one muntie that dropped to shot ,Ranges from 30m to 150m .

 

I read the words of the enlightened and could not belive it when my first deer ran !

 

 

14 out of 15 Ran at Least 20 metres.... I think there is a message there somewhere!!!..and it isn't about a bigger hole!!

[Guest Deerstalker]

The gun was to be used on SIKA now who ever was using a 223 would be braking the law if he was shooting sika with THAT CALIBRE.

 

The shot placement of the rifle would be the same if it were .243 or a 6.5 because its the same chap who is asking the question so that dose not enter the topic

 

In my opinion like i said the .243 is not the calibre for SIKA DEER it is better suited to foxes and the choice of bullets for that calibre tell you so . It is the start calibre for deer in Britain and there fore the one most chaps get .The hassle the English have of changing calibres makes it easier to keep what they got and make do and that IMO is sad for them and the deer.

Edited November 21, 2008 by JohnGalway

[Mr_Logic 5]

Lets start with the facts first because most of the wannabes on here seem to be patting each others bums with out thinking first .

 

The gun was to be used on SIKA now who ever was using a 223 would be braking the law if he was shooting sika with THAT CALIBRE.

 

The shot placement of the rifle would be the same if it were .243 or a 6.5 because its the same chap who is asking the question so that dose not enter the topic

 

In my opinion like i said the .243 is not the calibre for SIKA DEER it is better suited to foxes and the choice of bullets for that calibre tell you so . It is the start calibre for deer in Britain and there fore the one most chaps get .The hassle the English have of changing calibres makes it easier to keep what they got and make do and that IMO is sad for them and the deer.

 

Everybody misses from time to time, but you don't get lots of runners. Deker was meaning the muntjac and smaller deer, since it's 223 and we're in England. They are more than sufficient for the task, and he can shoot pretty damn well.

 

if you think you need artillery for a sika deer you're wrong, it's as simple as that. If you put the bullet in the right place, the deer will die. They might go 20 yards or so but I don't call that a runner, that's a death spasm. Runner is one who really properly ain't got yet, and buggers off.

 

And if you get them with a 243 on a sika you will have put the bullet in the wrong place. I have 308 and 243 for deer, 308 simply because I can also shoot cheap ammo down the range, it's not required for stopping power.

 

Simply put 243 is a real genuine dual-purpose calibre, and there isn't a deer in the land it won't kill cleanly.

[Guest Deerstalker]

What has shooting a mutjac and shooting a sika got to do with anything MR logic most people have a .243 and will back it up wrongly in my opinion. I SHOOT A .222 AND IT IS A GREAT WEE GUN AND WILL KILL ROE DEER ALL DAY LONG. It would also shoot sika and kill them if shot in the right place . Now the facts are if you can miss as we all do you are even more likely to miss the kill zone .There for you are wounding and no matter what all the .243 owners say it dose not make the same hole as a bigger rifle just as my .222 dose not make the same holes a .243 also . so for me the right calibre is not the .243 it is one of the larger calibres just in case one day your not perfect but the gun gets a unexpected knock etc and you shooting is good but your zero isn't .

[SportingShooter 0]

Marksmanship and Sportsmanship, all it comes down to. Unexpected knock? If the rifle is knocked you would never have a hope of knowing where it was shooting whatever the calibre, unless it was put on paper.

 

You can miss with a .243 just as you can miss with a 6.5, .270, .308, etc etc etc. Every single one of them will wound a Deer shot in the wrong place. And if the rifle is knocked will have no more effect than any other.

 

Now I cant see the point of making fun of shooter's which you clearly know very little about, all three of the shooters you mentioned in your last two posts are more experienced than you obviously know. Two of them being very competent target shooters. One being someone who can group under 1" at 200 yards with any ammunition. As well as between the three of them you have 60 or 70 years experience of Deer stalking and stalking all species.

 

I would like to see the amount of Deer of ALL species killed with a .243 in comparison to other calibres in the UK and Ireland. It would make very interesting reading.