Ihave also used a .243 win since i was 13 , it was my first rifle and i will always own it. But up here in Saskatchewan the deer are (for the most part) more dense and heavier in mass than almost any where else. We shoot bucks on average well over 2oo lbs. On that size of a white tail, the .243 isnt doing much. It works perfect on smaller bucks and all does, but the big boys seem to just shake it off and run for miles on end. This year makes two enormous Saskatchewan whitetail bucks that i have had to chase over a mile, in fact this year i had to chase him over 4 and a half miles!!!! through the thickest heaviest Northern Saskatchewan timer and scrub you can imagine all the while with him trying to play the same games they all do to get away. My father owns a .300 win mag and the performance of that rifle is astonishing. I shot my buck last year with it at 250 yrds running and it dropped right there, ive also shot moose and he has shot elk and wild boar and the power is amazing. Suprizingly enough there isntt alot of meat waste after hittingdeer with such a large shell. Dont get me wrong i live for my .243 but it has let me down so often on the big deer that i will be switching and my wife and on the way child will use it in the years to come. I will still use it on the does and coyotes but up here , when i want to get serious , the .243 stays home in the Saskatchewan wild.