Which Gun to drop them down??
 

What caliber would you chose trust to drop a deer down from 100-500 yards..... and why???? My cousin has a .270 and says with a 150 grain bullet 10 out of his 12 deer have dropped on the spot, and the other two havent went more that 15 yards... his longest shot with it was 534 yards he said... is he fibbing? what ya'all think???


Thanks

RE: Which Gun to drop them down??
 

NONE!

I don't care what any one tells you there is not a single shoulder fired rifle made that can be counted on to drop a big game animal in its tracks every time unless you break back/ neck bone or shoot it in the head.

RE: Which Gun to drop them down??
 

Good answer bigb. I dont understand why this keeps coming up for discussion. Do some people think that there is this magic rifle/bullet that is going to just blow an deer in half or do something mystical that nothing else can do.

RE: Which Gun to drop them down??
 

I have shot deer with 300 savage, 243, 8x57, 308, 30-06 with a variety of bullets all shots have been in the lungs or heart but two every deer ran at least 5 yards with thaaverage being a 40 yard run, but always have good blood....the other 2 shots one was a neck shot and it dropped, and one was a high shot that hit the spine.....I dont think dropping a deer is imprtant, getting a good lethal hit and having good blood is what I want....

RE: Which Gun to drop them down??
 

I don't know why this keeps coming up either. Bullet/caliber selection is important but it has more to do with shooting skills! I have had only one time where the cartridges I was using was not worth a dime and that was way back in the seventies.

As far as long distance shots, certainly feasible and have been done quite a bit. I shot a antelope out to 437 yards in Montana with a .243 so it is possible. Did the animal drop in it's tracks, nope, but it only ran about 50 yards, stopped and then slowly collapsed.


Shot placement
Shot placement
Shot placement

RE: Which Gun to drop them down??
 

"is he fibbing? what ya'all think??? "

I would vote yes hes fibbing. Its not impossible but with that bullet you have to aim about 5-6ft higher then the deer and unless you practice that it would be a very hard shot.

I like reading the word fibbing. Havent heard that for a while.

RE: Which Gun to drop them down??
 

I think a 75mm Howitzer would do the trick.

RE: Which Gun to drop them down??
 

I agree. What's the difference if it falls in it's tracks or runs 50 yards? Both deer are dead. Is one degree of dead better than another?

RE: Which Gun to drop them down??
 

:DOr a 50 BMG

RE: Which Gun to drop them down??
 

With a 140 gr slug sighted in 3.9" high at 100 yards will give you a 300 yard zero. You would have to aim roughly 30" high at 500 yards. A far cry from 5-6 feet. A 150 gr slug would have a little more drop, but not that much. It could certainly be done if you practiced and knew the exact yardage. I wouldn't try it, but it can be done.

RE: Which Gun to drop them down??
 

A good lethal shot and good blood is for Bow Hunting in my mind. I dont want my bullet to leave have an exit wound. Id rather deer get all the shock and energy of the bullet. Less suffering that way.

RE: Which Gun to drop them down??
 

Unless you are shooting something so poorly matched to the game or you just like being unethical, you are already shooting a weapon that has power to spare!! AND, getting a good blood trail is a he** of a lot more important than leaveing every last foot pound of energy in the animial.

It may take you looseing an animial or two before you figure this out, but if you hunt long enough you "will" figure it out.

Drilling Man

RE: Which Gun to drop them down??
 

Dm Ive been hunting for about 20yrs now with a rifle and on average kill about 4 a year with a gun and I havent had it happen yet.
IF you want a good blood trail stick with an arrow with a good broadhead not a 30-06.

RE: Which Gun to drop them down??
 

Oh, this is easy one. Any of them that can hit that heart and have the power to reach that heart. That will drop em like a hammer. Other than that, your on your own.

RE: Which Gun to drop them down??
 

I want my bullet to tear the hell out of the vitals (arteries, lungs, heart, backbone) AND make two holes. I want that critter to leak like crazy. I want a very good blood trail. Thing is, I want my bullet to make it into the heart/lung area of the deer from any angle.

RE: Which Gun to drop them down??
 

"I want my bullet to make it into the heart/lung area of the deer from any angle"

Me too Ought Six I just dont want it to waste energy going out the other side. I figure once it gets in there and blows up I dont need a blood trail.

RE: Which Gun to drop them down??
 

oh yea, your the guy who thinks its good to shoot deer with 110gr at 4K.

RE: Which Gun to drop them down??
 

I have neverhad the need to shoot300-500yd shots!
Maybe out west alot of hunters do, but I like to stay under 300yds.
I have been to Colorado a few times and have taken Elk and Mulies and all were under 300yds. I can't see anyone trying to shoot anythingat a 1/4 mile and over!
These guys are shooters and not hunters, IMO.;)

RE: Which Gun to drop them down??
 

Yes sir Im that Nut. Y4K why not I say. Has worked for me and plenty of my buds.

RE: Which Gun to drop them down??
 

I have only everdropped 2 deer in their tracks my whole life. One was with my 300rum and i held 3/4 of the way up at 320 yards and it hit their thought it dropped more but it dont and hemregedthe spine the other was an 8 point with a 300wm right under my stand spined him but between the 2 300's ive shot 25 deer or better and only dropped 2 though i have never had one go over 50 yards. two years ago i shot a doe in the heart i mean her heart was little chunks 20 yards away300wm and she still ran 40 yards.
P.s. I would much rather have blood trail then my bullet in the deer. Duck butter your statement I found ignorant you must not know any better and have learned little it seems in 20 year of hunting. 110 gr 4k? huh interesting

RE: Which Gun to drop them down??
 

I shot a doe at about 30 yards with a 180 grain .30-06 this year. There was a half-dollar size hole on BOTH sides of the rib cage, looking into the body cavity when I field dressed this deer. When I picked the deer caracass up to shift it to a more favorable position for field dressing, there was a loud audible bellows sound from the side of the doe. Also, blood poured out of one of the holes in the deer like from a spigot. That was one dead deer. Nevertheless, this deer was able to run about 20 yards. How did this happen given this formidable damage? One of the front shoulders was also broken.

Don't count on any round planting a deer on the spot. Any hit with any reasonable cartridge may still result in the deer running 50 yards.

RE: Which Gun to drop them down??
 

I shot allot of deer since I started hunting and only had a couple drop in thier tracks. I grew up having to use a slug gun where I lived though - I used a 12 Gauge with 3" Magnum Federal Slugs - Thats about 1 once of lead smacking a deer at the average of 25 to 30 yrds - I just started being able to use a rifle where I hunt do to reg changes and I did drop a doe in her tracks with my .243 at about 75 yrds but I also hit her right dead center in the back of the head. Other than that I normally get a nice vital shot and have never had to track a deer more that about 50 yrds.

I had an uncle in ID drop an antelope at just under 700 yrds but that was a fluke - We went out hunting after his brothers funeral and found a nice antelope out near a watering hole that we just could not get any closer to and he got down in the prone position and let one rip - and we both just kind of looked at each other in amazement when it just fell over - couldn't belive he dropped it let alone hit it at that range but that is not something I would make a habit of doing - I try to keep it in the 200 yrd range.

RE: Which Gun to drop them down??
 

Bigiron I dont see how not wanting an exit would is ignorant. Would you call hunting with a match bullet or FMJ ignorant. I would because all the do is put a hole through the deer which does leave a blood trail which some think is so important but most would agree not to use those bullets for hunting because they do not expand enough\at all.
Many hunters use Balistic tips which were designed to blow up in a deer not go completely through the animal. Do you think everyone who uses them is ignorant, since they get bullets that come apart and prob wont leave a blood trail. You dont buy BT's for the exitwound, not saying theydont go through sometimes but mostend up in with a nice entry whole and turn the engine room into soup. That shock drop deer pretty quickly sotheres no need for a blood trail totrack them.

RE: Which Gun to drop them down??
 

Well, with the statement about the BT's and how they were designed, I think you showed everybody what you know.

RE: Which Gun to drop them down??
 

Ive recently found a cool home page and have been waiting for a chanceto post it here. Maybe you all have seen it already, but if it is dropping power you want, here it is. Not for long range perhaps but then again as Rebelhog put it.Long rangewould be shooting and not hunting .

http://gunshop.com/videoclips/4bore_ouch_240x180x12fps.mov

RE: Which Gun to drop them down??
 

RE: Which Gun to drop them down??
 

Interesting to hear the personal preferences of different hunters. As for me, well, I like an exit wound and if a bullet fails to give me one on a classic double lung shot just one time, then I quit using it.

I've been hunting close to 35 years,and have killed quite a few deer. I've only had two deer in all that time fall where they stood. One was shot with a Nosler Partition and the other with a Barnes Triple shock. I once shot a whitetail right in the boiler room with a 180 gr. Swift Scirocco out of my .300 Weatherby at a distance of no more than 15 yards. That bullet did not exit, so all that energy, some 3600 ftlbs or so, must have been expended inside the animal. You would think the deer would have turned 4 flips after absorbing all that energy, but if you've hunted a while like I have you know it doesn't work like that. He ran about 60 yards before falling over deadand that's farther than any deer has managed to run in all my hunting days except for one that made it about 150 yards after being shot in the gut.

So again, give me an exit wound and a blood trail and I'm happy.

RE: Which Gun to drop them down??
 

534 yards , haha he's lying. Ive played with my rangefinder and a deer makes a really small target at 500 yards plus teh bullet drop and wind defelction, i highly doubt that he even hit a deer at that range.

RE: Which Gun to drop them down??
 

I wonder though how many people sight their rifle in 3.9 inches high at 100 yards? That said, the 270-280, 308-30-06 will certainly do the job IF YOU CAN HIT THE RIGHT at that range. They may run a bit though.

RE: Which Gun to drop them down??
 

My slug gun throws a 600grn .72 cal lead slug at 3,000 ft/lbs of energy and a butt load of momentum. I shot a deer this year at 20 yards put a hole the size of a quarter all the way thru it taking out the lungs and the heart. It still ran 100 yards.

Here is link to a study done by the SC DNR

South Carolina DNR Game Study

I personally wouldn't pick a ballistic tip bullet, but they seemed to have good results with the softer type bullets.

Paul

RE: Which Gun to drop them down??
 

I know but whic hcaliber would you trust most....:)

RE: Which Gun to drop them down??
 

He said he sighted in dead center at 250.. He shot the deer across a field in Kansas I think he said...

RE: Which Gun to drop them down??
 

EXACTLY!!

Drilling Man

RE: Which Gun to drop them down??
 

I would opt for the 280. Thats just a personel preference. The others would work well also. However there is no way that I would shoot at a deer at 500 yards. To many things can go wrong. To mant chance to not recover the animal. Again, personal preference.

RE: Which Gun to drop them down??
 

I have had quite a few go down where they stood. Most of the deer I shot witht h round nose 180's from the 742 dropped where they stood. Havent had that kinda luck witht he bolts...but have had a few drop at the crack.

RE: Which Gun to drop them down??
 

A hunting bullet is either designed to stay in one piece and expand a great deal or come apart(blow up) Unless you get a Nosler Partition which does both. When a thin skinned BT hits most anything it goes into pieces(blows up). What do you think it does. Ive never had a BT stay in one piece which is perfect for me.

RE: Which Gun to drop them down??
 

He may be telling the truth. after all, he's only reporting on his own personal experience.

However, there is NO firearm, short of a 57mm or larger recoilless rifle,that can be fired from the shoulder that can guarantee to positively drop every animal it hits on the spot where it was standing! None!!

RE: Which Gun to drop them down??
 

You are mistaken once again. The only bullets designed to "come apart" areused for defense and by police officers so ricochet is minimized. Ballistic Tips do not "blow up". For a bullet to "blow up" it would have to contain its own powder charge and we know for a fact that hunting bullets do not contain such a charge. BT are designed to offer high ballistic coefficient and rapid expansion at longer ranges while still retaining a percentage of original weight. I use them almost exclusively and have never had one "blow up". Before you go hunting again you might want to put down the bong. That stuff affect ones thinking way too much.

RE: Which Gun to drop them down??
 

If you can get abullet to penetrate to the other side, and come apart into a bajillion pieces, while getting to the other side, this would be the best poison for deer.
IMHO

RE: Which Gun to drop them down??
 

yeah if you get a chance post the web address of your exploding bt, cause i have never recovered one under 60% of weight retention.