RE: Overgunned for Whitetail
 

I am down to using the 308 and 270 for everything. Both are more gun than needed for deer but with the right loads they can serve well for all NA big game. I quess mayby the perfect whitetail rifle in my mind would be the 6.5x55, 260 and 7MM-08 and 7x57 Mauser.

RE: Overgunned for Whitetail
 

What James, no .243.... Sorry , I couldn’t resist...:D

RE: Overgunned for Whitetail
 

I have been thinking about getting a .50 Beowulf and using it for an all-around gun. I was pleasantly surprised by the ballistics. The only thing about it is the ammo prices for it are kinda high.

RE: Overgunned for Whitetail
 

I butchered a deer this year that was shot at fairly close range with a .300 Win Mag. It was a broadside shot, perfect bullet placement, 150 gr bullet, no exit wound. Let me tell you, what a mess. Blood and what-have-you was forced in between the layers of flesh and muscle on the off side, it was just amazing. What ordinarily would have been a "clean kill", really wasn't. It didn't help that the field dressing job was one of those stem-to-stern deals, I never did get that....

RE: Overgunned for Whitetail
 

My cousin bought a Ruger 77 stainless/synthetic in .338 win mag for black bear hunting here in Minnesota about 7 years ago. It was his only rifle so he carried it for deer also(I know what you're thinking, I thought the same thing). One year we did a drive and a doe took off running straight across broadside of him roughly 35 yards. He shot twice, both times missing. After the first shot he startled that doe so bad she kinda did the splits with a nose plant into the snow while urinating everywhere. She got back up digging for life when he shot again, she did the same thing.She got up the last time, took off andnever saw her again! Apparently she didn't like the sound ofthose 210gr partitions were making going by her.

RE: Overgunned for Whitetail
 

ditto here, i tote the wifes 260 more than any gun i own, but i am guilty, in the late 70's i bought my first "magnum" a ruger #1 in 7mm mag. and i have owned several since, my last "no brainer" was buying a model 700 in 7mm STW, i do hunt some big bean and corn fields (thus justifying my purchase:eek:), but the last time i shot over 250 yrds was long ago. now i enjoy shooting the 260 and like mentioned in another post most of my shots have been from 30yrds to a little over 200, and the 260 has proven more than capable for all of them. i dohave a 7mm-08 in an encore pistol, i have limited myself to 150'ish with it, but i no longer suffer from "magnumitis"...

but i'm not gonna hammer the guy that wants to hunt with a 300mag or one of the wsm's, the main reason, i don't want anybody telling me that my gun is too powerfull or my bow is not really a primitive weapon ( there are people that frown on people that even hunt with a rifle) . but as far as magnum purchases are considered, i think i have a gun for every situation i'll ever encounter;), and don't anticipate ever buying any other magnum caliber, the only big game i hunt are whitetails anyway[&:]

RE: Overgunned for Whitetail
 

Nope, No mouse gun.:D

RE: Overgunned for Whitetail
 

I have a Browning Micro Hunter with a 20" barrel in 7mm-08 and a Micro Medalion in .308. I like them for the deer hunting I do in Pennsylvania. Yes, the barrels are a bit short but it does the job for me. Can't see the need for much more firepower than these calibers.

RE: Overgunned for Whitetail
 

It's like this guy I know who bought one of those 50 BMG bolt action rifles. I asked him what he planned to do with it and he said he wanted to see what it would do on a deer!!! Plain ole stupid. He can't even afford a scope for it. Just plain nuts. My 270 and I will most cerainly be able to manuever the woods alot better.:)

RE: Overgunned for Whitetail
 

Whatever blows your skirt up.:D

RE: Overgunned for Whitetail
 

The most common reasoning I hear for using a more powerful cartridge is that it has more 'knockdown power' in case you make a marginal shot. Makes me wonder if that translates to "my marksmanship skills aren't very good but I can make up for the shortcoming with a 300 RUM or 30-378 and then go on the internet and chide all of the less informed people on how bad of a choice their .308 or 260 rem is for anything bigger than squirrels"[:-]

My attitude is that a .243 through the heart is better than any magnum in the guts.

RE: Overgunned for Whitetail
 

Marginal hits happen on deer. They happen to everyone that hunts much at all. So you shouldn't bad mouth those that use larger calibers hoping to increase their odds of killing the animal. Maybe they are poor marksmen. But maybe they just want to stack the odds a little more in their favor. If you're comfortable with whatever you shoot and can shoot it accurately and only take perfect shots like those on TV then that's great. There are lots of other people who don't hunt that way.

RE: Overgunned for Whitetail
 

I know that there are a lot of people who will take marginal shots, and magnums don't make any difference. I don't need venison bad enough that I can't pass up a bad shot, I don't need venison bad enough that I'll eat tainted meat from a poorly shot deer. Some people either lack self control or are really hungry...

RE: Overgunned for Whitetail
 

The 30-30 does just about everything for deer hunting for us around here. We also use 270's and I just picked up a Savage 99 in 308. Guns are fun, and I dont feel that I need a reason to justify buying one, simply because I just plain enjoy to shoot. For hunting, the Savage in 308 should do just fine, even on the elk hunting.

RE: Overgunned for Whitetail
 

I know I'm over guned!!!! The smallest deer caliber I have is a 7mm mag the biggest is 444 marlin

RE: Overgunned for Whitetail
 

When I was younger I had to have the biggest baddest gun to hunt with. More often than not, you will find me toting a 243 or my 50cal muzzleloader. I used to like to snipe deer and other critters at insane distances, but I'd rather get up close and personal now.

If the wind is really howling (like it usually does all fall long in SD), I will still be carrying my 7mm Rem Mag. Its the most comfortable gun I own, and I know when the sear is dropped, so is whatever is in its crosshairs.

I did just get a 25WSSM this fall, and I harvest 6 deer with it. I really like how light/compact it is. Its my new walking deer rifle. The first deer I dispatched with it was a large doe at 429 yards this fall. My closest shot was a few weeks ago during a depradtion deer hunt on my cousins land, 60 yards or so, and it really turned it into minced meat.

RE: Overgunned for Whitetail
 

RE: Overgunned for Whitetail
 

I know that if a buck of a lifetime came up to me and i could choose a bad shot that would kill the deer or pass and not get a shot, i would have to shoot. i have got some beatiful bucks by accidently gut shooting etc. on drives. You do the best you can and hope for the best. I HUNT PUBLIC GROUND i wish i was spoiled and had my own ground but i dont. On the first day if i dont kill a buck that i see chances are he will be dead before dinner.

RE: Overgunned for Whitetail
 

I've never really understood the magnum craze. Having enough gun for anything is good, but you can have toomuch as well.

The .30-06 takes care of my needs without leaving me sore after extended range sessions, shoots straight, and drops deer. My longest shot has been 150 yards vs. a doe. Didn't get ten yards from where I double-lunged her. In addition,the ammo doesn't cost as much as a lot of the magnums. That means something the way prices are going today.

RE: Overgunned for Whitetail
 

I had Magnumitus, but I've been cured, I'm down to a .243 now!

RE: Overgunned for Whitetail
 

There is no such thing a too dead. If what you shoot messes up too much meat, that is a different argument and can be moderated by bullet placement. Shoot what you like and are comfortable and accurate with. I would rather hunt with someone with a 30-378 that is able to maintain good groups at the range than someone with a 243 whose “good” groups are 4 to 5 inches. It is the person and the gun not just the gun that is in question.

RE: Overgunned for Whitetail
 

Didnt you give me crap all the time about my .243 ?
Anyway glad youve seen the light.
Shoot, I am down to a Hornet these days. Killed 3 this year with it.

RE: Overgunned for Whitetail
 

There's a difference between taking marginal shots and making marginal shots. Shots hit twigs you didn't see; the deer takes a step; you flinch. No one's perfect. Larger calibers do make a difference. They knock down deer and/or cause more damage on any hit, be it marginal or good. If you take the time to clean up the meat, you won't deal with as much tainted meat. I've yet to taste it, and I've shot deer at all angles and deer running, walking, standing, and bedded. I don't take shots I think will result in marginal hits. But, I hunt public land where you better take a shot when it presents itself, and I enjoy still hunting and making drives which result in lots of tough but makeable shots. A .30-30 just doesn't put deer on the ground all the time. I've hunted with people using .243s and quartering shots and sometimes even broadside shots leave you without a bloodtrail. That's why I hunt with a .30-06. If you think hunters like myself don't have self control and we're starving then you're mistaken. We just do what it takes to stack the odds a little more in our favor for when things don't always go perfectly right.

RE: Overgunned for Whitetail
 

Why do I shoot a 300 Wby for whitetail sometimes....because I can. ;)

RE: Overgunned for Whitetail
 

Its all in personal taste, a few years ago a saw a laminated stainless Savage in 300RUM that I just had to have, don't know why but did. Still haven't got a shot at a deer with it yet.

RE: Overgunned for Whitetail
 

I enjoy owning and using different guns. I prefer a 270 for deer but on the right mule deer hunt I might grab my 300RUM. I use the 300RUM for elk but now that I own a 375 H&H I'm not sure which one I will carry this year for elk. I may switch it up a bit. I'm also not sure which one I'll carry on my moose hunt in Alaska this year. We have this argument at least once a month and bottom line is, if it's legal,feel free. I'm just one of the guys that prefer to be a little over gunned. Different stroke for different folks. Who knows next year I may decide never to shoot a magnum again. We all have the right to use legal means of take, and we all have the right to change our minds on which is our weapons of choice. Everytime we change our minds it gives us another excuse to buy another gun!:D

RE: Overgunned for Whitetail
 

All i know is that one year i tracked one of my buddies deer 400 yards. It bled the whole time....We never got that deer.....With a 30-06 i guarentee that it would have not gone beyond 200 yards. THe 243 doesnt compare to a 3006 for deer. I think its more ethical to take a deer quick with the least amount of suffering. Why not put a little more ketchup on the hotdog?

RE: Overgunned for Whitetail
 

Yea...If you hit them in the wrong place, they are going to run aways...

Deer aren't hard to kill, your buddy just needs to learn how to shoot...:D

RE: Overgunned for Whitetail
 

And if I had been their and shot that deer with my .22 Hornet, I guarantee he wouldnt have gone 1yd.
Tell yer buddy he needs to learn to shoot.
I use a .243 and killed a bunch with it, on average they run 40-60yds with a body shot.
They dont run at all with a neck or high shoulder shot.

RE: Overgunned for Whitetail
 

Deer was running. Nobodys perfect. Point is with a 30-06, bone would fly all through the animal and kill it, or its guts would have droppped out. I would like to see a 243 do that.Just IMO

RE: Overgunned for Whitetail
 

My little man here, hit this deer at 190 yds with .243. Id like to see a 30-06 do that.




I can tell you have little exp. with hunting and calibers, you have no clue what a .243 will do.

RE: Overgunned for Whitetail
 

Running or not, it was his decision to shoot, if you can't execute the shot, keep it in the chamber...:D

On running deer, a .243 actually helps you, you never loose sight of the target and the light recoil helps you get back on target easier...Down here in NC we have dog hunters, I've killed many running...

I've never shot one in the guts, prefer to hit them in the lungs...

RE: Overgunned for Whitetail
 

Hehehehee Some of the posts ya read..lmfaoo...:D Im thinking grenades or land mineswould probably serve your buddy better than a rifle...no matter what caliber.

RE: Overgunned for Whitetail
 

i use a 7.63x39 as my Whitetail rifle. my shots are inside 100yds. i traded my neighbor for an electric scooter i bought years back for $75 sounded like a good to deal for a Norinco in good condition.

RE: Overgunned for Whitetail
 

My first response would be "so". Who cares what some one else is using? There's an arguement for anything. Whether I harvest a deer with my 22-250 or my 7mm mag (not to mention any of the other 8 cal. I have in my gun safes that I have used to harvest deer), it's nobody else's business than my own. Likewise who would I be to say what is the right or wrong (under gunned or over gunned) that some one else feels comfortable using. The results are measured by only on thing. And that is, the space in the freezer.

RE: Overgunned for Whitetail
 

Actually, a 30-06 WILL do that...if you use the "wrong" bullet, and make a poor shot on a deer...

Personally, i prefer to use the "proper" bullet for the game i'm hunting, to avoid bullets blowing up and makeing huge holes...

DM

RE: Overgunned for Whitetail
 

Most hunters really don't give much thought to which rifle they are going to hunt with unless the animal being hunted might eat them. Otherwise people just hunt with whatever rifle is in favor that year. Silly question really.

RE: Overgunned for Whitetail
 

If you hit them in the boiler room behing the shoulder it really doesn't matter what caliber.

RE: Overgunned for Whitetail
 

.40 cal air rifle


anyone else read the new Feb. issue of MoConservationist?

on page 31 the paragraph named HUNTING.






Quote:

Starting this fall,firearms deer hunters will be able to use air-powered guns, .40 caliber or larger, charged only from an external high compression power source (external hand pump, air tank or air compressor). This change was the result of a suggestion from the public. Before it was passed, staff members tested large bore air rifles powered by compressed air and found them suitable for hunting deer.

RE: Overgunned for Whitetail
 

I've never been overgunned for white tail. They've gotten so big and mean and tough that the gun companies are working on bigger and better cartridges every day!