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Took my 6yr. old hunting Thursday hoping to just let him try to shoot a doe. Only deer that came out was at about 250 yards and his range with his new .243 is about 50. While it was quickly getting dark we were just sitting and enjoying watching her feed, when my son said he saw another deer coming from our left. Having left the binoculars in the truck I raised the rifle to look through the scope, and HOLY $H!%.


The deer had just stepped out of some grass that was about chest high into an area we bushogged back in October. I have killed several nice deer with a 135" and a 140" deer on the wall, this one would have challenged both of them antler wise. I'm guessing somewhere around 18-22" wide 8 or 9 point that was pretty heavy! Without hesitation my son whispered shoot it dad!

If you didnt see it coming already this is where it gets ugly! I normally shoot a 300WSM and have no experience with a .243 on deer. Since it was his new Christmas present there was no decision as to what gun we were carrying that day. We were hunting from a enclosed two man blind that provides a very steady rest for shooting. The deer was facing us, so I waited until he gave me a quartering shot, centered the crosshairs on the point of his shoulder and squeezed the trigger. BOOM! The deer literally was knocked off of his feet! My son even said "You got him good dad he flipped!" While bolting another round the deer was kicking and struggling pretty hard and while he never regained his feet (that I could see) managed to work hiself back into the tall grass. We remained in the stand for another five or so minutes with me frantically searching the grass for any sign of the deer for a possible finishing shot. After no luck I decided to go down to where he was, hoping to find him within 50 or so yards of the initial shot(which was about 120yds).

By the time we reached the location it was almost completely dark and amazingly we could find no sign of a hit. No blood, no hair, no nothing! I took my son home (who was having a tough time keeping up the search in the tall grass) and returned with my dog in hopes he would lead me to him in the dark. The dog (black lab I duck hunt with) hit on the same trail twice that led to the proprty line. I dont know if he was following scent of a well used deer trail or if the deer had actually used it trying to get away. There was still no blood. Returned at daylight the next morning with permission to search the adjoining property, still no luck! Must have walked a total of ten miles. Needless to say I was disgusted, I have been deer hunting for over twenty years and have killed more than my share never having lost a deer. Prior to this my longest tracking job has not been over 75 yards. Any suggestions?


By the way I was shooting 95 grain Federal Fusion bullets from a .243. I shot a doe with the same combo on Monday and performance was less than good. The shot was about 85 yards hitting just behind the shoulder, the opposite shoulder was not even bruised and I couldnt find any significant pieces of the bullet. Be wary of the Fusion bullets if you are shooting at deer!!!

should have let ur son shoot at it.

...he would have killed it.

Wait a day or two and watch for buzzards.

man thats a great gun. u need to get the wichester 95 balistic tip. . that guns not gonna leave a blood trail. the balistic tip will leave one if you hit it right. i have yet to loose one with them. but the gun is a great gun.

I shot one in the point of the shoulder with my 7 mag opening weekend. It ran 50 yards and died but there was no blood.Thebullet blew out the ribs onthe otherside but didn't exit the skin. That is why there was no blood on my deer. Quartering to you is not a good angle for a shot.
The only advice I have is to just keep looking. With the warm temps you might be able to smell it in a couple of days.

As far as bullets I would suggest Remington Core Locks. I don't like ballistic tips because any small limb or any obstruction will cause the bullet to explode before it gets to the target. Ilearned that lesson the hard way on a 145-150 8 pt.

Good Luck and I hope you find him.

Shoot one of them Remington Core Lokt bullets...at least they will stay together THROUGH a deer instead of exploding...if a blood trail leading to a dead deer is what you are after. You could neck shoot em and drop em where they stand.

Thanks for all the help, I'm going this afternoon to sit in the same stand and hunt for buzzards. You can guarantee I'll be shooting Cor-Lokts or Nosler Partitions out of that gun from now on! Would have liked to put my hands on him for my sons sake, I think he likes it as much as I do!

I agree with Dutch Dog, shoot them in the neck, no need for blood trail, they don't leave thier tracks...

I have heard that same story too many times from the 243. There is no room for error with it at all and you usuallly will not get a blood trail with that caliber. For a youth switch to a 7mm-08 or 260.

sunnylab wrote:should have let ur son shoot at it.

(1) Ditto. It was his gun and his hunt, doe or buck, IMO.

(2) "Waited 5 minutes and got down"....with a deer that acted like that you should have waited longer (45 minutes-1 hour). Then use a flashlight or 2.....or 3.

(3) "Black lab I duck hunt with"....did you actually expect a DUCK dog to track and find a DEER

Just an FYI. The 243 and 7mm 08 are the same cartridge one is a 24 caliber bullet and one 27 caliber, you can just get bigger grained bullets in the 7mm08. If you want a blood trail on a 243 just switch to a different bullet such as the 100 grain from Hornaday.

Speed and bullet type is what gives you penetration and allows the bullet to pass through not necessarily the caliber

Believe it or not the 220 Swift with a 55 grain bullet will give you the most penetration. In fact we shot all the major calibers including 270, 308, 243, 6MM, 30 06, and 30/30 at a 3/4 inch piece of steel and the only bullet to go thru the steel was the 220 swift... So a bigger bullet does not always mean it will go through...

I can understand not letting a 6 yr. old shoot at 240 yards. But why not at 120? I think your biggest goof up was not letting him pull the trigger.

look for a load with a partition bullet, they'll do a good job getting penetration...I think federal still loads one for the 243....

as for the 220 Swift going through steel...it will make a hole but it's the velocity in this case that is being dispelled as heat which literally melts a hole in the steel plate.... put a piece of plywood about 5-10 feet behind it and see what happens....there isn't much really going through.... try using wet newspaper for a better idea of penetration than steel, unless your shootin' at steel deer....

Penetration involves a lot of factors; mass, frontal diameter, sectional density, bullet design, and velocity, and all these are interrelated.... one of the easiest to control for the shooter is bullet design and mass, if you aren't getting the results you want switch to a heavier tougher bullet....

F&Wman to answer some of your statements we were about 100yds from the property line and I could see that he was no longer in the immediate area. I got down in 5 minutes because it was getting dark and I wanted to find a starting point to start the track after I waited enough time to let him bleed.

As far as a DUCK DOG finding a DEER, yes I did expect him to find it. This is based on the fact that he has done it several times before for other people.

Letting my 6yr old pull the trigger was not realistic either, we have spent alot of time practicing and his effective range this year is about 50 yards. When the opportunity presents itself(and it will) I want him to have every chance he can to be successful! So for the couple of haters that posted, just keep shootin' the 4pts. and leave the deer killin to me. All others advice was much appreciated.

cwinkler wrote:Speed and bullet type is what gives you penetration and allows the bullet to pass through not necessarily the caliber

Believe it or not the 220 Swift with a 55 grain bullet will give you the most penetration. In fact we shot all the major calibers including 270, 308, 243, 6MM, 30 06, and 30/30 at a 3/4 inch piece of steel and the only bullet to go thru the steel was the 220 swift... So a bigger bullet does not always mean it will go through...

Your talking about a bullet passing thru a deer, i have always heard you dont want it to pass thru. You want the bullet to hit the deer and stop that way the deer asbords all the power of the bullet.