nc bearhunter

why is it that you read all about hunters wanting a rifle that will knock a car on its side at half a mile when bow hunters just wait untill they are within 40 yds or so does't it just sound like overkill

Carpmaster

I dunno, I just use what works!!!!! 308 and 8mm works fine and they fall in the middle of good guns for deer!!

Colin3

Well bow hunters use what is most efficient as do rifle hunters. Bow hunters use the heaviest draw they can handle well (etc.). So do gun hunters. I suppose with guns and bows there is a point where the power is not necessary. (but people like to push the envelope) At least thats how i see it and hope it makes sense.

ir655

My personal limit is .300 Win Mag. although I have a 7mm mag myself, I have seen and heard too many people here wanting to use things like the .338 and .458 Lott for deer. Insane. Even my 7mm Mag feels like too much sometimes!

James B

I can see no reason on earth for any magnum rifle for deer hunting. I don't use them any more but I had magnum fever years ago. Now I have no idea why. Year after year the lowly 250 Savage and 30-30 kill deer as dead as a wedge. For those who think they need magnum they are there for the buying. I still use the 30-06 for deer sometimes even though its much more gun than I need. I like the 257 Roberts and 6.5x55 about the best. I also have a 308 and 280. I use them a little to keep them from getting rusty. My wife keeps useing her 250 Savage. She has never had on walk away from that rifle either. To each his own. The manufactures love it.

m.t.hands

perhaps these are multi-purpose firearms, you never know when you might want to turn a car over

didn't you ancestors ever tell you not to take a knife to a gun fight, same idea, dead is dead, but would you want to stick an animal with a dirty nail, and let the green gang get him, or do you want to go pick him up, already tenderized, and take him home. it always best to have it and not need it than it is to need it and not have it.

James B

I agree I always use all I need.

Todd1700

We have a serious case of magnumitis in this country. I was afflicted with it in my younger years and purchased a 7mm magnum myself. It rarely comes out of my gun case now. Nothing wrong with it but it's just way more gun than you need for any whitetail that ever lived. I currently use a 7mm-08 for my woods gun and a 25-06 for my field gun.

With the exception of the large bears a 270, 30/06 or 308 will kill any game animal on the North American continent quickly and efficiently. Not only that but they will do it at distances well beyond the range at which 90 percent of hunters can consistently hit anything anyway. And despite the fact that most people like to imagine themselves in that 10 percent whose shooting skills can make full use of magnum power most are only kidding themselves. Most have a magnum recoil and magnum muzzle blast induced flinch that makes accurate shooting out past 300 yards impossible. This is ironic because it's not until you get out past 300 yards that a magnum caliber offers any real world advantages over standard calibers.

Magnum calibers also often cause more problems than they solve. By accelerating bullets to these magnum speeds you start to see core/jacket separation on impact and bullet failures at close range. To fix this people often buy premium bullets that are not only way more expensive but often are so toughly constructed that they don't expand well on whitetail sized animals. Especially if you shoot them behind the shoulder where only rib bones will be impacted. Because of this many magnum men have to start taking shoulder shots to insure the bullet expands properly. Problem with that is that you will pretty much just have to throw away both front shoulders. Not the prime cuts of meat but thats a lot of good sausage and stew meat gone. In fact extensive meat damage is one of the reasons I stopped using magnum calibers for deer. Because shooting a large magnum is not exactly a pleasent experience at the local range, many people don't shoot them as much as they might a milder caliber. Another reason many people cannot shoot them very well.


They hunt a lot of moose in Finland and Norway. Their moose get just as big as ours. Do you know what is by far the most popular caliber for moose in those countries? The 6.5 x55 millimeter. That's a 26 caliber cartridge with the whopping muzzle velocity of 2550 fps. And it kills moose dead dead dead. Those countries have hunting cultures that for the most part value marksmanship while we have a serious case of magnumitis. In Finland you have to pass a marksmanship test to even get your hunting license. Not a bad idea in my book. .

If bowhunting teaches us anything it teaches us that it's not what you hit them with but where you hit them. I have killed deer with everything from a 243 to a 300 magnum and you know what? I have seen no definate difference in terminal performance on whitetails. I can honestly say the following about the 243, 25-06, 270, 30-06, 7mm-08, 7mm mag, and 300 mag. Sometimes they dropped at the shot and sometimes they ran a little ways. Never very far if it was a good hit but no caliber caused consistent lightening strike kills every time. One thing I do know a gut shot deer will run just as far whether he was hit with a 243 or a 300 magnum.

Most of the local hunters I know go through the same evolution. They start out with the big mags and slowly gravitate down to the milder calibers as they get older and wiser. As for me, my 7mm-08 has a muzzle velocity of about 2700 fps. At that velocity regular soft lead tipped bullets (Winchester super X) perform perfectly on deer and cost 11 dollars a box. Because of it's low recoil I can shoot it all day at my local gravel pit and not need a chiropracter when I get home. And I have yet to have a deer make it farther than 40 yards.

m.t.hands

very well put 1700, i bought my wife a rem model 7 ss in 260 rem. its the gun i carry 98% of the time, bought a rem 700 in 7mm stw, why? already had a 7mm mag. i don't know, i have killed deer at extreme yardages, within the cap. of the rifle but not always the shooter (its not for everybody, here it will be a big bean or corn field). for someone that has never shot 500yds take a piece of poster board (don't even think about something the size of a milk jug) and see how small that piece of poster board gets at 500 yds, by the way you'll want to turn your 3x9 up to about 16[]. like i said the stw and the 7 mag sit in the safe, and the 260 has become my carry gun, i even bought a 260 barrel for my encore, but still perfer the small light model 7. by the way i wont knock anybody for what they hunt with, but it is kinda funny to think about shootin a whitetail at 35-100yds in the woods with a big cal/mag cart. btw please don't frown on this but i have a encore pistol in 7mm-08 i know thats big for a pistol, and it really gets some looks, but i think its a dandy, and has killed its fair share of deer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

zrexpilot

Good posting todd, people should take your advice. I myself have been lucky to have never caught the Magnumatitis. I dont get to hunt anything bigger than whiteails and have used a .243 since day one, thats was about 25 years ago and I can honestly say I have never lost a deer to it. Sometimes I think its too big. I've taken some deer through the boiler room and still have both shoulder totally bruised and engulfed in coagulated blood. Little by little my friends are recovering from this awfull disease, LOL. I'm glad to see some of you recovering as well (smile)
But this is america and you know how we are, we love excess so to each his own.