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I have seen many deer shot with the .243 and have evolved an opinion that it is a cartridge for the "expert" hunter. It will absolutely kill any deer you hit with it if the shot is placed well, but there is no doubt that sometimes, in certain circumstances, with some awkward bullet placements, occasionally, more sheer power can be very helpful. Sometimes. (You can see I have strong views on that.)
If you use 100 grain premium bullets, keep your shots to less than 300 yards, have the calm and presence of mind to not shoot unless you know you can place it properly, you will have no troubles. My preference is for something bigger specifically for deer.
It is a really nice round to shoot. It handles everything up to deer sized animals with authority. It is just a little on the light side for deer. If a really big buck was disappearing rapidly and needed to be shot from a bad angle at long range, I would be wishing for something shooting much heavier bullets.
I'm not sure that the Roberts offers any real differences to the above conditions for effective use, although I have too little experience with that round to be trusted.
If you are tracking deer shot with a .243, you either used the wrong bullet or you put that bullet in the wrong place. Even using a .30-06 will not guarantee you will never need to track, but it will sometimes reduce the number of tracks you need to follow.
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