i placed a really good shot on a doe like 20 yrds and it took off. we track her and no luck for 45 min i shot it with a 3006 good shot to i think unlese i the sight was wrong but there was alot of blood i dunno any ideas of what could of happened

 

You should keep on the trail, and dont give up.

 

It happens sometimes.
This season I saw a doe get smacked dead in the vitals with a .243 and she fell like someone had hit her in the head with a sledgehammer. Watched it hit through binoculars. Unfortunately she had no more than touched the ground and she got back up and ran to the timberline. There was blood everywhere. Foamy blood. Dark blood. Bright blood. Huge clots. Chunks of what appeared to be lung. Looked like a slaughterhouse out in the bean field. We didn't run after her right away so hopefully she would just run a few hundred yards and stop. Well we waited a couple of hours and went to track her. We tracked her from the site of the shot and figured she was maybe 100 yards away given the amount of blood. We trailed her over over a mile through the woods and over a gravel road and blacktop road before the blood trail simply evaporated. We had to get permission from three different landowners to try to find that doe and we never did find her. Searched for two days but couldn't find her.
I'm becoming more and more dubious of the performance of the .243 as a deer round. This isn't the first time I've seen this kind of failure from it.

 

Get back on the trail. What happens sometimes with those high powered rifles, is that the bullet never expands. Clean in and out. If that did happen, the injury wond not be as severe, and it will take longer for the animal to die.

 

Captain, what grain of bullet? My son has used his .243 for 3 yrs now and everything he has shot has expired within 50 yds of the shot. I like the .243 for the low recoil and it hasnt let us down yet. I hope you find a grain that works for you, and dont give up on the .243 yet!

 

well i went back on the trail an no luck. i guess it never expanded. it was my first deer to i shot it on the last day to so i cant get another one unless i get a plintlock or bow wich i wont. just goinging to have to kill coytes or sumtin o well next year ill shoot it in the head.

 

Now there is a positive attitude[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif[/img]....

 

It was Winchester 95 grain Ballistic Silvertip if I remember correctly. Shot was a little over a 100 yards. Something like 127 or something on the laser rangefinder. I know of other guys using the Winchester Ballistic Silvertips with simply devastating results in 30/06, .270 and a 7mm Rem Mag.

We had nearly the same thing happen last year with another doe and a .243. Blood all over but she simply up and vanished. That time it was really bad though because it was the kid's first deer. He made a good shot but the deer just didn't go down. I think that was a Remington bullet of some type. I don't recall which one. That kid was shooting a 30/06 this year btw.

I'm half tempted to get a .243 and start experimenting on my doe tags next year using another rifle for a quick back up shot or something.

 

my freind has a 243 encore and he loves it he killed his first deer with it last season. i think he was useing fedearl idk thats what i use federal 165 bt soft point i think im going to use i85 grain from now on. idk y the 243 isnt working for u my friend swears by his 243.

 

just aim for the head and they won't go to far i keep shooting till the deer drops or i'm out of bullets but around my parts theres too many wolves to let the deer run for a long peice