trying to decide what my girls will need for youth hunt

[KactusKiller]

My girls have never been real big into shooting larger guns. They would rather bow hunt. This yr they got drawn for a youth hunt so we will need to rifle hunt. I have a Rem 700 243 they have shot before but I'm not sure it's big enough. What is the best round for deer and exotic? There maximum distance will prob be 100-150yds. I just want something that will expand well and give maximum knock down. I have had problems before with 243 not expanding much. I had a guy suggest the fusion ammo but I have never tried it.

I have been thinking about getting a 308 for myself but not sure there is a lower recoil round or if I could find one that would fit us all well.

[jer_james]

My girls have never been real big into shooting larger guns. They would rather bow hunt. This yr they got drawn for a youth hunt so we will need to rifle hunt. I have a Rem 700 243 they have shot before but I'm not sure it's big enough. What is the best round for deer and exotic? There maximum distance will prob be 100-150yds. I just want something that will expand well and give maximum knock down. I have had problems before with 243 not expanding much. I had a guy suggest the fusion ammo but I have never tried it.

I have been thinking about getting a 308 for myself but not sure there is a lower recoil round or if I could find one that would fit us all well.

Not a pro by any means, but if they are comfortable with the .243, and you have seen them be consistent with that gun, I would stick with that gun.

I could absolutely see your reasoning for making a move though. Wally world may have a good deal on a good shooter right now as well. Believe I saw a post mention they were getting rid of them.

[jdg13]

243 is plenty for deer. All I've ever shot in a 243 is core-lokts. Seems to put even those "bulletproof" hogs down fine. Don't overthink the ammo. Focus on putting one through the boiler room.

[Dents]

My Daughter loves her 7mm-08. Not too much recoil and it has been very Lethal on deer and pigs.

[jakeb03]

7mm-08 or 25-06 are my favorite “Texas Rounds”

I would have to disagree with .243 not being a large enough caliber. It’s plenty of bullet for a whitetail. Shot placement is key regardless of caliber.


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[catslayer]

243 fits the bill nicely, but you need to go start shooting it NOW. 243 not expanding was a bullet construction issue, NOT a Caliber issue... Hornady precision hunter is AWESOME

308 works fine too,but will kick some more... You can get managed recoil loads... But 308 is a slow enough round imho

Also GO BUY THE ELECTRIC EAR MUFFS. 2 pair, one for you one for her. You will thank me, she will not flinch nearly as bd and makes range trips much more enjoyable. Best $$$ you can spend on young shooter

[Walker]

This is what I did with all 3 of my kids,2 girls, 1 boy, and it worked great. They all practiced with scoped 22 rimfires. The.first time they ever shot "big rifles" was at live game. My son started with a .243 and both my daughters started with 30-06.

[diamond10x]

.243 is plenty of power for ALL Texas game. Like said above that your expansion issue would have been the bullet. Plenty of youth hunters take big game out west every year with a .243. If your concerned about it not being enough a 7mm-08 or .25-06 would be what I would go with considering their low recoil like a .243.

[Double-O-Dave]

Hi KactusKiller:

You didn't mention who was running the youth hunt for your daughters. If it's a TYHP hunt, they usually have a minimum caliber requirement for the type of animals the hunters are allowed to shoot. As I recall, it was .243 Winchester for white tail deer, and 30.06 with 180 gr. bullets for Nilgai - something like that. I'm a fan of the .308 Winchester, as is my son, and we've both killed plenty of deer and hogs with the .308.

I agree with what the others here have said - the .243 Winchester is plenty for deer and hogs at the range you mentioned - assuming good shot placement. It shouldn't, but it still surprises me the number of hunters that don't know or understand the basic anatomy of a deer, nor where they should (try) to place their bullet. When my son started hunting with the TYHP, he drew a deer (doe) hunt at a private ranch. The ranch owner was very involved with the kids, and had them sight in their rifles under his watch on his shooting range. That evening at dinner, he pulled out a life sized deer target and gave each of the kids a sticky dot and asked each of them to put the dot where they thought they should they should place the bullet.

My son got criticized after he placed his dot squarely on the deer's shoulder - which is where I taught him to shoot. The ranch manager then said that he hunted quite a bit in Africa, and if you didn't hit your animal in the shoulder, it was regarded as a poor shot. By the way, the other kids had placed their dots all over the target.

Good luck to you and your daughters.

Regards,

Dave

[RWB]

This is what I did with all 3 of my kids,2 girls, 1 boy, and it worked great. They all practiced with scoped 22 rimfires. The.first time they ever shot "big rifles" was at live game. My son started with a .243 and both my daughters started with 30-06.

Same here....i never have a kid shoot a big bore gun when they are learning. Bolt action 22 so the feel is the same.

[kruppa24]

Not a pro by any means, but if they are comfortable with the .243, and you have seen them be consistent with that gun, I would stick with that gun.

I could absolutely see your reasoning for making a move though. Wally world may have a good deal on a good shooter right now as well. Believe I saw a post mention they were getting rid of them.

100% agree!

[Jared.King]

.243 works great! My little brother dropped both of these in their tracks using the cheap Winchester 100 grain soft points. He shot the first one in April and was 26" and the other he shot in December is 31" and had a huge body on it.

[KactusKiller]

Maybe I worded wrong, I would like to stay with the 243 but I’m worried about expansion. What is the best round for 243 to Crear the best nockdown power

It’s the Kickapoo caverns hunt so may have exotics and shots may be a little longer but with their lack of experience with long range I’m going to keep them to only closer shots. We will be hitting the range.

[TxAg]

Check out the reviews on Vor-Tx Barnes 80 gr TTSX. They seem to pack a wallop when you shoot into the shoulder.

[Muskles]

I've used my wife's .243 the past 2 years and shot a buck each year. Shot placement was perfect on the first one and it jumped up, rared up, then fell right there. Last year's buck, I pulled the shot a little and the placement was slightly back (not in the guts far though). Had to track him about 80 yards with a poor blood trail. I used 100 grain core lokt. Expansion wasn't great, but it got the job done in both cases. My wife has killed 2 hogs with the same gun/bullet combo, and dropped em in their tracks. I'll probably try something different when we use up these couple boxes. Not worried enough about it to just shoot these up and buy more, they're doing the job. Practice is going to be more important than which bullet you buy.

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