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LaAngler · #1 10-21-2009, 12:55 PM

Ok I am curious to hear some personal experience you all may have had.

I have taken deer with .243 win, .270 win, and 7 rem mag. Seems like the .243 drops them just as quick if not better than the .270

why???

Jordan · #2 10-21-2009, 12:59 PM

bullet size ?? I wonder the same thing. I hunt with a .270... lonest shot i've had to take was 153 yards... i shot him.. he walked about 5 foot and fell dead... i was like *** ? I shot a doe at 38 steps about 2 years ago and i had to track that tough b*tch for 150 yards..

Gerald · #3 10-21-2009, 01:53 PM

I have been shooting a .243 for over 20 years and probably killed about 45 deer with it. I have only lost 3 deer......and 2 were most likely due to poor shot [too far back] placement. One of these shots had a fair blood trail for 150 yards and then nothing.

The other I did not find due to my lack of tracking skill / effort in finding it. This was only the 3 rd deer I had ever shot. There was lots of good bright red blood in the area where it stopped for a while. I think what messed me up was that a second deer walked into this area and I saw it walk off and kept looking in only that direction.

About half of my kills are from neck or head shots.....they drop. Of the other ~25 kills, 15 of those drop......and ~10 run anywhere from 20 to 60 yards. The only deer that ran any farther, was gut shot......after the bullet took a chunk out of a small tree 10 in front of the deer. I found this deer ~ 150 yard away.

I shoot the 100 gr. Cor-Lock. That first deer that I did not find and 1 or both of the other two that I did not find were shot with some 80 gr. bullets that I still had not used up when target shooting.

All shots are short range......less than 80 yards and most are 30 to 40 yards.

Ray · #4 10-21-2009, 02:16 PM

I shot a .243 for 10 years then moved to a 30-06 when I graduated from high school.
I never had any problems killing deer with either one, and I never lost any deer.
I mostly hunted in Texas with the .243 and La. with the 30-06.
I killed a lot more with the .243 cause there were so many deer. I wasn't a trophy hunter, I was a meat hunter. The guy who leased the land let me thin the doe population, shoot spikes and inferior bucks. He saved the big bucks for his clients and customers.
I got to hunt for free, but I also had to give up half the meat for his customers. But I prolly shot up to 20 deer per year. He had a deer management plan that said he had to shoot so many doe's per year. None of his customers wanted to shoot doe's. And he paid for all the meat processing.
Them was the days. After I graduated from school and started working, he found another meat hunter.

LaAngler · #5 10-21-2009, 02:25 PM

ray did the deer run further after being shot with the .243, is what i'm getting at

Ray · #6 10-21-2009, 02:31 PM

Not more than 20 yards or so after I shot them, but they were between 75 and 100 yards from the blind when shot. No farther than that and no close shots. It was real hilly, rocky and lots of scrub brush.
He had corn and bean feeders that went off twice a day. They came up about 30 minutes before it went off. He rotated blinds to keep the deer confused and I always hunted the blinds the day after the hunters killed the bigger bucks. I couldn't hunt any blinds before a buck was killed so they won't get scared off.
Hunting was only allowed on weekends. Ball Ranch, Rocksprings, Tx.

yak'em-n-stack'em · #7 10-21-2009, 03:47 PM

.500 is where the knockdown power is

huntin fool · #8 10-21-2009, 03:57 PM

I've watched my Dad take a 415 yd. Shot and drop the deer cold with his .270.
Which is the furtherest shot I've ever seen. HOw he did it, i dont know. All i know is, it was every bit of 415 yds. and he dropped him cold

Down at his old lease a older feller legally blind, was dropping deer that far with a 30-30.

longsidelandry · #9 10-21-2009, 04:03 PM

I never really had an issue of deer running with my 270. It's all about where you shoot them. My 10 year old cousin shoots a 243 and dropped a buck last year at 175 yards, didn't take one step.

Slidellkid · #10 10-21-2009, 04:23 PM

Here are my thoughts on it. There is a theory that you need a thousand foot pounds of energy to kill a deer. I don't buy that at all. I don't think there is a buckshot load out there that creates a thousand foot pounds and I've literally seen thousands of deer killed with buckshot. A .223 also doesn't have a thousand foot pounds.

I think pretty much any rifle from .223 on up will kill deer pretty effectively; however, the difference between one caliber and another is the type of blood trail you will end up with. I killed 13 deer one year with a 25-06 and all deer died within a very short distance of 50 yards or less, but the ones that ran were very difficult to find as the blood trail was very sparse and the swamp I hunted was very thick. There is nothing more frustrating than shooting a deer and not having a blood trail if the deer runs off in the thicket. Deer can be almost impossible to find if you don't have some blood to follow. If you hunt rolling hardwoods that are not overly thick a blood trail may not be that big of a deal, but if you are hunting swamps with water or pine thickets where a small blood trail can fall down into the pine needles it can make or break you. I started shooting a .264 Win Mag and I always get an exit wound and have always had a blood trail (though most of the time they die within sight). I have friends that hunt with .243's and they kill the hell out of deer but they will also admit that blood trails can be skimpy or non-existent at times. I'm just not willing to take that chance. I know if I ever shot a huge buck and had no blood trail and couldn't find him I would be kicking myself in the rear. That being said, I shot two deer in S.C. this past weekend with my brothers 7mm-08 and really liked the performance. Both deer dropped almost in their tracks and both bullets exited the deer. The rifle was REALLY sweet to shoot with very little recoil....I think I am going to have to get me one!

Gerald · #11 10-21-2009, 04:45 PM

I think, a 22 LR bullet has something like 460 ft-lbs of energy.....and from what I have heard......it will drop a Deer.

It is not the energy....it is shot placement the drops a deer.

Slidellkid.....you right on about the exit wound and blood trail. Smaller caliber....less blood trail.....but not a much wasted meat.

CatDaddy · #12 10-21-2009, 05:24 PM

All my deer i have ever killed have been with a shotgun, 22, or a 17... And dont think i cant drop a deer DEAD in its tracks with a 17HMR.

Its so fast and accurate, that i can pinpoint the shot excally where i want it.. Like right between the eyes if someone holds the light still enough for me.

huntin fool · #13 10-21-2009, 05:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CatDaddy

All my deer i have ever killed have been with a shotgun, 22, or a 17... And dont think i cant drop a deer DEAD in its tracks with a 17HMR.

Its so fast and accurate, that i can pinpoint the shot excally where i want it.. Like right between the eyes if someone holds the light still enough for me.

flounder_smacker · #14 10-21-2009, 06:31 PM

all about shot placement. you hit a deer in the heart head or neck with any one of those calibers and its not going far. ive drop shot a few deer with a heart shot and they fall just like a head shot. some i have hit square in the heart and still run about 15 yards. bullets make a difference also. if you shot a ballistic tip all the energy of the bullet is released on impact pretty much knocking the deer down will a tight mushroom bullet passes through not releasing all of its power just penetrating more.

huntin fool · #15 10-21-2009, 06:36 PM

Shooting in the back along the spine works aswell as far as "dropping" the deer, your on your own after that though...

BIGJ · #16 10-21-2009, 07:15 PM

Its all about shot placement and the right bullet for your gun as all guns shoot one bullet different than the others.
I have killed about 75 deer with my Browning .270 and only lost two.
I now shoot a Browning .270 WSM and have not had any issues with it.
The .270 WSM is a awesome rifle.

T-BAZ · #17 10-21-2009, 07:22 PM

I have been shooting a rem. 270 with 130 gr. remington core-lokt. It is like some of yall said shot placement is the key to dropping them in their tracks. When you shoot a deer through the rib cage the bullet passes right through and most of the time the deer will run. I have learned that a shoulder shot will drop them dead because they absorb all of the shock and energy from the bullet because it hits bone unlike passing through the ribcage. Yes you will lose more meat but when it is a big buck i would rather lose some meat and watch the deer drop than see it run off and maybe never find it. That really sucks, i know from experience. 4 years ago i shot a nice 8 point in west bay through the ribs (lung shot) and it ran off leaving a good blood trail for about fifty yards then nothing. Never found him. Since then i have not had one take a step after a shoulder shot. Thats my opinion!!!!!!!!! Almost forgot about the does i just try to head shoot them. Heres an example. .

CatDaddy · #18 10-21-2009, 07:24 PM

Ray · #19 10-21-2009, 07:25 PM

Neck, head, chest or shoulder shots are good.
I never had an issue with losing meat either.
Holding your gun still is an issue, especially if it is cold.
You have to be able to be calm and pull the trigger between exhale and inhale.
Don't hold your breath.