RE: Too much gun?
A few things on this post aggravte me.
1. Its not body size that dictates how a person percieves recoil. If you can handle it,then shoot it. Don't just stick with 243 because you are small. Keep trying so you know your threshold. While I can kill anything on the continent with a 22LR or probably a 22 short, that doesn't mean that larger is wrong. The extra horsepower is there if you ever need it. Of course as stated shot placement in foremost.
2. Large calibers make hamburger of deer etc...... When I was a kid I shot a 243 and lost lots of meat to shoulder shots with that rifle. I ended up headshooting for a long time because I didn't care for the mess. Then I bought a 300 wtby and had to shoot a deer in the body to see. Much to my amazement that large hunk of lead did less damage by far than my 243 ever did. Now again if you shoot a mag and decide for some silly reason to shoot a light bullet-- then yes I'll agree to meat damage. But not more than my 243 ever did.
End result. Use what you can handle and don't let others persuade you. Proof is in the pudding and if you kill all yours with a 22lr and are happy so be it. But let the rest of us use what we want and, while I"m at it, shoot as far as we are capable of ethically.
Jeff