Will a .243 take a big deer reliably? I am in very wooded N. MN, hunt on foot and most all shots are <150 yards on moving deer. Taken a number of 225# dressed Whitetails with shoulder shots. I ask because I have a sweetheart of a Sako in .243 Win that I would like to use some. Thanks.
In the right spot, yes. Big calibers /bullets in not the right spot isn't going to help much.
My wife took a moose - probably -1,000 lbs - at 70-80 yards with a 100 grain Corelokt, years ago. Missed rib both sides, pencilled through, turned lungs to bloody mush. Bull walked maybe 50 feet to behind a screen of brush, stood there for 30 seconds or so and tipped over. An Iwo Jima vet of my acquaintance had recoil problems (after that mortar round) and could not handle anything much bigger. To my knowledge, he took over a dozen bull moose - some of them really big to 1500# - with his .243.
Fast bullets on game tend to knock them down quicker in my experience -especially the lighter stuff. 20 of 21 caribou (similar size to your deer) shot with my 25-06 (120 grain Speer handloads) were bang flops - the first one took two. The first bullet entered at the shoulder/neck juncture, and lodged against the bone in the opposite rear hip. It turned him broadside, the second through the lungs knocked him flat, as it did with successive animals. Range about 200 yards.
The 6mm, 6.5mm calibers are excellent deer cartridges.
