What Caliber is most commonly used

[blaserman]

what is the most caliber that is used to hunt Coues Deer.

[azcouesandelk]

I would say the most commonly used caliber is the .270. It is a great round and you can get ammo for it cheap and it has been around for ages.

[NOFX]

Any opinions on the .243? Thats what I use and Ive never had to take a second shot.

[.270]

most commonly used by intelligent folks: .270. all others, except the 7mm/08 are ok, if you don't have a .270. .243 must be ok, if it's working for ya. i like mine. and it must be ok, or i wouldn't like it. it is the only necked down .308 that is any good. Teddy Roosevelt once said, "It should be the goal of every young man to learn to ride hard, shoot straight, tell the truth and own a .270." you gonna go against T.R.? i have accomplished 3 o' them things, but dang, i like to fish. Lark.

[sharp]

it is the only necked down .308 that is any good.

 

I disagree. Both the 7-08 and .260 Rem are good rounds...I prefer the .260.

[CouesRanger]

First coues deer was shot with a old 6mm or at .244. Last year I dropped my big guy with my new 30-06. Took him down fast I like the bigger gun cause you have more range and I am confident that it will get the job done for me everytime! I only need the one gun gun to do all me killing with too!! Elk, mule deer, coues, antelope, coyote it does it all. Good luck on your selection

[stanley]

Is this a quiz???? My guess would be a .30 caliber.....

 

As for the .243; Maybe a nice rifle, but use the right bullet. Look for impact/mushrooming/whallup, as opposed to 'pass-through'.... This is based on recent experience with the .243 with my two sons.

 

S.

[audsley]

Last post about the .243 was interesting. My experience with one son many years ago is that ballistic tips are also out when hunting Coues with that caliber. I should have known better, but BTs were fairly new at that time. I'd say Nosler Partitions if you're determined to hunt Coues with a .243, but a larger caliber at 6.5 and up is probably an even better solution.

 

Can't imagine why anyone would doubt the 7-.08. I've never owned one, but on paper they look like they oughta work just fine.

[GameHauler]

7MM-08 is a great round

Lark is just trying to light a match under me

[billrquimby]

I started my deer hunting career 60 years ago with a lever-action, non-scoped .303 Savage, and it served me well until I a bought a .257 Roberts.

 

It also served me well until Sears had a sale and I went into hock for $80 (a lot of money then) for a brand new J.C. Higgens .270 built by the FN Mauser Co. I thought I'd found the perfect hunting rifle and shot a bunch of game with it, including everything in Arizona except a sheep.

 

Later I acquired and used on various game a .22-250, a .243, a .25-06, a 6mm Rem Mag, a .308, a .30-06, a .300 Win Mag, a .300 Weathery, a .35 Whelen, a .375 H&H, a .45-70, a .416 Weatherby, and a .458 Win Mag. They all do what they were designed to do, but I kept going back to my .270. It shot flat, the recoil was mild, and with proper bullets it was suitable for everything up to elk out to 300 yards.

 

Then l I bought a 7 mm Rem Mag Czech-made barreled action, built a stock for it, and took it around the world. It has taken everything from 10-pound grysbok to 1,500-pound moose and eland (and an Arizona sheep).

 

I like it because the recoil is acceptable and it shoots 165-grain bullets as flat as a .270 with 130-grain bullets. I point it at the middle of something out to 350 yards, touch the trigger, and it drops dead.

 

And we all know there is only one degree of dead.

 

Sorry, Lark, but all my other rifles including that faithful ol' .270 have been retired.

 

Bill Quimby

[stanley]

Audsley, we lost two deer in two consecutive weekends last fall shooting a .243. (a doe on the Kiabab for my little one, and a 36A 3X4 muley for my older son the weekend following.....) I wanted to break the rifle over my knee!!!!! Obviously not perfect shots, else both deer would have been dead on the spot.

 

I'm FAR from an expert, and just assumed that the .243 would be a good rifle for my boys. It has turned-out to be pretty nice from a recoil perspective, but not at all forgiving when it comes to perfect shot placement. I SOOOO wished that my boys would have shot those two deer with my .7MM Mag as opposed to the .243 when we lost them. My assumption was with the larger caliber and 'punch' of the .7MM, that both deer would have been pounded hard enough to recover (even without perfect shots....) .

 

After doing some research and complaining to friends/aquaintences, I was advised not to discount the .243 prior to trying a change in bullet. I'm going to go with a different round next season for the little ones and see what happens. The .243 is a great little gun in my opinion. It's just not as forgiving as far as shot placement goes.....

 

S.

 

[.270]

bullet diameter and weight does not make up for poor hits. (unless it's a 7mm/08) i have an old remington mohawk 600 .243 that has killed more deer than mountain lions. with my kids shootin' it. 100 gr hornadys work real well. i've never seen a well placed shot with "any" center fire that resulted in a lost deer. some may go a little farther than others, but they never go very far and they spray enough blood out they ain't hard to find. deer ain't that big. even big old muleys. it's real simple, if you hit one in the lungs, they die. any centerfire hits harder and does more damage than any arrow. and a bow is real deadly, if you hit em right. here are the rules, just so you guys don't get confused:

 

rule #1: the .270 is the best round ever and 7mm/08's stink.

rule #2: in all other cases, refer to rule #1.

 

Lark.

[GameHauler]

rule #1: the .270 is the best round ever and 7mm/08's stink.

rule #2: in all other cases, refer to rule #1.

 

Lark.

 

I hear by challange you to out shoot my daughter

with your fine round

[firstcoueswas80]

rule #1: the .270 is the best round ever and 7mm/08's stink.

rule #2: in all other cases, refer to rule #1.

 

Lark.

 

I hear by challange you to out shoot my daughter

with your fine round

 

 

Mike you dont want to do that!

 

 

Stanley, it sounds like they probably made bad hits huh? One of the biggest myths out there is big guns make up for bad hits. Granted, they do provide a larger amount of room for error, but a gut shot deer, is a gut shot deer, no matter what gun it is shot with, ya dig?

 

 

 

PS. 270, 270 wsm, 7 mag, 7 STW, 7 RUM are the best!

[KGAINES]

My brother shot his last year with my 45-70 shooting the 325 grain leverevolution bullets, the deer took a few steps before dropping. To each his own on this one there are people that will swear that the 22-250 is great for coues and others that will say the 30 calibers are the best, Lark will defend the .270 to the bitter end and rightly so. To answer your question though my guess is that the 30 caliber is most common because there are so many varieties of that caliber.