Am I understanding this right?

[aulrich]

Rifle season changes everything  , least around here.

The limited I have with 243 (just one deer season) was not good, it worked but I found it just a bit light,  it worked. All I can say is use a good bullet the year I used a 243 was one of those lean years money wise so I just got some cheap import stuff, and that probably flavored my experience a bit.  If there was fusion ammo then I'd imagine my opinion would be a little different.

[SHOOTALL]

44-40 more deer ? how would ya know ? most used gun for game on the trail was a shot gun ! most up until 1920's hunted to eat not trophy hunt and storing meat was more difficult so most only shot what the needed ! maybe more deer have been killed over the last 100 years than the 70 before ! with a cart. rifle that is .
the heart / lung shot is about a 6 in circle , the base of neck 2 in at best both done right will put the deer down , but the heart lung shot leaves more room to deal with wind , angle of shot and other factors that mess with the shot !
how effective is a lung shot ? hold your breath and see what happens !

[demented]

 Bullets available for the 243 years ago VS those available now are like night and day.  The .243 once had the reputation (earned) for wounding because bullets simply blew up with not enough penetration.  You use a Speer Grand Slam, Nosler Partition, or any of the newer bonded core bullets, hit a deer behind the shoulder out to 300 yards, its going down.  Furthest I've seen one run is 100 yards, this from over 20 I've used the .243 to take.  I actually missed my aiming point at 300 yards a couple years back, the 100 gr.  Nosler Partition bullet broke both shoulders on a decent 8 point buck.

[MS10point]

I grew up hunting with a .243 and have killed upwards of 40 deer with it. I used to use the 100 gr. core lokt, but i'm sure there are better bullets to be had now. My favorite shot to drop the on the spot was right at the forward tip of the shoulder. Most of the time the bullet would break both shoulders and wind up under the skin on the off side. I have killed several deer in the 175- 185 lb. range but never any bigger. The longest shots were just a tad over 250 yds and neither deer went over 25 yds. I have no problem with a 300-350 yd. shot with a .243 though I agree that anywhere above 150 yds should be a lung shot. Besides just making a bad shot, I have never lost a deer with my .243 but I almost lost a 10 point that i shot through the neck. He took off like i had missed but luckily he ran toward me and i was able to put another bullet in him. The bullet had missed the bone and the jugular vein. The key is as with any rifle...just make a good shot and you should be fine.

TP