I'm not reading what the others have said. If you insist on sticking with the .243 get ready for more heartache as you learn its limitations. Try Barnes TSX, Partitions, or Accubonds in their heaviest offerings. Stay away from everything else. Stick to shoulder shots because you likely will never get an exit unless you are shooting little hillcountry of TX deer. You need to drop them. With those bullets you will at least have a chance at getting an exit wound. I have never seen a 243 exit on any deer approaching 200# It is a varmint cartridge after all. It was invented for incidental take of deer, not targeted take of deer. There are a hundred better cartridge options for deer. Hell, even the 6.5 CM is better. With the right bullets of course. Ditch the .243 for something else like a 708, 308, 260, 350 legend, 30-30 if you are recoil shy. Jump to 270, 280, 7 mag, 30-06 if you want the ideal. If you want a hammer and even less potential meat loss then go 35 Whelen, 358 Win, 338 Federal. In all cases stick to bonded or all copper projectiles. They offer near zero failure rates and less meat loss no matter if the deer is in bow range or 300 yards away.
Meat loss is a function of speed, bullet construction, and target makeup. If you hit one in the shoulder with any bullet that likes to fragment you are likely destroying all the meat no matter what cartridge you choose. Your brother likely didn't encounter heavy bone or else it would have been ugly. .30 caliber magnum cartridges are famous for destruction at closer ranges, especially the Weatherby. If you want big power and little meat loss jump to .33 cal and up cartridges. Typically, these larger diameter bullets have a heavier construction. They don't create as much meat loss on shoulder shots because they dump less energy into the target. The bullet just keeps on trucking. I hunted with a guy that got a 338 Lapua because he thought the deer would explode I guess, lol. "I don't want them to run off anymore" was what he told me. Well, they ran off more with the 338 Lap than with his 7 mag. He was a "behind the shoulder" guy. The thin hide and ribs on his whitetail were not enough to get his 250 grain bonded bullets to expand. It still ran almost 100 yards. The look on his face was priceless. Now, had it he shot one square in the shoulder, I don't know what would have happened. It sure would have been interesting to see though. We had a 280 Remington and 7mag on the same trip. 7 mag deer was over 200#, Barnes 150gr TTSX, 150 yards away, impact was top of the heart, no heavy bone contacted, the deer was dead before it hit the ground, almost zero meat loss. I was the 280 Rem guy. I killed 3 on that trip with 140gr Barnes TTSX bullets. (6 deer on the year, one was with a bow) The first was a 240ish # buck, 250 yards away. I hit him a little high and back from my top of the heart point of aim. He still dropped and only kicked enough to turn himself 180 degrees. Zero meat loss on that deer. Upon inspection the bullet passed close enough to the spine to sever it with out hitting the bone. Next deer was a doe 150 away. Top of the heart bang flop near zero meat loss. 3rd deer was a doe, 150 yards same aim point however one leg forward and she was quartered more than I realized. She ran about 40 with a broken offside shoulder. We lost some of the off side leg but not all of it. No bullets recovered because they worked properly.
I have killed a little over 150 deer in the last 33 years and spent several years guiding. Most people on don't get to kill that many or see that many get shot. I hate the 243 with a passion. Dump it, trade it, get rid of it. I have seen more disappointment with that cartridge than any other. It is not a deer gun for a novice. You have to know exactly what you are doing with it. The only good thing about the 6.5 CM is that it is displacing the 243. The bad thing about the 6.5CM is that ELDX bullet the bullets most chose for it. Again, should you get a creedmore, shoot nosler partitions, anything bonded, or Barnes. The only 6.5 CM shot deer I have been around was a nice 10pt a lady shot with Federal Terminal Ascent bullets. It did a great job putting the deer down and exiting. Her previous 3 had to be tracked with a dog because she was shooting ELDX. Her husband tried to shoot ELDX out of his 264 Win Mag and he needed a dog on one. Yet, people will sing that trash's virtues. I just don't get it.
