Duckbutter48

"An ethical shot is based strictly on your rifle/bullet combination and your shooting ability. Is it ethical for me to shoot a running deer? Depends doesnt it? Can you make the shot? Is your bullet capable of delivering a clean kill? Lets face it, some folks just arent very good shots. They may not be able to practice enough. They may have never learned how to really shoot. What is ethical for me to do may not be ethical for you to do. Simply because you draw you limit at a 100 yard shot doesnt mean I can not kill cleanly at 200 or 300 yards. If I can kill cleanly, isnt that an ethical shot? Of course it is. I never take a shot that I am not 100% sure I can make. I am certain you do the same. The difference may well lie is what we, as individuals, can do with a rifle. "


I agree with all of your statement. My point is the bullet/caliber doesnt make a difference in the choice of where to aim at the deer. Not what different hunters limitations are.

Heres the scenario you have a 30-06,.338win 270win(whatever deer rifle)and thedeer is at 100 yards. You have no idea which bullets are in these guns other then they are sighted in @100yrds. Would it make any difference in where you would aim at the deer not knowing the bullets wieght/type.I dont think so thats why I mentioned this. An ethical shot is an ethical shot for each hunters ability.

This post is about bullet weights not hunters ability to shoot.

James B

BUT TODD!! It does in the movies.. I have shot a lot of big game as well but have never seen an animal really knocked off its feet. It can appear that way sometimes on shoulder or spine shots.

Duckbutter48

"If you handed me a strange rifle, I wouldnt take any shot. That wouldnt be ethical. "

The rifle wouldnt be strange Id introduce you two 1st.

Ought Six

It would indeed change where I would aim, what shot I would take, and of course....my confidence. Take the 30-06. Is there any caliber with more bullets available than 30 caliber? If there is, I am not aware of it. Different bullets have different jobs. I would never try a tail-end shot with a '06 loaded with 110 grain bullets. I would try it with a '06 loaded with 180s or 220s. While the 110 grain pill would be devastating on a broadside shot, I feel it would not provide a clean kill from either an oblique or tail end shot.

You are right, the post was about wieghts and not shooting ability...until you raised the question of ethics. But, isnt bullet choice based on your ethics?

Duckbutter48

Wow this really went a different way then I expected. Im not trying to argue whats ethical or not.
I never wanted to getinto that. The original mention with ethics was taking a shot with what you yourself thought was ethical. Not to argue what is or is not.

Rebel Hog

DITTO!

stubblejumper

I have used many types and weights of bullets over the years with mixed results.I prefer 140gr ballistic tips out of my 7mmstws for all my deer hunting because they always put the deer on the ground very quickly.However for moose or elk,I now use the 180gr tsx out of my 300ultramags.I have total confidence in this bullet reguardless of the shot angle as it offers great penetration and reliable expansion on the larger animals.To me the tsx results that I have witnessed have been more impressive that the nosler partition results,and I have used partitions in several calibers on a variety of biggame animals.

zrexpilot

Yep, no such thing as knock down power. For a bullet to knock down 150 lbs, it would have to push the rifle back with equal force, so hence it would knock you down. Simple law of physics. With every action theres an opposite and equall reaction.
Take a 150 lb piece of steel and shoot it with a rifle and see if it knocks it down or moves it back. And this steel will ensure that the bullet expends all of its energy on to it, a deer is soft and the bullet will penetrate right through it, so the energy is even less expended. Youll find that the bullet will not move or knock down a 150 lb piece of steel.

killer243

i have to put another vote in for the fact you won't knock a deer off its feet. you can't compare shooting a 30 pound peice of metal and a 150 pounds of flesh and bone they aren't even close to the same thing.

as for the bullet choice question, i only hunt deer with my 30-06 but i still use 165 gr. bullets. for 2 reasons: 1- they shoot the best out of my gun and are able to hold a good flight out to as far as i would shoot. 2- i don't worry about my bullet blowing up on bone. i have seen deer that were shot in the front shoulder and the bullet IMO was just to small and it blew the one leg off but never entered the vitals and a second shot was needed. i am99% sure my 165gr. bullet would have blown threwthat shoulder and hit the vitals.but at the same time i have seen deer hit behind the shoulder with these small fast bullets and have them drop in there tracks. now most of the deer i shoot behind the shoulder don't flop over but i never had one go over75 yards. soIMHO i give a little to gaina little more,everyone has their own prefrence and i won't ever try to stop someone from shooting their desired loads because everyone has a reason to use what they use

Roskoe

I throw my vote in with .243 fans. Did you ever see the video where the guys from 2nd Chance body armor get shot with .308 Winchesters and .44 Magnum handguns? They stand on one foot and, at point blank range, the impact of the bullet does not knock them off their feet. It only pushes them back a couple of inches.

What knocks an animal off its feet (or doesn't) is the sudden disruption to its nervous system, and/or an involuntary reflex action to being struck by the bullet.