Back about forty years a go, a dozen of us leased a 7,000-acre ranch near Uvalde. We had the place for six or eight years, thereabouts. I hunted with a .243 about half the time; the rest was with my '06. I probably killed on a 50/50 basis by usage.
One day the rancher came up to me as I was skinning a buck and in the course of casual conversation said, "You must be a better shot than most of the guys." I kinda shrugged and asked, "How so?" He commented, "Well, you shoot 'em in the neck, mostly." So I just shrugged again; didn't really know what to say. I knew I couldn't match my father's skill, and a couple of the other guys were good shots. But I never brought any in which had been hit "a little far back".
I've mentioned numerous times that I use the Sierra 85-grain HPBT. That's not the best deer bullet there is. But I already know that. I'm not covered all over with stupid. It's not a good bullet for an angling shot. But it's the hammer of death on a neck shot, and I never had a deer go anywhere after a cross-body heart shot.
That rig worked good on my culling program for about four years on the old family ranch, for some twenty or so excess deer.
So when I see comments about the .243 as not being big enough, I just figure that we still have folks who don't know what they're talking about. More mouth than experience. When I see folks bumrap the cartridge for problems with a wounded deer, they're blaming the cartridge instead of the user. Sorta like blaming a handgun for causing robberies, seems to me.
It wouldn't be my go-to gun for elk, though.