This is an old picture of my first deer rifle, a Sako action in .243 fitted into a walnut stock handmade and checkered by my dad, a wood artist by trade. Topped with an old Weaver scope. I shot a lot of VA spikes and 4-pointers and a few does with it, though we didn’t kill many does back in the day when I was young and carried that rifle a lot. I handloaded and used 100-grain bullets, various brands. I remember that all the deer I shot in the lungs with the 100-grainers ran a pretty good ways through the woods, but they all died. I don’t recall ever losing one.

Why don’t I use the .243 today? I don’t really know how I came to the conclusion that the cartridge is “too light” for bucks. For some reason over the past 50 years, I have become bigger and bigger in my rifle selections: .270, .280, .30-06, 7mm Remington Ultra Magnum with, depending on caliber, 130- to 150-grain bullets. I guess bigger is a natural progression.

I might consider the .243 and 100-grain loads for hunting, say, in the Texas Hill Country. I hunted down there recently and killed a mature buck (run down in the post-rut) that might have weighed 100 pounds gutted and soaking wet. I’m sure the 100-grain bullet would have killed him dead just fine.

But I still want a bigger rifle/bullet everywhere else I hunt these days. I want the power to flatten a Saskatchewan brute in the timber, or fell a chunky Wyoming muley at 300 yards, or drop a thick Oklahoma 10-pointer. When I shoot a buck that mule kicks and runs off, I want the assurance he won’t go far.

I think most hunters are with me and think the .243 is a bit too light for deer hunting. That said, I do know people who cull does with the .243 and like it. They generally shoot the does in the head or neck to save the meat. I am NOT a fan of either of these shots for the average hunter, and so I do not relate to this.

Who amongst us has good experience with the .243? Would you or do you hunt with it today?  Or are you with me: A more powerful cartridge and a heavier bullet make more sense.