SmallCaliberCentral

I was wonder how people deer hunt with the 204 because all my dad shoots deer with is the 204. It works great because he can drop deer at 300+ yard. he aims for the neck though but today he shot a little 8pt. and aimed i little high and got it right at the base of the horn popping it right off and going in his brain making a pink soup. Anyway to make my queston short dose anybody do chest shot with it because we afraid to try so to aviod disapontment and frustration we rather you try than us.


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The topic of using the .204 for deer has come up more than once, and a general conclusion has been reached.

The .204 was not designed to hunt deer at 300+ yards, don't use it to do so. I wouldn't use it on a deer at ANY range, .243s exist for a reason.

If you check a few posts back, you'll see that most of the ethical hunters/shooters here all agree that the 204 is a varmint cartridge, and was never intended for shooting deer.

Sure, a .22LR will kill a deer, but that's not what it's all about. Be an ethical hunter, and use appropriate calibers for shooting deer.

well i do have a 243 and I shot the deer in the chest and my biggest one is a HUGE 8pt buck that scored 146BC and weight 225lbs. but i ran 20 yards so it seems that the 204 in the neck drops deer better that the 243. not saying the 243 is bad but its actually one of the best guns on the face of the earth.

It appears YOU ran after being hit? It also appears that you lack much hunting experience (no flame, as you're probably just young), and it also apears you have the total lifetime experience of two calibers, and about the same amount of deer under your belt.

To say the .243 Win is the best caliber on earth just makes this point. Get some experience before making claims such as those please.

I've seen more big mulies run off after marginal hits with the puny .243 than any other caliber. Most out this way rely on calibers such as the .270. 7 Mag, '06 and the like. It's all about ENERGY my friend.

For the record, I own two .243's (one Ackley Improved), and I don't use either for deer. Again, no flame, but this is a varmint forum. There are places to post your feats with varmint calibers with deer on other forums. Be ethical, use the appropriate caliber for the game hunted please.

A neck-shot deer, with a 204 would NOT drop any faster than a neck-shot deer with a 243. I just don't understand using a 204 for deer.

A well-placed shot from any centerfire will kill a deer. The real issure here is what happens if you miss just a little? The potential for wounding a deer and never recovering it are much higher with a 204 than an appropriate deer caliber.

At 300 yards the 204 only has ~620 fpe. If you miss slightly that's not enough shock to put a deer down.

I'm sure a .50 BMG would drop them better than a .243 as well, but that isn't the point. Use appropriate calibers for appropriate game.

Back when the .204 first came out and Guns and Ammo did a write up about using it on African game, their advice was that the .204 can take up to small deer sized game, but only when kept within 100 yards and heavy bone is avoided. I'm not saying that advice is perfect, but when a well respected magazine advises agaisnt doing something, and the article is written by a veteran of many many years, it should be a clue that the info is somewhere on the right track.

We can't force you to stop shooting deer with a .204, but heed our advice when we say it isn't a good choice to do it.

I know that any centerfire caliber in the next has the same time of dropping deer but i shoot the 243 in the chest cavity

Then you're making a rather unfair and unjust comparison.

In the next??? What part of an animal is that?

Silly Rick, the next bone is connected to the previous bone.

well now talking with you hunters i understand that the 204 is a varmit caliber but my dad has shot 16 deer with them and hasnt missed or lost one yet so I will keep your advise in mind and thank you for your comments

Have you missed or lost any deer with your .243?

sorry for my incompetence in my grammer my mistake i ment to say NECK instead of NEXT but your smart people you can figure it out

I have not missed one deer with my 243 and note I have shot to many to count but all have ran a max 20 yards and then died