bullets for deer

[maddysdad]

given a 90 to 100 grain bullet on a average size white tail deer what would you consider the lethal range of a chest shot to be ?I am looking at the 6 mm
creedmore or a 243 for hunting for my grandson.hoping a max would be about 300 yards.have never shot a deer with a 6mm caliber before.i have used a 25 06 a 7mm mag a 300 Winchester and a 300 weatherby and a 30 06.the stature of grandson leads toward this caliber. he is 135 lbe is 5 feet tall.
thank you for your time.
gary b

[PARA45]

My first rifle was a Rem ADL in 243, and I've used 100 grs bullets with great success on whitetail deer.  I've never shot one in the chest, I've always waited for them to turn broadside.  If my memory serves me well, the farthest I've killed a deer with my 243 was around 200 yds.  I'm currently hunting here in GA, with a Ruger No.1 in 243   

[224KING]

Get him a 308 and let him shoot some 125 to 130 grain bullets and don't make him shoot over a 150 yards until he gets used to the rifle and gets a few kills under his belt.

[maddysdad]

thank you for your time.i did not think that a 308 with a 125 to130 grain load for this type of hunting,
thank you for that.it is worth concidering to do.
gary

[cacsrx1]

6.5 Creedmor is the perfect kids gun.  Super accurate, very little recoil, and every store has a ton of ammo for them.

[224KING]

6.5 Creedmor is the perfect kids gun.  Super accurate, very little recoil, and every store has a ton of ammo for them.

This would be a better choice than a 243 too.Probably better than the 308.

[danno50]

Its not a Weatherby, but its a rifle that Grouchy gave pretty high praise to after he bought one a while back.
https://www.academy.com/shop/browse/search?searchTerm=thompsoncenter%20compass
In  243 cal. with match grade barrel and and threaded for surpressor or muzzle brake. 

[Weatherby4Me]

Just got my 15 year old stepson the Ruger American "Go Wild" in 7mm-08. IMHO the 7x57/7mm-08 are THE perfect deer cartridges. The recoil is light, and bullet selection is a real cornucopia of selections. My wife shoots a 6.5 CM

This particular Ruger American has a muzzle brake. I'm letting him use the brake until he gets his rifle skills up. Then we are going to remove it. Later I will let him move up to what he wanted, a 7mm Rem Mag.

[eford]

A 6.5mm Creedmoor with a 130 grain bullet is almost perfect for a new deer hunter.

[Shaun_257]

Haven't had experience with the creedmoor's yet. I'd go for the 6.5 if I had my choice. 7mm-08 is another awesome cartridge with really good ballistics and low recoil!

[txaggie]

The mainstream calibers of today with tons of available ammo online or in sports and outdoors stores would be 6.5 creedmoor and 7mm-08 (do not own an 08 but everyone that does sings praise) have several creedmoors and everyone of them flat out shoot.

I think the 6mm creedmoor is a wicked little round, however it does have less available ammo for hunting applications. If your loading then probably not an issue. The two mentioned above will work on just about all N. American Game mild recoil affordable rifles. I personally think if a man had one hunting rifle 6.5 creedmoor presents a great argument, but I think it's criminal to only have "one" hunting rifle!

I have 6 kids mine pretty much all started out under 10 with 243's or 25 somethings to all graduate (not that it's needed in our woods other than 30-06 sounds better than 25-06 to a high school kid) lol we've all been there!

[fishballer06]

243 will certainly get the job done within 200 yards. Getting beyond that, good shot placement will be crucial. If you look up the ballistics for a 243, you'll see that at about 300 yards, they're only pushing around 900-1000 pounds of energy.

I started out hunting with a 243 and I shot plenty of deer in the 100-250 yard range. I can remember quite a few deer totally crumpling up on the spot from a 100gr Core Lock.

[danno50]

maddysdad, (Gary) hasn't posted since Nov. 24th, so we don't know whether he's made up his mind about a rifle for his son. Maybe he's bought a rifle, maybe he hasn't, or maybe it's gonna be a future buy? A lot of good suggestions on this thread.

[catskinner]

243 will certainly get the job done within 200 yards. Getting beyond that, good shot placement will be crucial. If you look up the ballistics for a 243, you'll see that at about 300 yards, they're only pushing around 900-1000 pounds of energy.

I started out hunting with a 243 and I shot plenty of deer in the 100-250 yard range. I can remember quite a few deer totally crumpling up on the spot from a 100gr Core Lock.

The GF started hunting at 13, with a 243, and that's all she used until we met, now she uses a 240 Wby. She has taken at least 20 elk and at least that many moose with a 243. But she is a very good shot, and keeps her shots under 300 yard,nothing wrong with the 243 in the right hands.

Rob

[Northern hunter]

A 6mm rem is a fine caliber. Used to shoot black bear with that before i sold it. The last year I owned it 2 tag for spring bear both shot in the eye at 250yds .