I have a question...and please excuse my ignorance if it's a ridiculous question, I'm very new to firearms and hunting
Would a larger round/more powerful rifle not ruin more meat on a harvested animal? On a well placed vitals shot, you're not really aiming at the valuable meat areas anyways so it wouldn't necessarily matter how big the hole is. But if you can make a well-placed vitals shot, you wouldn't need a larger caliber to get the job done anyways. So in theory (perhaps not so much in practical real life use), wouldn't a hunter want to use the smallest caliber that s/he is confident with to make a clean kill shot?
It just seems like a "less is more" situation. There is absolutely no question that a .243 can kill a deer, and it could potentially result in a less-damaged carcass than a larger round. Is that not more preferable if the hunter is confident in making a good shot?