Deer Hunting with a .308 win?

[Mike Fontaine]

Hi Friends, hope you are all doing well. I have a question. Why is it that in my neck of the woods many hunters refer to the .308 win as the “Gangrene Gun?” We all know that shot placement with any caliber is crucial, but why pick on the 308??? With good loads (powder and bullet mass) the ballistics are not that far from some 30-06 factory loads. :?

 

[JD338]

Why is it that in my neck of the woods many hunters refer to the .308 win as the “Gangrene Gun?” With good loads (powder and bullet mass) the ballistics are not that far from some 30-06 factory loads. :?

Here in MI, the 308 Win and 30-06 are both very popular for WT Deer and Black Bear hunting. Nothing "green" about either one.

Load your 308 Win with a 165 gr BT or AB and don't look back!
Your comrads will be "green" with envy on all the 1 shot kills you make on deer. :wink:

JD338

 

[remingtonman_25_06]

The 308 will reliably kill deer to 600 yards with the right bullet and the right shot placement...A lot of people are doing it with 175g SMK or VLD's at 2650-2700fps..

I dont use the 308 and personaly probly never will, its not fast enough for me...Its easy to dope the elevation at LR, but when it comes to windage at LR, the 308 gets spanked by a lot of other cartridges. The 308 still works for ranges out to 600 yards though. Its accurate and got enough thump with the right bullets to get the job done.

 

[Charlie-NY]

Because everyone knows just home anemic the .308 really is. The 30-06 isn't much better at killing whitetails which can be tougher than rhinos. My 30 caliber of choice has always been the 30-378, a real mans whitetail rig.

When using the 30-378 avoid high magnification scopes. With typical whitail shots being under 75 yards, it's just too hard to find them in the scope.

 

[buckfever]

If most shots are under 75 yards then a 308 is more than enough gun. I think your 30 378 might be a little to much, But more power to you if thats what you like to use. Makes my poor 25 06 seam kind of under powered the way you put things

 

[HeathSexton]

I had two conversations the other day on this same subject. First guy comes in to trade a gun, caliber .308. "Why do you want to trade?" "Well, the .308 is just not enough gun for deer around here." "Sometimes I have to shoot out to 100yds or so and it just ain't got the range."

Second guy: "Hey Heath, what do you deer hunt with?"
Heath: ".260"
Guy: "Wow, that is not nearly enough gun for the deer I hunt."
Heath: "Hmmm, really....."
Guy: "Yeah, I had a .270 Weatherby, but it just wasn't getting it done, I got a .338 Winchester, but I have lost several with it, you don't know where a .35 H&H is do you?"
Heath: ".......... are you serious......?"


He was dead serious. I tend to think shot placement matters somewhat in hunting, that's just me though. If you can't kill deer with a .308, you need to just give it up.

 

[JD338]

I tend to think shot placement matters somewhat in hunting, that's just me though.

There are a lot of people that sight in and practice with 1-2 boxes of shells prior to deer season. They get a sore shoulder and are afraid of their gun. Then they take or make a poor shot and blame it on the "bullet " or "not enough gun".
Shot placement is everything!

JD338

 

[Guy Miner]

Mike - I suspect that the hunters belittling the .308 Win are poor marksmen, at least on game. Or they just want something to bad mouth. Some folks seem to need something to complain about or they just don't seem to function well.

Many, many deer are killed cleanly with far less powerful cartridges, like the .25-06 and the .243 Winchester... The .308 is more than enough for any deer in North America.

Regards, Guy

 

[Powerstroke]

Mike,
The .308 is more than enough for "ANY" deer in N.A. ! Excellent round to reload for with a lot of choices. ( I like remington-man will probably never own one which I'm sure is my loss ) I do however own the .308's little brothers. 7-08 & a .260. Both rounds have taken mulitpule elk for me and I wouldn't hesitate to go back to them for elk.

 

[HeathSexton]

I tend to think shot placement matters somewhat in hunting, that's just me though.

There are a lot of people that sight in and practice with 1-2 boxes of shells prior to deer season. They get a sore shoulder and are afraid of their gun. Then they take or make a poor shot and blame it on the "bullet " or "not enough gun".
Shot placement is everything!

JD338

JD, I was being sarcastic with my comment, hopefully it came across that way.

You are right though, people here shoot a few times and get a little sore, then out comes Mr. Flinch, they make a bad shot and it's all the guns faut.

 

[Mike Fontaine]

You're all right guys! I just have to remember I live in Massachusetts!

 

[YoteSmoker]

I hunt elk with my little 308 sometimes...I must be out of my mind

 

[JD338]

I tend to think shot placement matters somewhat in hunting, that's just me though.

There are a lot of people that sight in and practice with 1-2 boxes of shells prior to deer season. They get a sore shoulder and are afraid of their gun. Then they take or make a poor shot and blame it on the "bullet " or "not enough gun".
Shot placement is everything!

JD338

JD, I was being sarcastic with my comment, hopefully it came across that way.

You are right though, people here shoot a few times and get a little sore, then out comes Mr. Flinch, they make a bad shot and it's all the guns faut.

No worries Heath! I'm with ya all the way.
I was just commenting on what I have seen for years helping out at the gun club. One time, there was a guy who wanted to use 7mm Mauser shells in his 7mm RM because it would kick less!!!

JD338

 

[buckfever]

My Dad has killed Elk farther out then a 308 should have been. more like 30 378 country but that was a long time ago and he shot all the time and thats all he had. I feel kind of feel sorry for people that don't think the 308 has the power. Of course he uses a 300 weatherby now and has for awhile but wouldn,t turn down his 308 if he had to.

 

[rick smith]

Guess those hundred or so deer my son and I killed with a 7BR Rem and a 308x1.5 Barnes weren't as dead as we thought they were. Didn't seem to mind being skinned and gutted though.Rick.

 

[Desert Fox]

I haven't killed anything with my 308 yet but, I've witnessed two friend killed deer with it at 500+ and 600+ yards respectively, with authority. Both one shot kill. One was using Barnes 168 grain TSX and the other, a 165 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip. Lots of people are underestimating this little cartridge and the most vocal of all are the one that never really have experienced with the round. I just now began to appreciate this cartridge. With it's inherent accuracy, you can placed the bullet at the right spot and the game will fall. I shot this 3/4" thick - 8"X16" gong at 525 yards with 155 grain Lapua Scenar . Even at this distance, I could easily placed the bullet at the animal vitals with certainty. This 3 shot group was fired on a 5 to 8 miles wind.

Here's a one shot hit at a half gallon jug at 590 yards.

Entry hole

Exit hole

 

[nomosendero]

I recently traded for a M700VS that is like new. I think I will try to work up a good load with the 168BST. For some reason the BC is a good bit better than the 165BT, worth a try. Should be more than enough to 5-600
yards.

 

[Guest]

My cousin and many others use 308 wth great success. its not worth squawbaling about, though many think so. I personally think the 308 is a better round than most 30 calibers. being one of the easiest to load for, velocity is consistent roundafter round, it fits in a short action, is only behind the 30-06 in velocity 100-200fps and is a more efficent case design. my No. 13 speer manual stated that they got the same velocity with better uniformity using the 308 over the 30-06 until bullet weight was pushed up to 180 grains. where the 30-06 has a larger case capacity. Thousands of deer,elk bears and other large critters would like a say in this conversation if they were alive to.

 

[Guest]

Geez, if the 308Win is not enough for deer, someone ought to tell all the deer I've killed with my 30-30Win that they aren't really dead! It's amazing how much tougher whitetails have evolved over the past 50-60yrs. It's really a great example of time compressed evolution. Used to be that a whitetail could be killed by a 243, 257, 30-30, and even some really slow stuff, like the 38-40 and 44-40. But now, it takes nearly a howitzer to get them down.

 

[DIXIE]

http://noslerreloading.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=3386
http://noslerreloading.com/phpBB2/viewt ... highlight=


NOW WHY CANT I KILL A DEER WITH MY 308, check out my pics in the links above