243 for Antelope

[JP100]

If you cant kill it with a .243.....your doing it wrong.....

*never shot an antelope, but shot plenty of bigger and tougher game with a .243 without issue, flat shooting and low recoil make it an awesome choice for lighter game in open country

 

[DosAmigos]

243 is plenty. Good luck

 

[mod7rem]

I think you could kill an antelope with a dirty look.
.243 will be fine.

This is awesome. Thanks for the chuckle.

 

[Bill Flynn]

I hunt and shoot antelope every year using a .243 Win. I have never felt under gunned shooting out to 400 yards and actually never really needed to shoot past 350 yards. Last years buck was spotted 1.5 miles away and I was able to close the distance to about 200 yards. I shot him as soon as he saw me and stood up off of a bipod prone. IMO antelope is a fun hunt and good for kids and first timers.

 

[HappyHuntr]

Congrats on the 300 wsm! If I ever find oil in my yard im gettinh something like that and retiring the '06. 243 is fine. I saw one killed with a ruger 77/22 hornet. Just get good ammo loaded with the heavier slugs to find winddrift as long as your shot are <250 yds.

 

[tkhuntsman]

Anyone else on here shoot a .243? And whats the farthest you reached out to successfully put an antelope on the ground?

I killed my first 2 antelope with a 243 20 some odd years ago first was 283 and the second was 460 yards. I have a lot of other calibers that I really enjoy but I find that I almost need to do one of my hunts each year with that old 243. I've taken antelope, deer, elk, black bear, coyotes, and a mountain lion with it I've carried it several times after wolves but haven't killed one with it yet.

 

[mskads]

When I was looking to find which calibers were good for Antelope a few years ago, I read from multiple sources that the .243 was one of the go-to cartridges for Antelope in the past. Kind of how the 30-30 is/was one of the go-to cartridges for whitetail in northern Minnesota.

 

[tracker12]

Anyone else on here shoot a .243? And whats the farthest you reached out to successfully put an antelope on the ground?

346 yards 243 Berger 95 grain ELD Hunters

 

[keystone112]

It should be perfect.

 

[UArctos901]

Love the 243 with a Nosler BT 95 grains of hurt. I have shot multiple whitetail big and small body with it and they all have dropped where they were standing.

 

[nodakian]

Anyone else on here shoot a .243? And whats the farthest you reached out to successfully put an antelope on the ground?

350 yards

 

[tops911]

I used a 6mm Remington (pretty much the same as a 243) with a Nosler 85 grain Partition hand load for my antelope at about 200 yards. Worked just fine

 

[kcm2]

400 or so measured, with a 243 and 100 grain bullets. 350 with a 6mm Creedmoor and Hornady ELDX bullets,. I've killed antelope with 22-250 as well, two of them, one at 350. Your 243 is more than enough.

 

[Lou (Louis)]

.243 is my deer rifle. Shoots flat as a pancake. It should do the job!

 

[Grassymike]

Absolutely perfect for antelope.

 

[PurpleDriver]

I’ve hunted whitetail deer and smaller with a 243 for over 30 years now. I handload 105Amax and shoot them at 3040fps. Farthest harvest was a whitetail at 560yds, 1 shot, DRT. Rolled out from behind the gun and my brother rolled in and 1 shot, DRT, 540yds.

I wouldn’t even think twice to shoot antelope out to 600yds with my setup. Maybe 450 with factory loads. I don’t know the ballistics for factory, but I’m assuming it would be a significant penalty.

as said before, the key to the 243 is shot placement and wind drift experience.