Seems most folks around here are running a 6.5CM,270,'06, 7mm or 300 of some sort. I have a hard time leaving the 243 at home, Though i do wanna smack something with my 350 mag this year
At one time in the part of Oregon I lived in, if you didn't carry a 338wm for elk hunting you weren't carrying enough gun. I love the 338wm and it is very capable, but there are other smaller cartridges that work just as well. My old elk hunting partner still lives by the 338wm rule. You should have seen the look on his face when I told him I was using a little 7mm08 last year. ha ha.. I ended up shooting a bull and he did not and all it required was 1 shot and he dropped. The 140gr Barnes TTSX went right through him with not much drama.. As for deer hunting, there are a lot of guys that I know that use the 243. Nice flat shooting cartridge. In Oregon, there is a minimum 22 caliber centerfire limitation on deer and .243 on elk and most abide by that. One of my buddies only uses his 22-250 for deer and does very well with it. Another buddy uses his AR15 223 on everything from yotes to mountain lion with it. In deer camp, when I went, there was not a set in stone holy grail "deer cartridge". Guys used everything from 223 remington to 30-378 and that ain't no schidt... I think there is more of a belief that you can kill a deer with damn near anything. Just ask the guys I talk to in Washington. They have a lot of good stories about long ago using 22wmr on deer...
