James what kind of bullets were you using on the deer that ran reall far ?
Ive been hunting for almost 30 years, the early days were with a 30-30 then went to a .243, I have used .270, 30-06, 308, 22-250, 222, all on deer and hogs. I have never lost a deer or hog to any of these calibers. I just cant put that .243 down. It kills like a bolt of lightning. I have only had one deer run farther than 40 yds,with my .243, it was a doe that went about 100 yds with a heart shot. Havent lost one, not a hog either, Ive killed 300+ lb hogs with it.
People I hunt with have all converted to the .243, that makes 5 people, another went up from a .243 went through a few calibers, he currently shoots a .300 mag. he told me last year he's getting rid of it to go back to his .243. I used his .300 on some hogs a year or so back and I wasnt impressed, didnt get pass through on two hogs at 70 yds, while my .243 blew clean through hogs of equall size at 250 yds. The gun has no kick, very quite, real pleasant to shoot, put the cross hairs where you want and the gun does the rest. ( better than the rest) yes it's that good.