I have marginal experience with this particular caliber. I shot a Win. Mod.70 in 243 from the time I was 6 up until I was around 24 or so. I took my limit of deer through the years with little or no problems. I did loose one or two due to what some folks refer to as "PROPER BULLETS" meaning heavier jacketed bullets for deeper penetration. These were 100gr bullets which simply penciled through several deer which were hit in very vital areas. All but a couple were retreived after very long and tiring searches. The others well, either they got over it or ran to some other county as no signs or them was ever seen again.
The bullets I had the best luck with were 95 - 100gr Noslers which were the solid base or ballistic tips. Either I found would drop any deer I shot easily out to ranges of 300yds. The only reason I still don't use that rifle is it is worth more to me as a keep sake from my now passed father than a hunting rifle. I could easily pull it out and run a few foulers down trhe now oiled pipe and it would still drop any deer I chose to aim it at. As far as raking shots these are for shooters not hunters. If you put one of the high velocity bullets from a 243 through the lungs and or heart of any deer it will hit the ground. My bud shot one last weekend through both shoulders point on at around 150 yds and it simply sat down on it's haunches and that was that. There is generally much less meat damage from this round as well. If you honestly think that you have to have more gun, then you seriously need more shooting practice or you need to keep your opinion to yourself as you obviously have no clue to the actual preformance of this round.
I see so much of this sort of talk on a lot of sites, just like the retoric that it is unethical to shoot past 100, 200, or 300yds, that you can always get closer. Well truth is you can't always get closer, and if you can shoot the weapon, and you have the needed practice, then you can shoot deer or other bigger critters with a whole host of calibers to ranges which most consider too far. Truth is far more animals are lost from shots under 200yds than from shots over simply due to poor shot placement. Same with the smaller calibers, if you don't use what "I" recommend you not an ethical hunter or your stupid since you obviously don't agree with me. Also the old verse that "well our dept of wildlife says that a 24 caliber is too small must mean something", it does, it means that folks don't shoot as much as they should, or they shoot way beyond their abilities, not that the specific caliber isn't good enough to take a game animal. Yes there are extreems to it all but for an average hunter, a less recoiling rifle that they are not afraid to shoot will 95% of the time be much better than some bigger caliber that they squint their eyes and yank the trigger on. As for a gut shot deer, well that argument hold as much water as the other items mentioned, as a lot of times, the hydrostatic shock of a lighter bullet traveling faster does do more damage than a heavier bullet that penetrates more. The problem is when folks don't leave the animal be for more than 5 minutes after the shot, it grabs an adrelin rush and can cover a ton of ground in little or no time. In just about ever case I have shot a deer that ran out of my line of sight, I have found them laying only a short distance from the area. Reason is I leave them be for up to an hour after the shot if the weather is conducive to this. IF they fall within sight I will still give them up to half an hour before approaching. I learned this from the couple of deer which I did not find which I did shoot with "prpoer bullets" in my younger days of hunting. They hit the dirt, layed there until we approached, and within the time it took to shoulder the arm they were long gone. Even one I intentionally shot in the head tried to get up and get away after 20 minutes of laying on the ground before being pulled out into the edge of a pasture, and this was using a bigger caliber with a heavier bullet, and for the most part removing everything from the ears out.
