You' re right, it isn' t good for deer. Tends to give them a sudden case of death.

frizzellr very well said!

GTBUZZ. said it best. The 243 will work but there are many much better rounds out there. I have seen more deer wounded and get from a 243 than all other calibers combined. I would use one but NEVER at more that 200 yards.

Believe it or not the most wounded deer I have seen were shot with the " time tested" 30-30 Win. The 223 and its siblings follow a close second.

Some people love the 243, i' m just not one of em' . If you dont think there is a difference in between a 243 and a 25-06 something is wrong.

I own a 25-06 and i can safely say it will plain put em down....I know a 243 is a very good gun but it doesn' t have the knockdown power of a 25-06. Can u still kill a deer with it?.........YES Do alot of people use them and have good results......YES

To all those that own a 243.......sorry if i offened ya, but i say there is a big difference between the 25-06 and the 243.

Sorry, " not good" for deer. Maybe marginal or barely adequate but not good!

243 was designed by its makers for varmits. 243 or 6MM, either one is a right fine varmit rifle cartridge for the longer shots and picks up well where a 223 leaves off. Excellent for that size of " game." Last time I checked deer are substantially larger than most varmits (except maybe in Florida).

Deer hunting? Seriously? Why go merely " marginal" or " adequate" -- what happened to folks striving for " excellent?" I' d recommend it as good cartridge for a kid who hasn' t muscled up yet for something in the 260/270/ 7mmMag,308/30-06 range OR for someone with a damaged shoulder or Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Hunting situations doesn' t always pan out as planned, come the " moment of truth."
Shot placement on the bench don' t always equate to " shot placement" in the field.
It is good to have a " margin" for error OR for the tougher than usual individual animal.

For the game' s sake,

Never Go Undergunned,
EKM

Who said otherwise?

BTW, I am starting to notice a trend here. Seems like most folks who feel the 243 is marginal are from states with larger deer. I will admit that if I were hunting in Colorado or North Dakota I would prefer something with a bit more bullet. However, in the swamps and thickets where I hunt a 150 yard shot is considered long and a 75 yard shot is average so the 243 does the job well.

In my early post I mentioned something like " you can' t go wrong with a .243 win etc, etc" I should have also said that this is for more experianced shooters, who pick there shots carefully and place the shot the same.

There was a mention about .25/06 and .243. The .25/06 IS certainly more gun than a .243.

Personaly I put MY minimum for small big game at .257 cal.

I guided deer hunters for about ten years. Many hunters showed up at camp with rifles that were only bore sighted or that they had not fired since last years hunt. Half of them could not shoot for sour grapes. I shuddered when I saw one show up with a 243. Now bullets have improved since then and I would not hesitate to use a 243 for my own hunting. However I do not shoot at running deer unless they are already hit. With a 243 I would pass on any shot other than broad side standing still shot where I knew I could take out the lungs. The same goes for my 250- 3000 savage. I only take the high percenyage shots. I don,t need the deer and will pass for a better shot. Sometimes I don,t get that shot and go back to buying beef. Anyone else who can do the same can get by with far less gun than the guy who will attempt any shot at a big buck. I don,t like big recoiling guns as I have a bad shoulder as well. I can take a few shots from the 30-06 class rifkes but prefer my 6.5x55 swede and the 257 Roberts and 250-3000 Savage. I have a 243 as well and with Barnes X bullets and the above circumstances, It would work fine. I have just seen to many deer run off with one front leg swinging that I think would have gone down to a 270 and such. I love my 243 for big varmits.

Funny I feel the same way whenever a guy shows up to hunt with us carrying a 338 magnum. If you can' t consistently kill deer with a 243 then you can' t shoot. If you can' t shoot then you won' t be any better off with a bazooka. A miss or a poor hit is rarely compensated for by a larger caliber or more powerful gun. The average shot distance for hunters here in Alabama is less than 100 yards and if you can' t get within 150 yards of a deer here then at the risk of sounding mean spirited....YOU SUCK! I always get a good inner smile when I encounter someone here that has just purchased themselves a brand new Magnum with a barrel that looks like the tail pipe on a 57 chevy and a bullet that is only a few inches shorter than a Mark 14 torpedo. Its all I can do to keep a straight face while they rattle on about ballistics and how little it drops at 400 yards. Its funny because 99 percent of the guys that carry these Howitzers don' t kill many deer and never hit anything at 400 yards. I know thats not the guns fault but there seems to be a certain mindset or personallity that is drawn to having the biggest baddest gun in the woods. Not because its needed, just because its the biggest and baddest. The simple truth is that for deer here in Alabama there is no need for anything bigger or more powerful than a 270. In fact a 7mm-08 or a 260 remington are probably neck and neck for the ideal Alabama deer calibers. Now if you want one gun to hunt deer, moose, elk and Grizzly bears then yes by all means go with a magnum. For whitetails on the other hand a mega-magnum is like driving roofing tacks in with a sledgehammer, it will work but I' d rather use a tool more suited to the job at hand.
I have never lost a deer I shot with a 243. I' m no master marksman but I can easily put a bullet tight behind a deers shoulder out to 200 yards. Thats not a great feat of marksmanship folks. If you can' t shoot at least that well then stay home or at least restrict yourself to a range that you can easily do it. Most hunters are far more limited by their own shooting abilities than they are by the gun they are holding. A 243 will kill a deer cleanly as far as most hunters can accurately shoot anyway. For most guys buying a big magnum will only encourage them to take a shot they will probably be darn lucky to make anyway. In the hands of a competent shooter with 100 grain corelocks out to 250 yards a .243 will kill the biggest whitetail in America dead..Dead...DEAD!