O.K, the title was just to get attention. But in a way I'm serious. Last year a buddy of mine borrowed my .243 for a deer hunt in Alabama. The guy he went with was toting a 3oo win mag. The guy with the win mag gut shot a doe and after tracking long stringers of intestines over barb wire they finished it off after about a 500 yard track:banghead: My buddy shot a 125 inch 8 at 200 yards hit it perfectly and the deer went 60 yards.Dressed at 180. Here's the point, a well constructed bullet (nosler partion) fired out of a .243 into the lungs of a deer is a guaranteed kill. Step up to a 300 win mag. How much forgiveness does one get with regards to shot placement with a heavy mag. A gut shot is still a gut shot, and a flesh wound is still a flesh wound. Many claim that too many deer are lost to shots from a.243 but how many of those are well placed shots?If both lung are popped, the deer is dead regardless of caliber.