.243 for turkey?

[814RuttinBuck]

I have both a .22hornet, and a Model 700 in .243, however I am considering selling my Hornet to buy a Henry arms AR-7 "survival" rifle/backpack companion. The .243 works great on deer! My question is, is this round too hot for hunting fall turkeys?

[WSM]

I have both a .22hornet, and a Model 700 in .243, however I am considering selling my Hornet to buy a Henry arms AR-7 "survival" rifle/backpack companion. The .243 works great on deer! My question is, is this round too hot for hunting fall turkeys?

I would say yes unless you have a really safe shot at one.

[A-5]

I have both a .22hornet, and a Model 700 in .243, however I am considering selling my Hornet to buy a Henry arms AR-7 "survival" rifle/backpack companion. The .243 works great on deer! My question is, is this round too hot for hunting fall turkeys?

Up north the rifle is widely used. It's fine to hunt with. Use smaller bullets and the least expanding one also. Turkey's at two hundred yards and up are possible. Also another thing is coyotes. They will pop out in a field and you have a shot at harvesting it.

[Tomcat088]

I have both a .22hornet, and a Model 700 in .243, however I am considering selling my Hornet to buy a Henry arms AR-7 "survival" rifle/backpack companion. The .243 works great on deer! My question is, is this round too hot for hunting fall turkeys?

I don't know about in PA, but in some places, hunting turkey with a rifle isn't just considered unethical; it's actually ILLEGAL. So before you go using a rifle on turkey, do make sure it's legal.

I would say that the .243 on a turkey is going to make more of a mess than you want. There is normally a lot of good meat to eat on a turkey, but when you look at the damage that a high velocity rifle bullet can have on meat, between the permanent wound cavity and the hydrostatic shock from the bullet; it's not usually much. Shooting turkeys through the body with any type of expanding bullet will probably result in something you won't think is worth the trouble of cleaning. Shooting it with a lighter weight, expanding bullet, will only make the effect MORE dramatic. IF I was going to shoot a turkey with a rifle, I'd make sure it was the heaviest bullet I can find, and one that didn't expand or was very slow to expand. About the only place I'd actually ever consider shooting a turkey with a rifle, is through the neck, or in the head. So that you basically cut the head/neck off. It's a pretty small target that moves a lot, so not exactly something that most people can hit, or feel very comfortable shooting at. Any other place with a high velocity rifle round, and it's not worth taking the bird's life.

[WSM]

I don't know about in PA, but in some places, hunting turkey with a rifle isn't just considered unethical; it's actually ILLEGAL. So before you go using a rifle on turkey, do make sure it's legal.

I would say that the .243 on a turkey is going to make more of a mess than you want. There is normally a lot of good meat to eat on a turkey, but when you look at the damage that a high velocity rifle bullet can have on meat, between the permanent wound cavity and the hydrostatic shock from the bullet; it's not usually much. Shooting turkeys through the body with any type of expanding bullet will probably result in something you won't think is worth the trouble of cleaning. Shooting it with a lighter weight, expanding bullet, will only make the effect MORE dramatic. IF I was going to shoot a turkey with a rifle, I'd make sure it was the heaviest bullet I can find, and one that didn't expand or was very slow to expand. About the only place I'd actually ever consider shooting a turkey with a rifle, is through the neck, or in the head. So that you basically cut the head/neck off. It's a pretty small target that moves a lot, so not exactly something that most people can hit, or feel very comfortable shooting at. Any other place with a high velocity rifle round, and it's not worth taking the bird's life.

Rifles are legal in the fall season but not the spring season. Head shots are, realistically, the only viable option IMO.

[rowdus90]

I don't know about in PA, but in some places, hunting turkey with a rifle isn't just considered unethical; it's actually ILLEGAL. So before you go using a rifle on turkey, do make sure it's legal.

I would say that the .243 on a turkey is going to make more of a mess than you want. There is normally a lot of good meat to eat on a turkey, but when you look at the damage that a high velocity rifle bullet can have on meat, between the permanent wound cavity and the hydrostatic shock from the bullet; it's not usually much. Shooting turkeys through the body with any type of expanding bullet will probably result in something you won't think is worth the trouble of cleaning. Shooting it with a lighter weight, expanding bullet, will only make the effect MORE dramatic. IF I was going to shoot a turkey with a rifle, I'd make sure it was the heaviest bullet I can find, and one that didn't expand or was very slow to expand. About the only place I'd actually ever consider shooting a turkey with a rifle, is through the neck, or in the head. So that you basically cut the head/neck off. It's a pretty small target that moves a lot, so not exactly something that most people can hit, or feel very comfortable shooting at. Any other place with a high velocity rifle round, and it's not worth taking the bird's life.

As the previous member stated you may only hunt with a rifle in the fall turkey season. I personally hunt in the fall with a R700 243 and although I have yet to tag a bird with it, the gun has taken several birds from the gentleman I bought it from. They were all taken with Winchester Supreme ammo using a 55gr Combined Technology bullet at distances >200yrds. You need to shoot the bird high in order to salvage meat from it. This doesn't mean it's necessary to make a head or neck shot. But a solid body shot through center mass is going to leave you with a pile of feathers and bloody meat. Keep in mind there is quite a bit of area above the breasts on a bird that you can shoot with out destroying any meat. As with any critters, deer, squirrels, rabbit; you need to make your shot placement top priority. Nothing's worth shooting just to shoot it...except maybe a groundhog...or a coyote.

...and there's nothing unethical about shooting a turkey with a rifle...I don’t know where that idea came from?

[A-5]

As the previous member stated you may only hunt with a rifle in the fall turkey season. I personally hunt in the fall with a R700 243 and although I have yet to tag a bird with it, the gun has taken several birds from the gentleman I bought it from. They were all taken with Winchester Supreme ammo using a 55gr Combined Technology bullet at distances >200yrds. You need to shoot the bird high in order to salvage meat from it. This doesn't mean it's necessary to make a head or neck shot. But a solid body shot through center mass is going to leave you with a pile of feathers and bloody meat. Keep in mind there is quite a bit of area above the breasts on a bird that you can shoot with out destroying any meat. As with any critters, deer, squirrels, rabbit; you need to make your shot placement top priority. Nothing's worth shooting just to shoot it...except maybe a groundhog...or a coyote.

...and there's nothing unethical about shooting a turkey with a rifle...I don’t know where that idea came from?

Mountain birds tend to be stringy and tuff. As long as you don't hit the breast every thing will be all right. The bullets tend to go right through the turkey without destroying it to bad. Believe it or not. My brother in law shot a turkey this year with the 222 in tioga and it was fine.

[814RuttinBuck]

Thank you for the input, guys. I actually found an old NRA book on turkey hunting in my collection. It recommends basically any type of rifle for hunting fall turkey. Here are some quotes from it that you guys might like:

"The .22 Magnum should be considered the minimum load for turkeys"

"The .22-caliber centerfires, including the .222,.223,.22-250, etc, are the most popular among long range turkey hunters."

"Probably the ideal turkey/deer factory load is the .243 or 6mm, though the 30 calibers are popular. Hunters who aren't concerned with bringing down a deer lean toward .22 caliber centerfires, .22magnum, and perhaps the .17 caliber."

"Turkeys have been known to escape even though hit midbody with a .30-06 bullet. On the other hand, a shot in the breast with even the smallest centerfires may make the turkey unsalvageable."

"In conquering this dilemma, the way you shoot a turkey with a rifle is more important than the rifle you shoot him with." (base of the neck is the best shot)


I'm kind of thinking I'm going to use 72 grain bullets, with the least expansion I can find.

TomCat - I didn't ask if it was ethical to hunt turkeys with a rifle. I asked a question about choosing a rifle. I challenge you to walk into the Allegheny National Forest in the fall with your orange on, sneak to within shotgun distance of a flock of turkeys, on a steep, unforgiving, thick, snowy, hillside, and shoot a turkey. If you can do that with EASE, year after year, maybe I'll question the ethics of fall turkey hunting with a rifle in Pennsylvania.

[Tomcat088]

TomCat - I didn't ask if it was ethical to hunt turkeys with a rifle. I asked a question about choosing a rifle. I challenge you to walk into the Allegheny National Forest in the fall with your orange on, sneak to within shotgun distance of a flock of turkeys, on a steep, unforgiving, thick, snowy, hillside, and shoot a turkey. If you can do that with EASE, year after year, maybe I'll question the ethics of fall turkey hunting with a rifle in Pennsylvania.

It's kind of confusing, and almost funny to me that you want to take this crack at me on the end of your post. Pretty much all the other information that I provided for you was exactly in line with what you read from your NRA book. Even when I mentioned in the same sentence about it being "unethical" and possibly illegal is correct. If you read what I said, I mentioned that some people in some places find it unethical. I don't necessarily find hunting turkeys with a rifle unethical, and even if I did, I could care less whether or not you did, and if you chose to hunt them with a rifle. If you're ok with killing an animal that way, and it's legal, go for it, I don't care.

It's still pretty silly and disrespectful to make the comment that you did. Nowhere in my post did I say that I thought it was unethical, although you assumed as much. You'll also notice that I prefaced the whole statement by saying "in some places" and "I don't know about in PA". So it's silly that you would challenge me to go do whatever. Honestly, I don't think I'd have a problem killing a turkey with a shotgun in the terrain that you speak of in Allegheny National Forest. I wouldn't use the method you described (sneak up, in that particular terrain and conditions), but that doesn't mean I couldn't get turkeys within shotgun range. You got correct information from me, and a little extra. If you don't like the extra, don't accept it and just leave it at that. No need to act disrespectful to someone that was helping you with something you didn't know. Good luck hunting, and good day to you sir.

[animalmother85]

...smoked.