I'm off after Fallow next winter here in Oz and was wondering what you blokes in europe use ?

A lot get shot in the UK with 243 but my personal prefernce is 2506/ 270/ 7x64 etc

After what I have seen and read about NZ and fallow hunting there,

I guess that a 162 A-max in a 7 rem mag would really do the trick could I shoot it well enough,

myself I am recoil shy, so i would use a 6 mm bases calibre and take the shots that I am comfortable with,

ie no more than 400 meters in 0-5 m/s and less if more wind.

/Chris

They're not hard to drop on a well placed shot mate you can more or less use anything from a 243 up.

From your armory the .250-3000 and the 7x57 look like the best bets, very classic and cool too I would say.

I use a 30.06 with 150 grain bullets like Tim, but any bullet weight works in that cartridge.

A

I think that 6.5x55, various 7mm, 308win and 30-06 are the most commonly used for Fallow deer. Your 7x57 would be perfect !

Anything from .257 cal through to .275 would seem to be ideal.

I find the 6mm's a bit light, 30's will obviously get the job done, but they are nearly too much.

One of the 6.5's would seem to be ideal to me.

I've shot alot of Fallow with a .243 Win. & 85 gr. Nosler Partitions or Sierra HPBT GameKings. With a well-placed shot that's all she wrote; but as Kiri, Anders & Amir can vouch we looked for one Doe in the dark for quite while after an X-Ring plunck, too.

Yeah, it can be done and that's what I had in my hands on many occaisions as other smaller Deer such as Roe, Muntjac, CWD were on the Menu, too.

I agree with Brian; just for insurance if I had another choice I'd take it. I like your 250 Savage & 7x57 options.

Next year the 25-06 Remington w/100 gr. Barnes TTSX's is going to the UK.

Code,

Where are you hunting in NZ?

I was shooting a couple of weeks ago with a chap who I expect to be working with down there. he tells me shots are typically a deal longer than we are used to as standard here in the UK. His average shot is 300+ accross wide open and wind swept plains. For that reason I would say that your 264WM or 7mm RM would be the guns of choice.

What bullets do you shoot in those guns? On the longer range stuff a heavier bullet always helps buck the wind

Are you shooting anything else down there? The other consideration is that if you are carrying the gun for long distances then the configuration will be as important as the calibre.


I know Griff has shot at least six animals with the 264WM and he collected all of them.

Rgds,
K

Whatever legal calibre and round combination you are most comfortable with.
Ranges for Fallow tend to be shorter over here so accuracy and a clean kill are qualities we aim for.
I use a .243 or .308 because they're the ones I've spent the most time developing loads for and so are the most predictable for me.

Thx for the input guys. We actually have reasonably large numbers of Fallow and Red Deer close to where I live here in Australia.

It is these I will be targeting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNsdD__Tf8E

Boar and feral goats are also available on this hunt.

Sounds like my 7x57 will get the guernsey with 160 Woodleighs which it shoots very well.

The alternative is my .264WM with 129 Interbonds.

6.5x55 with 120gr soft point is what I use... hasn't let me down yet!

Anything based on a .308 case, firing a 6mm bullet. Ideally about 100 grains, at about 2900 to 3000 fps. Oh wait, it's been done

I use to shoot them with the 30/06 and a 150 grain Partition and don't feel overgunned. Even when hit very well they usually still run, bang-flops seem to be the exception.

Some good numbers there! Hope you have a good hunt and do stick a report up. The 7x57 will be great for fallow.

I#ve shot only 3stags so far, all with 7 rem mag. Fallows are not very tough animals.

quote:

Originally posted by DUK:
I use to shoot them with the 30/06 and a 150 grain Partition and don't feel overgunned. Even when hit very well they usually still run, bang-flops seem to be the exception.

I find this to be the case as well, barring CNS or shoulder shots.

The fastest I've ever had a fallow drop, to a pure heart lung shot that is, was still 10 yards.

That was with a .30-06 using what I suspect was a 155 grain A-max that I had somehow mixed in with my usual softpoints in the dark.

Boggy was with me and opening the pricket up we found no lungs, a 12" diameter flat-as-a-pancake heart and lots of lead filings in the cavity.....

It still didn't drop!

The upshot of this seems to be something I've heard repeated more than a few times, 243-30.06 range of calibres seem to kill fallow about the same, bullet construction seems more important.

quote:

Originally posted by Ghubert:

It still didn't drop!

...

Two things going on there buddy. Crap calibre and basically, you can't shoot.

Now if you had a 260rem......

To make a serious comment, Fallow are relatively soft for their size. Not to say I have never had one run, but it is relatively rare. When hit properly high heart - low lung with something in the 260-270 class they tend to go down much more promptly than Sika for instance.

quote:

Crap calibre

Caliber? That's .308". The .30/06 Sprg. - that's a cartridge.

I bet there's alot of folks who would take exception to the .308" caliber being called crap; let alone one of the finest cartridges that ever existed.

Amir's shooting ability, well, that's another story.

But if we really want to start slinging mud we could perhaps discuss the finer points of a grandaughter's (they're 3,6 & 7 years old) cartridge; the Pink Queen of all Recoil Adversaries, that powerhouse the 260 Remington ......

quote:

Originally posted by Ghubert:

quote:

Originally posted by DUK:
I use to shoot them with the 30/06 and a 150 grain Partition and don't feel overgunned. Even when hit very well they usually still run, bang-flops seem to be the exception.

I find this to be the case as well, barring CNS or shoulder shots.

The fastest I've ever had a fallow drop, to a pure heart lung shot that is, was still 10 yards.

That was with a .30-06 using what I suspect was a 155 grain A-max that I had somehow mixed in with my usual softpoints in the dark.

Boggy was with me and opening the pricket up we found no lungs, a 12" diameter flat-as-a-pancake heart and lots of lead filings in the cavity.....

It still didn't drop!

The upshot of this seems to be something I've heard repeated more than a few times, 243-30.06 range of calibres seem to kill fallow about the same, bullet construction seems more important.

Well you dont get those shot reactions with a chest shot using either a 243 and 70gr Nosler Bt's or a 25-06 and 115gr Bt's Dropped to Shot being very much the norm and runners being the exception.

Doesn't matter so much what you use as long as you use high quality bullets and put them in the right spot
The fallow I have experienced that moved the longest after a shot was a doe a friend of me shot with his 300 WSM in the lunges just in front of the liver.
She ran about 150 meters before she dropped.

Everything else that have been shot with 6.5x55, 6.5-06, 270, 30-06 and 300 WSM have moved maximum 50 meters.

180g TSX usually has the last word with my deer ;o)

When I am stalking locally (less than 10miles from home) and species vary from muntjac up to fallow I almost exclusively use a 243 and something like a 95gr ballistic tip. I've taken fallow from 25 to to 250yards. Accurate placement is easy and effect good.

Further afield where I cannot come back the next morning to sort any problems and where the deer are exclusively fallow I use 6.5x55, 7-08 or 30-06. I like the extra insurance which has helped on a couple of occasions.

Fallow are not particularly tough when hit right. When hit badly you need luck and a good dog as they can be surprisingly resilient.

Code4,
have shot a little more than 6 with my 264 winnie,I think FB was being a little conservative.
We have culled well in excess of 250 fallow in recent years, all exclusively with a 264.
99% of them dead where they stood.
243 IMO is a little on the small side, but then thats just my opinion.
264/7mm RM perfect..

regards
Griff

Thx again guys. Looks like the .264WM and 129 Interbonds will get the run as it shoots cloverleafs. I haven't shot anything with the 129 Interbonds (yet) so it will be interesting to do some kind of test to see how they react on media at 100 and 300 yards.

I have a Leupold 3.5-10x40AO with CDS elevation turret which will help if distances get long. I will check with the guide on the ranges I should expect.

Also ordered some RWS 173 H-Mantles for the 7x57 just in case

quote:

Originally posted by Claret_Dabbler:

quote:

Originally posted by Ghubert:

It still didn't drop!

...

Two things going on there buddy. Crap calibre and basically, you can't shoot.

Now if you had a 260rem......

......folk would be calling me the "Mincing Muntjac-Misser" of Northern Ireland.

It's a cross I personally wouldn't be able to bear mate, but I hear others cope well enough to be pre-emptively defensive of said gnats-fart of a cartridge.

()

quote:

Originally posted by Gerry:

quote:

Crap calibre

Caliber? That's .308". The .30/06 Sprg. - that's a cartridge.

I bet there's alot of folks who would take exception to the .308" caliber being called crap; let alone one of the finest cartridges that ever existed.

Amir's shooting ability, well, that's another story.

But if we really want to start slinging mud we could perhaps discuss the finer points of a grandaughter's (they're 3,6 & 7 years old) cartridge; the Pink Queen of all Recoil Adversaries, that powerhouse the 260 Remington ......

The Archbishop of the Church of Holy Order of Knights Thutty-oh-six speaks the truth, listen ye and learn wisdom.

I've just got back from Russia, if I had lost my ammo on the way ( or after dealing with Russian Customs, elected to not bring any) I could have borrowed ammo from no less than 6 out of 15 beaters, 4 out of the 6 fellow hunters or any number of the random armed peasantry we encountered.

The calibre is found wherever big game is seriously hunted, no messing about, piss-taking or bravado for a moment chaps.

It mows down Moose, fells fallow and batters boar; in short ladies and gents, it rocks bells.

This is all assuming you can take the recoil and also face the idea of taking the think actually out of the cabinet, actually hunting in the actual world.

6,5x57 if you want to search for your fallow deer.
If you don' want to search----8X68S

I have shot a lot of fallow over the last 40 years.

I've used. 243,25-06,6.5x55,.270,30-06,.308 and 7mm mag.

Personally I believe when you get out passed 250m the 7mm calibres simply perform better. Rarely do you get a beast take more than 2 or 3 steps when shot by a 7mm round. They have the cabability to effectively pinion a beast when combined with the correct bullet choice.
An old friend is having considerable success culling fallow in your neck of the woods using a 7mmRUM

Hmmmm 120Gn Nosler / 125 NPT from the .260 ... works well, usually just drop on the spot.

140 Gn grain anything Nosler from the 275 works the same but better...

I use a 6.5x55 with 140gr Game Kings and I've had no problems dropping fallow with this combo.
VV

I have shot a few fallow in NZ - from a range of 20 meters snap shot on the run to 325 meters ranged. 7mm08 & 280 AI are the calibers that I used most. I did shoot one with a 222 Rem and another with a 6.5X54 Mannlicher Schoenauer using tang peep sight.

I think a 7 mm Mag is an over kill and you will destroy a lot of meat, unless you are shooting them at 250 meters +.

Adding to this fine thread;

I have had quite a few (40+)guys down on Fallow shoots bring a .243w along.

Bullet construction may have been the issue, however, there were too many (IMHO) runners for me to feel comfortable with this calibre.

A standard cup & core bullet often provides entry, shredded heart and lungs, but no exit wound. Add to this, tight cover surrounding the fields and the absence of a blood trail can become an issue.

We like bigger calibres for the added reassurance provided!

Rgds

Ian

How big Ian ?

Just so we are ready for action ....

I have shot a bunch of fallow. .243 is about perfect with a 87g Sierra HP. The .25/06 with 115 SST's also. I havn't used a .257 Roberts myself but I imagine it would be ideal.
120g bullets in a 6.5x55 (or .260) is also just right. A 120g BT in 7mm08 works well too.

They are small deer, and not hard to kill.
All of mine have been DRT with calibers/bullets described above; all of them under 200 metres, most under 100.

Mauser66

I see you favour the 8x68 for fallow deer,
can you give us some info on your use of it,
what bullet weight/type you are using and any other game you have hunted with it etc.

Thanks.

Joe