i am sorry but the differance between a gut shot with a 243 and a 300 is the 300 just makes a bigger mess. i personally dont think shooting anything bigger than a .284 is necassary until you get up to moose sized game. i know to many idiots that go out and buy a 30 caliber guns to shoot whitetails and mule deer with and still never recover gut shot deer. bottom line is if you are one of those people that replace practice with bigger firepower you are stupid and dont belong in the woods.