Coastie

O.K. then, rather-be-hunting and EKM, you have both bad mouthed the .30-30 at ranges under 100 yards ad nauseum. Just what rifle and round do you each individually use?? What is your average shot distance, what is the longest shot you would normally attempt?
rather-be-hunting, I too own about as many ballistics tables and reloading manuals as anybody can use and I can interpret the results about as well as most.
So tell me, with all of the 300 plus yard shots I keep reading about from these guys hunting Elk out there, just how much difference is there actually? A .30-30 at 100 yards or under using a 170 gr. bullet is delivering 1355 foot pounds of energy. Your old standby .30-06 with a 180 gr bullet a whopping 1190 at 300 yds. or 1300 with a 220 gr. bullet. Yes I know that your 375 H&H Magnum at that range does a lot more, but how many guys so armed are taking those close in shots? You don' t read about shots at 100 yds or less by these people, they are always shooting halfway across the state. A bad hit with a cannon wounds just as bad at those distances as poorly placed shots at closer ranges with lighter rifles.
Judging range is just as or more important with your heavier rifle than it is with the .30-30 especially when you start reaching out there as seems to be the fashion. Shooting up or down hill? The same holds true, the longer the range and the steeper the angle the more important. You said yourself that these animals aren' t going to wait around all week for you to break out your handy dandy gee whiz gadgets to get things all neat and tidy for you so how do you judge distance and angle any differently than the rest of us neophytes?

BTW,EKM, I don' t watch football.....I' d rather go hunting.