converted basher
I have printed before that I was a .243 basher.......now I own two, and both are used for deer. My bashing came from my Dad, who, along with the rest of my people, despised anything under .30 cal/180. Dad bought a .243 sporter to shoot groundhogs, and shot it so well, started deer hunting with it. Turns out, Dad, as tough as he was, likely had a flinch going, as well as being cross dominant. The lighter recoiling .243 helped with both issues (I believe he could mentally focus/concentrate better with lighter recoil, to overcome the eye issue). He started killing more deer too.
Dad's rifle came my way, and I killed a few with it, and then bamaboy took it over. He killed some with it too. We shoot 100 gr Partitions and have never recovered a Partition, all pass throughs. Coaching at bamaboys shoulder in his younger days, I watched the bang flops and was impressed. Hit as they should be, I've never seen a deer run any further than one hit with anything heavier, sometimes, they just run a ways.
AS noted, bullet selection is important in .243. I'd opt for a so called premium slug, a Partition, a bonded bullet, one of the homogenous alloy slugs. Understand the vitals, angles, and how to hit'em.
I liked the .243 so much, that when a rare Mossberg 810M came my way, in .243, I jumped on it. It shows a penchant for lighter bullets, and I may well buy some 85 gr Partitions and experiment, but we have a lot of 100's on hand, and the Mossberg will plunk them under 2 MOA. Put where they should be, I can't imagine a deer or hog getting away.