Alright, I'm going to violate my rule and be serious here; mostly because one of the OP's statements touched on an personal integrity issue.
The intention of my original post was to obtain the performance of the 243 Win from those who actually have hunted with it. Maybe I should of been explicit but i wanted to hear the good and the bad reports of the caliber but that was my goal. So far however I have seen positive results from a majority of the users and honestly have been surprised as to the number of good experiences versus the bad at which the good out number the bad by a pretty good margin. ... As to whether more of those who have had bad experiences have not yet or choose not to leave their feedback and change the ratio I do not know, so I will take it at face value for now.
Did you do a search of prior threads on this subject? I believe you will find there are plenty. If you wanted to do some form of statistical analysis you could have broadened your potential data base by looking up what had been said before about your topic. Of course if you just started the topic to get a discussion going on a subject you find interesting, then why would you want to criticise those who choose not to respond? It may be that people who like the 243 as a deer cartridge are enthused about what they like and respond. It may be that people who think the 243 is a marginal deer cartridge have said it here on GB's before and don't see the need to keep criticising the round, especially when it is so highly thought of by many others on the forum.
I say surprised because of all the posts and reports of those who say the 243 Win is not enough but appear to never have actually hunted with one.
Be carefull when you say "all." If someone posted an experience as his reason for thinking the 243 was marginal, you are saying he made up the experience. And, if someone hasn't hunted with a 243 but posts anyway, you are telling him his participation is meaningless and not wanted.
I am still looking forward to hear more of the good and the bad of the 243 Win as I want to be more informed, although I would not be surprised to start seeing fake bad experiences now that I mentioned it.
You do your forum mates an injustice by saying they would lie in a post just because you challenged them into replying. One should never question the personal integrity of someone without good cause and without the ability to prove your assertion.
Let me respond to your query then, even though I have done it before:
As best I remember, the last 2 deer I killed with my 243 were small 8 pointers, about 125 yds, standing broadside shots. One dropped at the shot, tried to get up and run, then died. The other ran at the shot, maybe 75 - 100 yds then died. On both bucks there was no exit wound and no blood outside the body. The hand load I was using was a 100 gr. Sierra BTSP and enough REL22 to give me 2950 +/-. Look up my post for more details. I want an exit wound to increase the odds of a blood trail. Am I lying or telling the truth?
I think, for whatever that's worth, that these forums are for fun and maybe (hopefully) some illumination; discussions, sometimes animated, not argument or name calling.
