RE: .410 for deer
I live in indiana. this year will be the first time the .410 will be legal for use in our state. it will be interesting to see the results. I think the states plan is to increase hunting oppurtunities for women and children. I dont know how well the .410 will preform on whitails but i do plan on buying one for my seven year old son to use in the 2003 season. Shot placement is the key here though. one well placed round to the heart or through both lungs will do the job I dont care what tool is chosen.
Most bowhunters today believe if you cant acheive arrow speeds of 300 fps you wont get the job done. Well way back when in the time of Saxton pope and Art young ( fathers of modern bowhunting) most people beleived the bow and arrow was not an effective tool for big game. So Art Young and a camera man(crank type camera) took an expidition into Canada to prove that the all north american big game could be taken with a bow. Now mind you were talking about the pre fiberglass era and wooden handmade longbows wooden arrows and forged blades. equipment that might have yeilded speeds of 150 fps. and they accomplished there goal by taking animals such as grizzly bear, moose and caribou, all on video. this video is a available ,I cant remember the name though. But I rented it from my local archery shop.
But anyway my point is, the modern hunter of their time rejected the bow and arrow because it lacked knockdown power. Just as today you all are rejecting the .410 as a viable solution to Toons needs. What the modern hunting community (myself included) needs to get back to is the mastery of skills in the areas of markmanship , shot placement, patients , and general knowledge of the prey. And quit placing so much enphasis on getting a bigger gun or a better bullet. all of which are fine but in the end its your skill that will prevail and no matter how big the gun is or or how much energy your bullet will delivery a bad hit is still a bad hit and your chances of recovering the game are significantly reduced.
thanks for listening Bob