Nailed it..... ^^^^^

I like my trucks too. Lol

I’m convinced most folks shoot belted magnums because they can’t shoot and somehow think an increase in flinch is gonna help. If you can’t consistently drop deer with a 22 hornet, you need to learn how to shoot. 243 is way plenty gun for deer in Alabama especially. 22 hornet used to be my go to pig gun and they’re way harder to stop than deer. I guarantee you I’ve killed well over 1000 hogs between the hornet and a 357 lever gun.

My step dad hunted with a 742 243 for over 30 years and killed a ton of deer. I remember only 1 being lost and we found it a few weeks later.

I’ve got a son and a daughter that shoot 243’s, the boy killed over 60 hogs with his in one year at 10 yo with none lost. He’s killed probably 20 deer total with none lost.

She’s probably killed 7-8 deer and over 30 hogs with hers with 1 hog getting away, mostly because wasn’t no way I was gonna walk down that hill and take a chance on having to drag it back up. He ran less than 30 feet before starting to roll down a hill about 900 steep yards into heavy brush and briars at the bottom

If a 243 is a liability, what makes a 260, 7-08, 308, 6.5 ok

I've been involved in too many 243 rodeos started by other shooters to bother with it. It is pointless. What I've seen is the 223 does what 243 does. 243 does work with good shooting, but it isn't better than 223. I've never seen anyone shoot a 243 better than a 223 or worse than any of the 308-class .25s or 6.5s wth lighter bullets. So, you may as well step up to the surer performance of a larger caliber and faster cartridge. There's no penalty and everything to gain.

Couple facts, to help:

New 223 bullets over 60gr will amaze you. A fast twist barrel is required, but most people have one now in their AR. For youth shooters your AR is perfect. They don't kick like lightweight 243s do and they kill just as well.

If you use the same powder charge with the same bullet weight in a smaller caliber, you will get less velocity. It's pushing with your hand instead of your shoulder.

So much work has been put into bullet design in the last ten years that you can find effective, reliable deer bullets at lighter weights than before. If you're going to use a 243 because you want a 100gr bullet you may as well use a 25 or 6.5 100gr. It'll be bigger and faster with negligible increase in recoil. A person who likes the way a 243 handles will be better off with 120gr .260 or 7mm08. A good 120gr 6.5mm bullet will do everything you may need on a whitetail.

Those deers sure seem to know when that bullet is 2-300fps faster or a half millimeter bigger. Hell they don’t even wait for a 6.5 to go off these days, just throw up they’re front legs and fall down. They know any 6mm is just a BB gun and laugh it off.

I’m just amazed they don’t come in to a 7mag in a hearse to save time

Dang looks like they might as well discontinue the.243. I’m now becoming reluctant to even shoot at a coyote with one.

Don’t do it, he’ll turn into a were wolf and eat you

Predators like a coyote, you better have at the VERY LEAST a 338 lapua or a 375HH or it just ain’t gonna be good for you. You’re handcuffed and edible

Lol ,,, I'm gonna stay with my big guns . Yall use what you want .

There's a threshold for superior performance on all counts. You recognize this because you don't do all your hunting with a 22lr when allowed. You can kill a most things with a 22. It just doesn't work how anyone without a whole lot of time on their hands considers good enough.

Deer show how better performance affects them by what happens after the shot. The effects of bigger and faster are obvious. Being unable to recognize differences proves nothing about deer and cartridges.

If the effect is the same no matter what you shoot, then you could have used anything. There are better choices for reasons of economy and shootability if anything will work. If the effect is sometimes undesirable, then you should use something more effective.

If the effect is desirable, you shouldn’t change just because some folks who don’t know talk to much. I personally rarely see that heavy matters. Speed kills. Terminal velocity is a good thing. One of my sons has shot a 270 for the last 15 years, killed a lotta critters, shoots a 95 gr handload Nothing has ever taken a step after he pulls the trigger. NOTHING that he’s pointed it at lived or needed to be tracked. People ask me and him often “why would he shoot those” it’s easy, they hit where he sends them and whatever gets one dies instantly.

People talk all the time about how tough deer are, fact is if more people could shoot and took ethical shots, that wouldn’t be a conversation. There is no factor that counts more than bullet placement, NONE!

How much deader can a dead deer get if a dead deer could get deader?

I won’t shoot anything less than a .577 T-Rex for pine goats

There's no point in asking if that was supposed to make any sense or not.

It all goes back to,,,,, are you willing to let deer walk if you don't have the so called ethical shot . Lol

Me ,,,,, if I was worried about ethics I'd hunt with a camera .

My advice on it is shot what you can and shot it well.

If anyone needs to boost their testosterone and lay down that feminine 243 I will gladly bare the burden and get it off your hands. You wont have to ever worry about being less of a man again when someone ask if you shot that dead deer with a 243.

243 n up would make no difference with me lol I’m pretty sure I could kill a deer at any angle with it…

If the deer is still in one piece after the shot, then you obviously need a bigger gun.

I’ve personally seen more wounded and unrecovered deer from larger calibers like 300 Win mag simply due to the fact that people believe they can just launch projectiles in the vicinity of a deer with a large caliber and if they get so much as a glancing blow they expect a dead deer.

Anyone doubting the killing ability of a .243 as an efficient and effective deer caliber either haven’t shot one for themselves OR shouldn’t be hunting with a rifle to begin with. I just sit back and laugh at all the talk about them not being “enough”. I can’t recall ever losing a deer to my .243. I’ve lost a couple with a 30-06 and .308 which was completely my fault.

To each their own I guess.