I've killed a lot of deer with a 243 and they will be DRT with the proper bullet placement.
When hunting, I always blow away at least one shoulder. A little high and I destroy the spinal column. A little low and I take out the aorta and the front of the lungs. And I have never seen deer run on their hind legs. Besides, our hunt club is very serious about one shot kills and DRT. It is not uncommon for a deer shot behind the shoulders to run. We have had deer run over a 100 yards before dropping. That is unacceptable with our crowd and will put you on "probation". Do it again and you will be asked to leave. Before you can hunt with us you have to hit a 6 inch steel plate at 200 yards 3 consecutive times with the firearm you plan to hunt with. That is basically a 3 MOA target. What is nice is that we haven't had to trail or track a deer in many, many years. Shoulders are mostly bone, cartilage, and sinew. They don't even make very good burger. A .243 loaded with a decent bullet like a 95/100 grain Partition will be potent medicine on a whitetail and will punch through a shoulder with little effort at normal hunting ranges. Do it all of the time.
When hunting, I always blow away at least one shoulder. A little high and I destroy the spinal column. A little low and I take out the aorta and the front of the lungs. And I have never seen deer run on their hind legs. Besides, our hunt club is very serious about one shot kills and DRT. It is not uncommon for a deer shot behind the shoulders to run. We have had deer run over a 100 yards before dropping. That is unacceptable with our crowd and will put you on "probation". Do it again and you will be asked to leave. Before you can hunt with us you have to hit a 6 inch steel plate at 200 yards 3 consecutive times with the firearm you plan to hunt with. That is basically a 3 MOA target. What is nice is that we haven't had to trail or track a deer in many, many years. Shoulders are mostly bone, cartilage, and sinew. They don't even make very good burger. A .243 loaded with a decent bullet like a 95/100 grain Partition will be potent medicine on a whitetail and will punch through a shoulder with little effort at normal hunting ranges. Do it all of the time.