Someone told me once that a 22 magnum was the best deer cartridge ever. Really. I don't agree with that.
Someone told me once the 223 was the best deer cartridge ever. Really. I don't agree with that either.
A 243 is getting into the reasonable range but there are still some cautions. Cup and core bullets tend to come apart at high velocity, and have led to lots of bloodless tracking attempts. 243s are handed to a lot of new shooters that frankly botch a shot on occasion, or frequently.
In Open country things are different. But if you're like me hunting in heavy brush, along creeks and swamps, you know a deer running 20 yards is easily lost. News flash: dead deer SINK in water. I found one buck by pure luck. I walked into his antlers with my leg crossing a creek.
As for shot placement, it's a little harder to get a great shot angle when you're shooting through 4 ft shooting Lanes you cut with a pair of clippers.
When I have guests come to hunt, I would hand them a 6.5 or a 7.62 shooting a very aggressive bullet that goes in like a pencil and comes out like a baseball. We have tracked a few deer and it's a whole lot easier tracking a gut shot deer if he's basically eviscerated.
If you know what you're going to see, and they're going to be milling around and a food plot, or slipping through relatively open timber, good for you.
When I go deer hunting, I don't always know if I'm going to see deer, a pack of feral dogs, coyote, or a 250 lb black boar. Given the fact that I have NEVER ONCE felt or remembered any recoil when I shot an animal, I make sure to take enough gun.
If that's a 243 for you fine. I'm with ya! It's a superb cartridge. It just doesn't have the flexibility to take anything, anywhere. If you come to the lowcountry down my way and a 20-yard run means you lose an animal you might consider bringing a Bone crusher. It would be a shame to let pride lose a 130 inch buck in a swamp thicket a log skidder couldn't make it through, a short run away.
And here's where I'll get the hate messages. If you make a solid hit in the vitals, and you are unable to retrieve the animal, there is very high chance it died. To be completely honest and respectable, might ought to fill out that tag. That's how we ought to be thinking if integrity still matters in this world.
There's no point in this message where I disrespected the 243 Win. Use it where it's meant to be used.