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Okay I'll do it. I'll stand up for the .243! While I agree that the .243 is marginal, so is about any handgun you can use. As to the distance a deer will go. First I have found that shooting for the heart on a deer is a mistake. A heart shot deer will run up to a quarter mile. I have shot deer with a .243, and several other Rifle Calibers, but mostly with 12 Ga. slugs. I tracked a heart shot whitetail over 350 yards. That my friends was a 12 gauge. Of the .243 shots I've taken and those I've seen with that Caliber only one required tracking, about 150 yard in heavy brush. Not a hard track as there was a good blood trail.
As with a hand gun, you have to pick your shots and be patient. Also Don't shoot for the heart try to take both lungs, either just behind or below the heart. I've found that although the deer may stay on it's feet longer it will not travel as far. Somehow heart shots panic the deer into a blind race.
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