Antelope Adequate?

[lizziedog1]

I was playing around with my .243. I found a bullet it really likes. The Nosler 85 grain Partition. Do you think this bullet/cartrdige combination would be adequate for pronghorns? Has anyone used this bullet for any type of hunting?

 

[Daryl]

Yep, it'll work. I'd keep shots inside of 250 yards...maybe 300 as an absolute max range. Shouldn't be a problem. The longest shot I ever took on an antelope was 212 yards, and I've killed three with a bow, so long distance shooting really isn't as "needed" as many like to claim.

Daryl

 

[Brian Pfleuger]

There are many folks who hunt elk with a 243. It's plenty of gun for an antelope. I wouldn't hesitate to use a 22-250 with the right bullet.

 

[Doodlebugger45]

I think the .243 is about the most perfect cartridge there is for antelope. Antelope are pretty fragile critters and it doesn't take much to kill them. As Daryl said, a lot of folks think you have to shoot long distance for antelope but that's not necessarily true if you know how to hunt. Shoot, I used to have a neighbor who would just sit on his back deck and pop them in the head with a 22 LR when they came walking up. I think one year you could buy 3 extra doe/fawn tags in addition to the regular buck tag. Between he and his wife they harvested 8 antelope that year and never took a shot more than 30 yards away.

 

[FrankenMauser]

.243 Win is fine for Pronghorn. And I applaud your bullet choice. Very few people understand that 85 grains is plenty good, and almost always more accurate than the heavier bullets. Don't let anyone push you into the 100-105 grain bullets.

I've only taken one Antelope with my .243; but it was more than enough for the animal, and the rifle goes on every hunt as a backup (I'm a .270 Win guy).

Remember: Antelope have massive hearts, livers, and lungs. Hit 'em in the butter zone, and they'll be dead before they stop running (if they even get started).

If Wyoming allowed .22 caliber centerfires, I wouldn't hesitate to use 50-53gr Barnes TSXs out of my .220 Swift for antelope. As Doodlebugger said, antelope are fragile creatures. It's all about shot placement, not energy (lb-ft) ratings.

 

[Daryl]

.243 Win is fine for Pronghorn. And I applaud your bullet choice. Very few people understand that 85 grains is plenty good, and almost always more accurate than the heavier bullets. Don't let anyone push you into the 100-105 grain bullets.

While I wouldn't "push" anyone into using a 100 grain bullet, I've always had pretty good results with them. It's by far the most used weight that I load for my .243.

Nothing wrong with the 85 grain bullets, but my rifle shoots the 100 grain Speer bullets at least as good as the 85's with the right load.

Here's a pic I took of a target during some load development I was doing last year with some IMR 7828SSC and 100 gr Speer SPBT's. The center target was from the fastest load, with the upper left target from the slowest. It's a pretty decent load for my rifle (which was built the year after the .243 was introduced).

 

[warbirdlover]

Have you tried 100 gr. Noslers in your gun? Like has been said, those are ideal and I've put down whitetails with them. They didn't go anywhere.