Long range elk shot with .243 Win (Warning: Graphic)

[mrostov]

Currently, the main centerfire metallic cartridge I use in Texas and other locations in North America is a .243 Winchester. It is a death ray on game. It's great in that it's good for everything from varmints to elk, depending upon the bullets that you choose. The recoil is comparatively light compared to many other calibers.

I've also heard that the .243 Winchester is probably the most popular centerfire metallic cartridge hunting round in the UK.

This video shows just how effective the .243 can be at long range. The female shooter drops an elk in it's tracks with one shot at 688 yards. An adult North American elk typically weighs in between 500 to 700 pounds.

She was using a 105gr VLD bullet. Most .243 barrels are 1:10 twist, and some will shoot a 105gr bullet well, depending upon the make of the bullet. However, best accuracy for a 105gr to 115gr 6mm bullet is with a 1:8 twist.

Wait till the focus of the camera un-zooms to get a good idea of just how far away that shot was.

 

[Alan De Enfield]

Good shooting.

The 243 is the 'smallest' calibre you can legally use for Deer in the UK - many, many will be using 308.
I have several Lee Enfield rifles & use 'the good old 303', in the No4T, or 7.62 NATO (308 equivalent) in the L42A1

243 is considered by many in the UK to be a Fox round.

 

[widu13]

I don't understand the obsession with long range shots in the US. A shot taken at 0.4 mile on a paper target is a cracking shot, but on a live animal there are too many variables to call this a good shot- a gust of wind "could" drive the bullet from it's intended path, the animal may move etc. Lets face it it was a skilled shot, but pure luck it killed the animal immediately.

I'm an advocate of the .243, it's my largest calibre. Alan is kind of right, in the UK it is regarded as a popular dual purpose round- fox and deer. In the UK it is the smallest mainstream calibre allowed for our larger deer species. The most popular foxing rounds are .222 and .223.

 

[mrostov]

A century ago, a .32-20 with a plain lead bullet was considered to be an adequate deer round.

There is a lot of debate in American hunting circles on using the .223 on deer where it, not the .243, is considered by many to be the minimum deer caliber. In Texas a lot of deer are legally taken with the .223 and other .22 centerfires like the .22-250. What makes the .223 viable in that regard are the excellent hunting bullets available for it.

Most American hunting laws are state by state. The way it roughly breaks down is that there are 7 states that don't allow high powered rifle rounds for hunting. These states you have to use shotguns with slugs or sabots, and with some you can also use rifles that are chambered in a large handgun caliber. This is mainly due to concerns for human population density.

Of the remaining 43 states, you can use .22cal centerfires in 36 of them for big game. Colorado, for example, doesn't allow .22 centerfires, last I checked, while Kansas has toyed with the idea and allowed .22 centerfires for a brief period till the argument swung the other way.

Ironically, a couple of the quickest, cleanest deer kills I have ever seen were done with a .17 Remington. It was like someone just flicked the 'OFF' switch on the deer.

A lot of people I know use the .223 on deer. One reason I like a .243 is because of the extra range, in addition to the extra killing power. A good hunting bullet will push the effective deer range of the .223 out to about 250 yards. With a .243 you don't have to worry about that. General rule of thumb is that the .243 is in energy at 300 yards roughly what a .223 is at the muzzle.

To answer a comment about Americans 'obsession' with long range shots. Some do overly obsess about it and the vast majority of game are shot within 200 yards or less. However, in some places we do have a lot of very open country. It's hard to get close to some game in such country. That long range shot that woman took on the elk was with a very high BC bullet and it was still well above supersonic at 688 yards. So, it still had a lot of energy and good expansion on the bullet.

 

[Janne]

The reason we in the western part of Europe do not have this kind ofhunting is the lack of long open spaces. I think the longest shot I ever took in Sweden hunting was maybe 150 meters.

Maybe in southern Russian Federation? The steppes?

Excellent shot that one was!

 

[widu13]

To answer a comment about Americans 'obsession' with long range shots. Some do overly obsess about it and the vast majority of game are shot within 200 yards or less. However, in some places we do have a lot of very open country. It's hard to get close to some game in such country. That long range shot that woman took on the elk was with a very high BC bullet and it was still well above supersonic at 688 yards. So, it still had a lot of energy and good expansion on the bullet.

My concern was not with the terminal velocity of the bullet, IMHO a .243 is a perfectly adequate round; more with the distance involved in this video. If that person can't approach that herd with that terrain then they shouldn't be shooting. As I said, pure luck that the deer didn't move. 1.5 secs is a long time to "hope" that the target didn't move. If it had dropped it's head in that time would there be a youtube video of it with it's jaw hanging off whilst running away being posted? I don't think there would, do you?

It's the same here, people bragging about successfully taking shots at rabbits at 150 yds with a .22LR- possible but in no way ethical. Plenty of opportunity in our Highlands for long range shots (with far less cover from view, than shown in this video) but they just aren't done. In this instance I would be applauding if that were a paper target...but it wasn't. Subsistence hunting is one thing, but responsible sport hunting is another entirely.

 

[mrostov]

It was a chest shot, not a head shot. It was a guided hunt. If you listen to the guide talking in the background he tells her to shoot it behind the shoulders. So, unless the elk spontaneously bolted a small amount of movement wouldn't matter much.

I've noticed that a lot of guided hunts tend to take very long shots. This has much to do with the guide needing to satisfy the client who may not be either ruggedly fit to traverse the terrain nor experienced in stalking game closer through the bush.

Head shots can be tricky at even closer ranges because the head on most animals moves around a lot. The main animal I'll try a head shot on right off is an alligator. The head doesn't move around too much and a wounded alligator tends to head for the water, then he's gone.

 

[santaman2000]

Long range shots are as much due to the nature of the game hunted as it is to the terrain (cover) I don't care how good you are, you ain't getting closer than at least 200 yards from an antelope out west. further for prairie dogs. Long range shots unethical? Next you'll be telling me it's unethical to shoot deer running from the dogs. Both are part and parcel of the sheer fun of hunting.

Winter before last I watched my grandson place a near perfect chest shot with my 30-06 on a large white tail deer at under 40 yards. He went down immediately and we waited on the stand (hide) for about a half hour hoping for a second one to pass. (he almost got a shot at a coyote that had been following the deer but it spooked) When went down to retrieve the buck, he leapt up and bolted as if he'd just woken up.

Good hits with solid calibers up close still aren't a guarantee of "instant" kills. I don't sweat over them. I don't understand the obsession with "instant" kills (certainly not a requisite for coon hunting where you shake the coon out of the tree for the dogs) As long as I can retrieve the meat (if meat's the purpose of the hunt) the trophy (if a trophy's the purpose) the fur (if profit's the purpose) or just insure eradication of unwanted species.

 

[Klenchblaize]

I was expecting support/justification as above and on several points I wouldn't disagree. However, while a dead deer is just that whatever the trajectory of bullet I struggle with any suggestion that in terms of a hunting experience this is equall to the same deer being taken at 200 yards after a challenging stalk. Something that to me is the essence of hunting and is probably why I'm so hacked-off we can't use a longbow to pursue varmits & game in the UK!

K

 

[Janne]

Stalking for deer is the territory of the British Gentleman....

We meat hungry savages like to sit and wait until the meal approaches us, then take a chest shot.
Never a head shot, as it can damage the antler we need for our knife handles..

chest meat, lungs and heart - dog cares not if it is a bit shredded!

 

[mrostov]

Yeah, it's a puzzle to me why you guys across the pond can't use a longbow for hunting. After all, it's the land of Robin Hood and the yeoman archer. I love my long bow. It allows me to quietly harvest deer, legally, within the city limits. In virtually every American town you cannot use a firearm within city limits unless it's at an approved range or in self-defense.

I like a fast kill because a deer that runs it changes the flavor of the meat. A deer that runs a long ways expends the glycogen in the tissues. I don't hunt so much for the thrill of the hunt but rather to fill my freezer. A lot of the hunting people do in Texas is stand hunting. On the local wildlife preserve it's mandatory. So, if you see the target, whatever it's range is, you shoot from where you are.

The most whitetail deer I have seen in one spot together locally is a herd of about 50 or so feeding in a field near a main rod.

In a more perfect world I'd use a .260 Rem or a 6.5 Creedmore. However, I travel a lot and I can get .243 just about anywhere I go. The .243 also straddles the isle between varmint rifle and big game rifle.

It will also drop a wild hog fast in addition to a deer. Wild hogs are everywhere these days, and it's open season on them 24/7/365, kill all you want any time you want. Most are not gigantic, but I've seen a couple you could have ridden with a saddle.

I've thought about getting a .308 barrel for my rifle. I've used .308 a lot in the past, but I'm keeping gear clutter down to a minimum these days.

 

[snappingturtle]

I was expecting support/justification as above and on several points I wouldn't disagree. However, while a dead deer is just that whatever the trajectory of bullet I struggle with any suggestion that in terms of a hunting experience this is equall to the same deer being taken at 200 yards after a challenging stalk. Something that to me is the essence of hunting and is probably why I'm so hacked-off we can't use a longbow to pursue varmits & game in the UK!

K

I agree the stalk is for me one of the main excitements and skills, only really be able to hunt here with an air rifle, which has next to no power and little range so you have to get close and be accurate that's the down side, up side is you have to stalk well and shoot well.

 

[Janne]

I could do with a flock of baby wild hogs in the freezer.

Instead I have a pod of Cod and smoked bits of Pig.

 

[snappingturtle]

I could do with a flock of baby wild hogs in the freezer.

Instead I have a pod of Cod and smoked bits of Pig.

How are you going to herd them to your freezer?

 

[Janne]

Lure them with something juicy.
Wonder what is the favourite food of wild pigs?
Eggs? Birds?

 

[mrostov]

Air rifles here are mostly unrestricted except in a couple of states. Buying one, regardless of power, is like buying a fishing pole - no paperwork at all. Oddly enough, here in Texas the only thing that it is technically legal to hunt with an air rifle is a squirrel. Yet, I can hunt a pig with a fully automatic weapon with a silencer and a night vision scope if I want to.

I do actually have one other centerfire but it's not currently in a usable state. A family member gave me a 6.5x55mm Swedish Army surplus M96 Mauser that had been in the middle of being sporterized when it was submerged during last year's massive, Cat 4 hurricane that slammed into right where we live. They just now gave it to me, rusted shut. So, it is now getting doses of various things to get it loosened up.

Wild hogs will eat almost anything. They especially love to raid quail nests and are impacting our quail population. They are a mix of various European domestic breeds gone feral. In the 19th Century some hunters turned the German wild boar loose into the hog population to spice up the mix. In the early 20th Century some hunters did the same with the Russian wild boar. The biggest one I've seen in person was dead beside the highway, and from a distance I initially thought it was a dead cow.

 

[snappingturtle]

Not difficult to buy air rifles here mrostov just there restricted to 12 foot pounds of energy so you only get a hunting range of around 30 yards or so, but we are lucky to have some very fine company's here that make really refined gun's that get the maximum out of are restricted law's, mind you saying that I have a Crossman 2200 magnum as my prime lead flicker! I like that you have boar almost the size of a cow! that would be one hell of a hog roast ! I guess you might need a small boat mast for a spit!

 

[santaman2000]

Air rifles here are mostly unrestricted except in a couple of states. Buying one, regardless of power, is like buying a fishing pole - no paperwork at all. Oddly enough, here in Texas the only thing that it is technically legal to hunt with an air rifle is a squirrel......

Not difficult to buy air rifles here mrostov just there restricted to 12 foot pounds of energy so you only get a hunting range of around 30 yards or so, but we are lucky to have some very fine company's here that make really refined gun's that get the maximum out of are restricted law's, mind you saying that I have a Crossman 2200 magnum as my prime lead flicker! ....

Yeah there aren't any legal restrictions on obtaining air rifles here in most states. The problem we have is actually finding the more powerful ones. They're out there, but lack of popularity prevents wide distribution and availability.

 

[santaman2000]

I was expecting support/justification as above and on several points I wouldn't disagree. However, while a dead deer is just that whatever the trajectory of bullet I struggle with any suggestion that in terms of a hunting experience this is equall to the same deer being taken at 200 yards after a challenging stalk. Something that to me is the essence of hunting and is probably why I'm so hacked-off we can't use a longbow to pursue varmits & game in the UK!

K

I agree the stalk is for me one of the main excitements and skills, only really be able to hunt here with an air rifle, which has next to no power and little range so you have to get close and be accurate that's the down side, up side is you have to stalk well and shoot well.

Stalking never appealed much to me. As Mrrostov says about most hunting in Texas, I prefer to find a good stand and wait now-a-days. When i first started hunting deer I preferred hunting in front of dogs on a driven hunt. Now that I think about it, most of the joy of deer hunting is the appreciation of the dogs and the comaraderie of the other hunters in a driven hunt.

.....I like a fast kill because a deer that runs it changes the flavor of the meat. A deer that runs a long ways expends the glycogen in the tissues. .......

I've heard that from different people all my life. But take a look at my comment about hunting a driven hunt with dogs. I've never tasted any difference.

 

[snappingturtle]

I think maybe the lack of popularity of air guns is you can have so much more, so maybe the air gun is seen more as a stepping stone ? rather than a staple hunting tool of small game, and you have more land and range, I think mainly here we have small woods and field edges for prowling grounds, plus we are quite closed in my way anyhow, so you have to be very considerate of the back ground and stray lead, as for stalking well I'm mainly English and we love to walk