Hoffy makes a very good point and I agree with him!!! Take a look at the anatomy of a deer. The heart sits lower than what most think and hold for.

Over my almost 30 years of deer hunting I think I’ve heard just about every excuse there is as to why a deer has ran off after getting shot!!! (And for the record, yes I’ve used a few)
Bullets seem to be right there at the top of the list. Ain’t no wonder bullet manufactures are always so busy with the latest greatest!!!

Anyways, for all those deer that got away and was never found, you do not know where you hit them!!! You never found them!!! You don’t know if it were a vital hit or not and have no way of knowing what the bullet did or didn’t do!!!

As for a deer that goes more than 25-30 yards.......I am yet to see a deer go further than that with a double lung hit or a solid heart shot regardless of caliber or bullet weight.
Wound a deer with the first shot and get his adrenalin pumping and all bets are off. They will run a mile without realizing they’re dead!!!

I don’t know about any one else, but when I gut a deer I analyze the heart, lungs and the path of the bullet to access the damage and to verify if the bullet went where I wanted it to go.
You would be amazed at the damage a little .243 bullet can do when it's put in the right place.

chambered221 wrote:

The heart sits lower than what most think and hold for.

That was my conclusion with the two that I recovered, e.g., I need place the shot lower. The exit hole was the same size as the entry hole and it was too high in the chest cavity (ie, top of the lungs and away from the heart). It also takes longer for the lungs to fill and leave a noticeable blood trail.

d_hoffman wrote:

As far as Barnes bullets goes, I used them on one deer and will never use them again.

In 2003, Barnes came out with their new banded-solid TSX and TTSX bullets. The metallurgy and design of the bullet was changed significantly and penetration is their objective.

chambered221 wrote:

You would be amazed at the damage a little .243 bullet can do when it's put in the right place.

You're absolutely correct on that Chambered. The .243 is a very potent round. Once while on leave from the Army I visited my parents who at the time lived in Florida down by Okechobee. I shot a 250 - 300 pound hog that was on a full charge straight at me, thanx to the Arkansas Ridgeback they had, with a .243 100gr Rem corelokt and it stopped it dead in it's tracks. The year after I got out of the Army I shot a deer at about 270 yards, I missed the ribs going in and coming out the other side and still recovered the deer. I also miised the heat but the lungs... what lungs they were totaly destroyed.

Good placement for the heart is about 1/3 of the way up from the brisket and about 2-3" behind the front leg. It looks kind of like a small triangle shaped pocket just above the elbow.

I'm a neck shooter

slimjim wrote:

sniper wrote: Heavy premium bullets, heavy construction, like Barnes TSX, or Nosler Partitions My hunting experience has also lead me to the conclusion that bullet selection is the most critical. The deer in TX are not that big and its thick brush where I hunt. I initially hunted with a .308 but I usually lost the shoulder meat on the other side so I started hunting with my .243 using 100 gr Sierra Game King and 100 gr Nosler Partition (I've heard lots of positive comments about the NP). However, my experience with both these bullets have been inconsistent and disappointing.

Can't agree more. Although I reach an entirely different conclusion. Typical 80 grain .243 bullet travels at about 3,400 fps. 100 grain can usually get to about 2,900 fps. Couple that slower speed with bullets ENGINEERED for controlled expansion and you get...you guessed it...NO expansion. I got my first .243 at the early age of 14. Being the inexperienced hunter I was, and the fact my local Western Auto only carried Remington 80 grain Power-Lokt HP, that's what I used. Over the years I took 64 deer with that gun from 75 pounds (sad, but true) to over 250 pounds and only ONE took more than a step. That 247 pound bruiser ran an entire 25 yards before lying down to take a little nap.

Once, I was resting in the middle of a multi hour tracking of a wounded deer shot by a friend of mine with a 30-06. He actually said "good thing I was using a big gun so that we have a blood trail", to which I responded (instead of shooting him..it was a toss-up) "if you had been using a .243 we wouldn't have NEEDED a blood trail and I wouldn't be waisting 4 hours of my hunting day looking for THIS !@#$%$#@! deer". After repeating that little scenario later in the season, he went out and bought a .243. He never used his 30-06 again.

In my late twenties, I read in a magazine that I was stupid and should be using 100 grain bullets. I experimented with 95 grain and 100 grain bullets. Killed some and eventually lost 6 or 7 before I realized I WAS STUPID (for believing that crap) and went back to the 80 grain hollow points.

After my first 64 whitetail deer, I handed that gun down to my nephew. Didn't keep count on deer for each gun after that, but it would be safe to say I have killed over 200 deer with a .243 and my experience tells me much more than gun writers' "terminal ballistics theory".

BTW...the Remington Power-Lokt 80 grain HP is sold as a "Varmint bullet".

I'm now at the age I can afford a custom built rifle. I handed over my Rem 700 action to my gunsmith which he blueprinted and to which he attached a custom thumbhole stock, timney trigger, custom lug, Leupold VX3L, and Krieger 1:12 twist #5 contour barrel. Can you guess what caliber it is?

221 Fireball........Right !!!

Welcome to Hunting Nut

Hey tcknight, I agree with you on the '06. The only way I'd have an '06 is an M1 Garand. Other than that, I wouldn't have one except for trading stock for a .243, .270, 7mm-08, 7mm Rem Mag or a .280.

As far as the guess of the caliber for your custom rifle, I'm going with the topic of this thread and say a .243, .243 Ackley, or maybe even a 6mm Ackley.

Welcome to HuntingNut tcknight. Grab a beer and pull up a stump mate...plenty of room by the fire.

Like you, I too am a .243 hunter...and I load the Remington 80gn PSP bullet.
A great combination.

Cheers, Vince

Thanks for the Welcome guys!

Hey Vince:

I came over to your country in '98 and stomped around a while. Learned to surf, among other things. (Love your conuntry by the way, especially the independent spirit).

But I just HAVE to ask this. Seems like they outlawed guns sometime around the time I was there. As I understood it at the time, only Government shooters could shoot nuisance animals for farmers.

Recently I found a website dedicated to Australian hunters. So, what is the deal? Is hunting still on in Australia or what? I would have loved to have done that while I was there but figured that would be impossible.

tcknight,
Welcome mate!

Yeah, back in the end of the 90's guns were cropped by Howard's government.
All semi-auto (including 22LRs) are prohibited.
All pump action shotguns (why?) are outlawed..
Of course full-auto were never civilian gun anyway.

But, hunting is still on mate.

Thanks Gelan....as Gelan said TC...nothing semi auto and no pump action shotguns.

Also pistol shooters have also been limited to a maximum calibre of .38, regardless of why you want it.

Cheers, Vince

Well, that clears that up. I was always hesitant to ask. THANKS.

Have lever actions caught on with any special variants or are bolt guns the favorite?