There have been a few times that I have managed to come away from a hunt with venison ribs. I consider myself serious barbequer, and I have never gotten a good meal out of them. As a result, I never consider the loss of rib meat in the equation.
A shot that takes out both lungs and the heart will do just fine. I do not shoot .243 WIN-- been more of a .30 and .35 kind of guy. However, I did nail a deer with a 25-06 this year. Honestly, they all seem to do a good job. Depending on what gets hit on the way in and the way out, you may have up to a fist-sized hole in the off-side of the deer, but actual meat loss is going to be minimal.
Shoulders? Although effective, I think it ruins too much usable meat. I agree that a shoulder roast is a bit much work, but if you drop one in a slow cooker for half a day, the meat falls off the bone. An easy recipe is one shoulder roast, one bottle of Russian dressing, and 6 hours in the slow cooker.
