A browning BLR in 243 was my first deer rifle, and I was very successfull with it. I have since moved on, to a rifle that I fel comfortable going after elk, bear, moose or whatever else I have a chance to hunt. The one thing to remeber with the 243, as with any round, that bullet placement is key. however with the smaller rounds such as the 243, there is much less room for error, such as you hitting a deer too far foward and hitting the shoulder, the deer may go for a long ways with one hurt shoulder, where as a larger round may bust through and still tear up the vitals. My advice would be to use it, and like any gun: aim small, miss small