ORIGINAL: homers brother
If there's a chance I'm going to gut-shoot an animal, I'm not going to take the shot, regardless of what I'm carrying. I don't buy the argument at all that a magnum is better than a standard under those circumstances, and hunters should think before they intentionally wound an animal, even if it'll die in the end. Guess I haven't been all that impressed with the tracking skills I've seen in the field, nor the number of dead (usually respectable) bucks I've found "lost" by another hunter.
No one advocated taking a gut shot on an animal. I brough it up in the context that bad things can happen, even in good situations. And you may find it hard to believe but I am sure that a bad hit deer with a magnum is normally still a dead deer. And a bad hit deer with a lesser cartridge is one you will have to chase down, or you may never retrieve. I have seen it way too many times.
The inability to massively shock a deer is the reason why so many bow hunters loose deer that they have shot. That and the fact that they do not know what to do when they hit a deer. Especially with a bad hit.
Again, I am not advocating taking a bad shot. But I am sure that a "SHOOTER" is better served with a magnum, over a "pea shooter". Just my opinion.
Do you realize that some people consider a 30-06 as a magnum, or overkill?? Tom.