I am amazed how many people will look down on a cartridge that they have never used! I have learned a few lessons in my time as a hunter. I have hunted across North America and have taken more than few animals from small (rabbits, squirrel, game birds) to large (elk, moose) and most in between.
Some things that I have learned over the past 60+ years:
It doesn’t matter how big the bullet is or how fast the bullet is traveling if the bullet doesn’t connect with the target.
There is no level higher than dead; deader than dead doesn’t exist.
An animal gut shot is going to die eventually, whether hit with a 22 caliber bullet or a 375 bullet. If you cannot get another bullet into where the first round should have gone you have a chore to do. Bigger and faster bullets do not make up for lousy shooting.
Trying to shoot accurately and duck the recoil off a real thumper rifle does no lead to accurate shooting. Putting the right bullet in the right place is what matters.
The animals that we hunt have not gotten bigger or tougher than they were when my Grandfather started hunting over a hundred years ago. They don’t require more “killing” than they required when Daniel Boone was earning a living shooting deer and bear.
When I lived in Oregon and hunted elk in the Blue Mountains I met and hunted with an older rancher who forgot more about elk and elk hunting than most of us could hope to know. He knew elk and the country better than anyone and he had all season to hunt.
He owned only one rifle, a small ring Mauser chambered in 22-250. In his hands a 55 grain hand load shot like a laser! Deadest elk I ever saw was a monster 7x8 bull he had hunted for three years! That elk hit the ground like he was hit by lightning.
I am in no manner stating that the 22-250 is in any manner an acceptable elk cartridge. The point I am trying to make is that he was an exceptional elk hunter, a deadly shot and he could and did wait until he was certain that the 55 grain bullet would connect with the elk’s head, between the era and the eye.
Jack O’Connor spent more hunting time for more animals than we cannot begin to ever accomplish! His primary cartridge was the .270 Winchester which he used in North America, India, Africa and the Middle East and most places in between. Someone should have told him that he was under gunned when he killed moose, elk and grizzly bears with it.
Norwegians and Swedes shoot their elk, our moose very dead using the ancient 6.5X55 round. Navtive American hunters in Canada still use 30-30 Winchesters on moose, other Canadians fill their moose tags with the ancient .303 British round.
Most of the many deer that I have killed (I don’t harvest anything, I kill it) I shot with a 250 savage and 100 grain bullets, especially Barnes 100 grain TSX bullets. I have absolute faith in the 250 savage and my ability to put it where it needs to go. Works equally well here in Wisconsin as it does in several western states.
Lest you think me limp wristed I currently shoot every caliber from .17 to 358 Norma (275 grain bullets) and most every caliber in between. Worst caliber I ever tangled with was the fearsome 378 Weatherby! Three rounds of that beast loosened my teeth, and booted me out from under my hat. I couldn’t use my right arm for two weeks!
Happy Hunting!
Some things that I have learned over the past 60+ years:
It doesn’t matter how big the bullet is or how fast the bullet is traveling if the bullet doesn’t connect with the target.
There is no level higher than dead; deader than dead doesn’t exist.
An animal gut shot is going to die eventually, whether hit with a 22 caliber bullet or a 375 bullet. If you cannot get another bullet into where the first round should have gone you have a chore to do. Bigger and faster bullets do not make up for lousy shooting.
Trying to shoot accurately and duck the recoil off a real thumper rifle does no lead to accurate shooting. Putting the right bullet in the right place is what matters.
The animals that we hunt have not gotten bigger or tougher than they were when my Grandfather started hunting over a hundred years ago. They don’t require more “killing” than they required when Daniel Boone was earning a living shooting deer and bear.
When I lived in Oregon and hunted elk in the Blue Mountains I met and hunted with an older rancher who forgot more about elk and elk hunting than most of us could hope to know. He knew elk and the country better than anyone and he had all season to hunt.
He owned only one rifle, a small ring Mauser chambered in 22-250. In his hands a 55 grain hand load shot like a laser! Deadest elk I ever saw was a monster 7x8 bull he had hunted for three years! That elk hit the ground like he was hit by lightning.
I am in no manner stating that the 22-250 is in any manner an acceptable elk cartridge. The point I am trying to make is that he was an exceptional elk hunter, a deadly shot and he could and did wait until he was certain that the 55 grain bullet would connect with the elk’s head, between the era and the eye.
Jack O’Connor spent more hunting time for more animals than we cannot begin to ever accomplish! His primary cartridge was the .270 Winchester which he used in North America, India, Africa and the Middle East and most places in between. Someone should have told him that he was under gunned when he killed moose, elk and grizzly bears with it.
Norwegians and Swedes shoot their elk, our moose very dead using the ancient 6.5X55 round. Navtive American hunters in Canada still use 30-30 Winchesters on moose, other Canadians fill their moose tags with the ancient .303 British round.
Most of the many deer that I have killed (I don’t harvest anything, I kill it) I shot with a 250 savage and 100 grain bullets, especially Barnes 100 grain TSX bullets. I have absolute faith in the 250 savage and my ability to put it where it needs to go. Works equally well here in Wisconsin as it does in several western states.
Lest you think me limp wristed I currently shoot every caliber from .17 to 358 Norma (275 grain bullets) and most every caliber in between. Worst caliber I ever tangled with was the fearsome 378 Weatherby! Three rounds of that beast loosened my teeth, and booted me out from under my hat. I couldn’t use my right arm for two weeks!
Happy Hunting!
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