Author Topic: I feel so undergunned! (Read 1572 times)

victorcharlie · « **on:** October 18, 2005, 03:13:21 AM »

For years, I've taken my .243 in the woods and killed many deer with it. Then, I got on the internet and found out that a fellow can't kill deer with a .243......So, I've stepped up to a .270 winchester........but the deer are so much tougher to kill these days...........I'm not sure that a non premium 130 grain corelot bullet fired by anything other than a caliber with the word magnum is enough any more...........There are rumors that the state's college boys have been altering the deer's DNA to create "SUPER DEER". Another rumor is that the college boys are supplementing feed containing anabolic steroids making local deer "DANGEROUS GAME", thus also requiring a controlled round feed action less one get gored by such a dangerous beast. My only other choice is my 1895 in 45.70 government as I can't afford a new rifle right now...........SUCH A DELIMA! :oops:

What say ya'll? Should I stay with the little .270 or take the Marlin and hope the rifle doesn't jam if the deer charge? If I take the .270 should I upgrade the ammo to super duper premium? I'm afraid the bullets will bounce off and make the beast mad.......... :?

ronbow · « **Reply #1 on:** October 18, 2005, 03:43:23 AM »

Hope you are sitting down Victorcharlie 'cause I just heard PETA is live trapping deer and fitting them with Kevlar vests. Sounds like .50 BMG time.

BnSC · « **Reply #2 on:** October 18, 2005, 05:00:21 AM »

This is a sad day.. I should have never read your post as I have killed a great number of my deer w/ a 22-250.. If you are undergunned w/ the 243, how much more undergunned am I w/ the my diminutive little 22-250.

I too have a 45-70, but it is a NEF single shot.. So alas, I must either quit hunting or buy a small field howiter to mount to my ladder stand...

Sad day indeed..

flintlock · « **Reply #3 on:** October 18, 2005, 05:22:15 AM »

Fortunately I had used my .243 for years before I had even heard of the internet...Never lost a deer to it...My brothers/nephews/cousins have .270s, .280s, 7mm-08s, 30-06s and even a .270 WSM...guess what??? Every one of them has lost deer do to poor marksmanship....Does it mean that a .243 is a "better" deer cartridge...Heck no...It means that in the early 70s I wounded a deer....and it tore me up so much that I only take good shots and I seldom shoot without a rest....Some guys have one year experience 20 times over and some have 20 years experience and learn from their mistakes...
Hopefully we are all in the second bunch...

R.W.Dale · « **Reply #4 on:** October 18, 2005, 05:32:23 AM »

Oh! It aint that bad yet. All you need to do is make shure whatever cartrige you use holds at least 100grs of powder and you use bullets that cost a minimum of $2.50 each. I you follow those guidelines you should be OK for brush huntin up to 150 yds or so.

I hear that those .243's make good squirell and rabbit huntin guns.

NONYA · « **Reply #5 on:** October 18, 2005, 05:44:52 AM »

I took my first deer,antelope and b bear with my 243 but I would never consider it for elk or long range deer hunting,when you hunt country that often requires you to shoot 300+ yards the 243 just wont do,but my 7 mag will.

marylandeer · « **Reply #6 on:** October 18, 2005, 05:53:45 AM »

Well I would have to suggest if your hunting deer, say 150# and lighter you should not limit yourself to anything smaller than a 300 Remington Ultra Magnum. :eek: They shoot VERY flat and usually have enough to put them down in fairly short order. But I repeat NO Deer larger than 150# should be shot with this cartridge.
Now for the REALLY BIG deer 150# on and all the way up but not to exceed 200# I would use at least a .458 Winchester Magnum :biggun: with a good stout 500 grain solid. :shock:
Now for that .243 of yours, save it for the chipmunks :wink: and maybe smaller squirrels, and the .45-70 would be probably be ok for some extremely short range varmint size game.
I hope this information helps!!!!

Of course I'm just messing around here, just had to go along with it. :grin:
Largest rifle I own is a .30-06 and I have several. Besides a couple of .50 cal. smokepoles.

lisa1lacy2 · « **Reply #7 on:** October 18, 2005, 07:16:04 AM »

have you all seen the ultramagdeer yet scary :eek:

jerkface11 · « **Reply #8 on:** October 18, 2005, 07:20:34 AM »

I believe there is a lahti 20mm antitank rifle for sale on gunbroker. It should be adequate for elk at short range.

NYH1 · « **Reply #9 on:** October 18, 2005, 09:24:42 AM »

Quote from: flintlock

Fortunately I had used my .243 for years before I had even heard of the internet...Never lost a deer to it...My brothers/nephews/cousins have .270s, .280s, 7mm-08s, 30-06s and even a .270 WSM...guess what??? Every one of them has lost deer do to poor marksmanship....Does it mean that a .243 is a "better" deer cartridge...Heck no...It means that in the early 70s I wounded a deer....and it tore me up so much that I only take good shots and I seldom shoot without a rest....Some guys have one year experience 20 times over and some have 20 years experience and learn from their mistakes...
Hopefully we are all in the second bunch...

Putting the bullet in the vital area is the most important thing. A 243 Win. bullet in the heart/lung area works a lot better the a 30-06 in stomach or one of the legs!

Dave in WV · « **Reply #10 on:** October 18, 2005, 03:23:19 PM »

ronbow, not only the kevlar vest but they now have high speed internet service so they know not to die to a .243. Now a .257 bob or a .25 sooper with a 100gr bullet is another thing so they avoid them at all cost. If they get a kligon cloaking device we're through. :wink:

rockbilly · « **Reply #11 on:** October 18, 2005, 04:03:45 PM »

:shock: :shock: :shock: There are a bunch of those anti-.243 experts out there in puter land, all have an opinion of what is, and what is not a good deer cartridge. I will continue to tell em all, I have used a .243 for more years than most of them have been alive, and have taken my share of deer with the "little" gun. I even have a friend that lives in Cortez, Co that kills elk on a regular basis with a .243.

If any of you experts have .243s to get rid of drop me a message..........

You know what a expert is, let's break it down, an ex is a has been, a spirt is a drip under pressure.

jerkface11 · « **Reply #12 on:** October 19, 2005, 03:02:32 AM »

.243?? I was under the impression that anything under 300 win mag was too weak for deer. Unless of course you're using $5 a pop bullets.

NYH1 · « **Reply #13 on:** October 19, 2005, 07:37:24 AM »

One of these would do a pretty good job!!!

skb2706 · « **Reply #14 on:** October 19, 2005, 08:19:10 AM »

What say we change the scenario..................

Make the deer a 350lb. plus mule deer. Make the shot across a mountain canyon with absolutely no chance of closing the distance. Range equals 350 yds. It is also combination deer/elk season and you have both licenses. At this point in time my friend you are undergunned and not well prepared.
You are by the way still "deer hunting" and still using your .243.......

NONYA · « **Reply #15 on:** October 19, 2005, 08:31:25 AM »

Sounds like a perfect scenario for my 7mag,that is exactly the kind of hunting scenario I have every time i go out into the hills here in MT,a 243 would limit me to close-uncommon shots and keep me from hunting elk,you would feel VERY undergunned with a 243 if you hunt where i do.

R.W.Dale · « **Reply #16 on:** October 19, 2005, 08:43:24 AM »

Quote from: skb2706

What say we change the scenario..................

Make the deer a 350lb. plus mule deer. Make the shot across a mountain canyon with absolutely no chance of closing the distance. Range equals 350 yds. It is also combination deer/elk season and you have both licenses. At this point in time my friend you are undergunned and not well prepared.
You are by the way still "deer hunting" and still using your .243.......

Well since the guy is in Tennesse I seirously doubt he is worried about that happening. It boils down to the fact that hunting out west has almost nothing in common with hunting in the east. But according to the gun rags the west is all there is.

Don't feel bad I am gonna deer hunt with a CZ carbine 7.62x39 this year I hope I can draw blood.

skb2706 · « **Reply #17 on:** October 19, 2005, 09:33:42 AM »

Don't know...don't read gun rags.

The title of the forum subject is deer hunting .......I responded as I know some deer hunting. Lets just say it is not the same everywhere.

Whilst on the prairie hunting deer......totally different than hunting in the mountains. I use my 6mm 30-30 (slightly less powerful than your .243...same bullets) with great success.

flintlock · « **Reply #18 on:** October 20, 2005, 09:11:00 AM »

At a ranged 350 yards, with a good rest, if I felt inclined to take the shot I would kill that buck with my .243.

NONYA · « **Reply #19 on:** October 20, 2005, 09:49:22 AM »

I hope you are shooting at very weak deer.

Brushbuck · « **Reply #20 on:** October 29, 2005, 01:01:07 PM »

The average deer and the average hunter are pretty close in body weight. So why not this: ask for volunteers of all those folks who say a certain cartridge is inadequate for deer to line up to take a bullet from one of those cartridges fired by an average deer hunter from his own gun at 150 yards (far longer than the average shot, by the way). If they survive the shot, they get to walk with $25K. If not, well, let's just say they were wrong. How many takers do you suppose we would have?

(The above is conjecture written for humor and a little thought, not a real suggestion that anyone should consider doing)

Don Fischer · « **Reply #21 on:** October 29, 2005, 08:32:09 PM »

If you shoot at a deer or an elk at 350 yds across a canyon and absolutely no way to get closer, how you gonna get it back to your side? If you can't drag your butt over,how you gonna drag your butt AND your buck back?

I never saw a four legged animal I "had" to shoot!

New Hampshire · « **Reply #22 on:** October 30, 2005, 01:34:49 AM »

Quote from: Krochus

It boils down to the fact that hunting out west has almost nothing in common with hunting in the east. But according to the gun rags the west is all there is.

Couldnt agree more. How many times Ive heared the "ole .30-30 is an outdated piece of junk.....get a real gun they tell me. But why do I need a .300 win Mag when the best I can ever see past is 150-200 yards anyways. I was totaly amazed last weekend when a friend took me to a local state forest. There were widely spaced pine trees in the 50-80 foot tall range that allowed you to see for about 150 yards at some points. I had neve seen that before in New Hampshire. Tell that to one of them "experts" and they would probably say "whaddaya mean you can ONLY see 150-200 yards? What the heck, you mean people actually deer hunt in the northeast?" Surprisingly some gun writers have begun coming out of the closet, so to speak, that they were helping to perpetuate the "bigger gun is better" idea, and they were sorry for the detriment it was causing to the genre (i.e. totaly unqualified guys trying to take down game animals at super long ranges with no practice and a bad flinch from the pounding they get from the gun.)
Brian

halfbreed · « **Reply #23 on:** October 31, 2005, 11:20:10 AM »

well gentlemen, this statrted out as a light hearted thread, then somewhere along the way it became somewhat serious.
I use a 300 ultra mag with 220gn SMK's when I feel it will be a long range affair, then sometimes I use the 458 winnie when I feel like doing it the hard way. Seriously. the 458 is loaded with 465 gn Saeco rnfp gc.
They both make a very serious hole in the deer around here. And someday I am going to find myself in Alaska where if I am not careful some big brownie just might try putting me on the dinner table, hence the 458 winnie. I thought I was going to move up there some time back, I doubt it will hapen now, but who knows what the future will bring?
Halfbreed