G-Man

Again showing knowledge and experiance in knowing to choose proper round..the average joe looks as a box sees a pic of a deer and grabs it good to go... a fine gun in hands of an experiance shooter imo but not a great deer rifle for the masses. Even when the round was created it was by experianced shooters wildcat put i to production ..

Actually outdoor life and field and stream like it.. but again professional hunters writers pushing it.. at least this guy gave his honest opinion even with it dropping deer dead.. All i know is lot of people calling for tracking dogs make good reads but seems no one has tracking skills anymore either so they should shoot a larger caliber may help with leaving blood on iffy shots.. not everyone is one shot one kill .. face it almost everyone on a hunting site that post hunts a lot or shoots a lot the average joe is a lurker who doesnt want to be eaten alive by "experianced " guys when asking a question. Eskimos kill polar bears with a .223 would you?

Off a hunting site on ranking worse deer cartridges.

My favorite light short rang gun is a 45-70. Out of what you offered id take a 30 30 single shot henry rifle.

Again experianced hunters proper bullet and shot placement are necessary.. a bigger caliber lends some forgiveness to this. You wont see a 7mm08, 30-30- 308 or 30 06 skip off a bone ... most injuries on deer that are recaptured on camera i can find on internet all all .243 heck fred bear killed every animal with a recurve so why should we use a compound?? Perhaps its more forgiving ??

Dont aim for shoulder always pop lungs. No meat loss unless you really clean up ribs....

Again you and others on this site have hunted and shot a lot.. unfortunately the average hunter does not.. many experianced hunters go smaller amd more primitive to make it a challenge to themselves.. they can tout how great it is but then people listen think they can do it as well. There was a 20ga turkey gun fad in the early 90s as the nwtf staff pushed the gun on it tv shows and to other hunting show creators.. went boom and then bust.. many went back to 12ga. Happens to Rifle calibers as well. Some stick many do not.. .222 was a fad and dissappeared. 22 hornet... ect

Yep its why bear guides recommend 12 ga and 30 cal and up..

Factory ammo id have to ask friends father in law what make type . They were " deer rounds" he doenst use that gun for hunting anymore either as bear are becoming more plentiful.

45 70 and 12 ga and 7mm. Story in bear section from few years ago.

Trying new spot for a doe.. no luck seeing doe , just bucks.. know there here in hiding from bucks i guess...

Pellets do not allow precise packing . Air gaps, crushed pellets .all effect accuracy and burn. Consistancy is the absolute key to a muzzleloader. Cant get it from pellet loads. Longer range needs same pressure to pack powder and exact weight/ volume of powder. Pellets vary quite a bit alone add to that air gap from rifeling and cracked crushed or damaged in any way and a minute differences show at range.

As far as i know was factory ammo. Sorry its not my neighbor but friends.. i did have a friend here knock a good buck down only to have it get up and leave while he was getting out of tree to recover it.. never got deer no blood trail.tiny hole i guess. He stopped using 243 and went to a 270. This guy is a top notch shot and made cover of shooting mag 2x for trap.. just not a fan . What should be good shots with no deer recovered..

Story and picks on this site in bear section.

The whole article is about bullet shape. Today leverevolution bullet raises the 30-30 stats and puts 2 spitzer style bullets against each other. Comparison being done to flat nosed bullets.. a savage 99 could load spitzers 100 years ago in its rotary mag.

Imo Your losing margin for error as well as a decent chance for a bear if they are around.. had a guy shot a bear 5 x with 243 100 grain and bullet never penetrated vitals from 10 to 50 yard shots.. went thru hide and 4 inches of fat and stopped at ribs. Found every bullet when we skun it out .

It kills deer sure im sure youve shot for long time as well .. young hunter shot was little off. A larger caliber would be more forgiving.

Looks like hit scapula and deflected. From what i can see.imo

Distance of expected shot is the factor thats important buying a long range caliber for 70 yards shots defeats the balistics.. when rifle was made legal guys bought 300 win mags .. a few years later all using short range guns like 3030 or 45 70. Ect.. average shot 70 to 125 yards max..

Thats something many here forget there are dedicated hunters here that know thier guns amd ammo.. the average guys grabs a box off a shelf ..maybe looks at little pic of what its recommended for.. there are reasons 10% of hunters take 90% of the game. .. the eskimo guides have one gun and know how to use it.. many hunters sight in and never fire another round till they see game...

Heck a .22 caliber can kill a polar bear.. again id prefer and would reccomend a caliber that gives you a margin of error for less than optimal placement or bullet selection

More info : quartering to shot. Hopefully it just skipped off shoulderblade and it doenst get to infected.. If i was buying a gun for deer id want a " margin of error" a 7mm 08 is about same recoil but is much more forgiving for a less experianced hunter. Bonus its big enough for a bear as well if opportunity presents itself.

Again im sure bullet type is a factor.. point is an experienced person kniws bullets and grains vs the average hunter grabbing a box off the shelf.. imo there are better choice calibers that allow for margin of error.. just like the guy that wants to land a 40 lbs fish on 2 lb test and a guy that uses 40 lbs test line for a 40 lab target fish both work but the 2 lbs is for a much better experiance angler to have any high level of success of landing 40lbs constistantly...

What i was told. 80 yd shot 95 grains

Why im not fan of .243 this is from good friend in southern tier ny. My neighbors daughter shot this one during the youth hunt with a 243. 10 days later he's in one of my brassica plots eating. Sadly the cam was set for pics, but I believe the shoulder is broken, I think one of us will shoot him during the gun season, don't think he'll travel far. Proper bullet and proper placement are probably a factor in this. But a slightly larger caliber would give you a much better margin for error and penetration...