Do you feel the recoil ?
 

The question was asked at deer camp today. How can you stand the recoil on those big bore gun that you shoot ? Then one of the other members said. ( Hurt's my shoulder to even think about pulling the trigger on any gun that says mag on the side )
Well I paused for just second and said. I have never noticed that my 338 WIN mag or 300 ultra mag have any more recoil than my 243 . When I line up a good clean shot on the animal that I"m about to take.
Adrenalen, heart rate, breathing all kind of blend together. Cross hair is in it's place. The presure builds on the trigger. Then Bang, it's done. Just like that. No recoil , Just a little blood from the eye lid from time to time. But when I go to the bench to shoot those big a** guns, they kind of roll my eyes around. Sight in time is short !


So would anyone like to comment on hunting recoil ?
Do you notice heavy recoil when hunting or just at the bench ? Most of your responses will be the talk of saturday night dinner.

Don't even feel my .300 Win mag when I'm shooting at a deer. Just like you say. No flinches or anything. Just aim and squeeze.

Nice thing about a magnum, no one else puts a tag on your deer. In 15 years I've shot numerous whitetail bucks (and does), a mule deer buck, two elk and a black bear and not one has gone over 10 yards from where I hit them.

Kind of mess to field dress sometimes though.... :jaw:

usually after a box at the range, im feelin it with the 300wsm...but never on a kill, even if i go through a box on hogs, never bothers me.

i don't think many people feel recoil when shooting at game. I think its more of a at the range thing. I myself like to practice with my rifles so i feel comfy taking a long shot etc.... i really don't like high recoil at the range thus my biggest gun is a 30.06.

I can only put four or five deer slugs through my 5 1/4 lb single shot 12 ga at the range before having to quit. The next day, my shoulder, upper arm, and chest area show heavy bruising and my neck bothers me quite a bit too. But when I take a shot at a deer, I don't feel a single thing. Methinks that the brain is so laser focused on the shot that it blocks out all other stimuli.

Not to hijack the thread, but what about the noise from the shot? If you shoot a deer rifle at the range w/o earplugs your ears will ring. Yet you shoot at a deer and hardly notice the noise. I can understand being so focused, excited, etc, that you don't notice the sound, but it still seems your ears would ring after the shot. So why don't they?

Oh, except the time I had a muzzle break on my Browning BAR. That rang my ears good after shooting a deer. I switched to a solid piece for the BOSS system after that.

I've never shot a mag rifle load, but I've shot plenty of 12 ga magnum slug loads. I don't imagine that a 300 Win Mag generates a whole lot more recoil than that, but y'all will have to comment on that since I don't know.

I definitely feel the recoil when shooting at the range. It doesn't cause me to flinch, though, but after about 15 slugs, my shoulder definitely starts to hurt. Even the first one smarts a bit. But for every shot, I find myself concentrating on a smooth, consistent trigger pull, and being surprised when the gun goes "bang."

It is definitely an interesting phenomenon in the field. Your brain and muscle memory go into full auto mode, and you just don't think about it; it just happens. I never, ever feel the recoil in the field, and I never concentrate on my trigger pull, etc. The only thing I think about (after checking the background) is the front sight or crosshairs, and the small gap in the trees that's allowing me to make a clean shot.

I think that is why practice, practice, practice is SO important. You cannot afford to be thinking about your shooting technique in the field. Even if you can't make it to the range a lot (which I, for one, cannot), you can still do a whole heck of a lot of practice with trigger control and target acquisition in your living room. I like to use the window to acquire outside targets. :)

Muzzle blast? Yeah, I definitely notice it with a centerfire rifle after taking a shot at deer. One shot from a shotgun or muzzleloader? Not so much (they dont' generate near the blast, IMO). Muzzle breaks are killers on the ears. I cannot for the life of me see why there are "hunting rifles" (like the Mossbergs that came out last year) with MUZZLE BRAKES. It's just ridiculous and unnecessary, and murder on the ears.

For me, recoil from basically any rifle "during" the shot on game is non-existent. I don't hear it or feel it. Never have.

Now that being said, imo magnums are way overrated for your typical whitetail hunting. Yes, there are situations where you need to shoot longer etc where a case can be made for having one, but 90% of the folks that use magnums most likely don't need to. The last thing I want to do is sight in a .300 ultra, etc. Most mags will wear you out to shoot from a bench, and not to mention the ammo is very expensive. Personally, I'd take a .243 over a .300 ultra any day. Its all about shot placement anyhow. If I was shooting deer at 300-400yds regularly, it might be different....but most folks shoot them at less than 100yds. Most of the time, its overkill.

I feel the recoil from my Savage .308 when I'm on the bench rest, practicing my shots. But it's not that bad.

When I got my 5 pointer up in New York on my sister's farm, I never felt the recoil at all. I just remember myself trying to stay calm, focusing hard and keeping the crosshairs steady on the buck. I gently pulled the trigger and BAM! I dropped the buck in his tracks.