Poll: Which caliber for deer, elk, sheep, auodad, and moose?

[Certaindeaf]

Huh, my only 30-06 now is the first gun I bought myself.. an 03A3 I bought when I was 16 for $60 from a sporting goods store.

 

[maddog]

Can you see the trend? I used to hunt the high desert areas where shot distances ranged from 25 to 400 (my personally imposed limit) yards. I've used a .30-06, a 7 mm Mag, and a .264 Min Mag. and I'll take the .30-06 over any of the others. If you reload, you can load down the .300 WM for deer and load heavier bullets for Elk. But you can do the same with the .30-06 and not get battered by the recoil. If you're going to hunt the open spaces, maybe the flatter trajectory of the .300 will be better for you. You have plenty of experience with it. .30-06 is cheaper to shoot, too.

 

[Howard1955]

Maddog, I tried to send you a message but your inbox is full.

 

[maddog]

Howard1955, just cleared it, try again.

 

[bsa1917hunter]

That is one of the worries I have is ending up with a deer missing its chest. I have been shooting the .300WM since I was 12 and can put a round into a 1 inch area around the bullseye at 200 yards so I have gotten quite comfortable with it but also with the .308.

If you are that good with a 300wm, you probably don't need to be asking the question. The 300wm is a powerful cartridge, capable enough to put down any north American animal. However, I don't like the sharp recoil of the 300WM. As funny as it sounds, I prefer shooting the 338WM over the 300. For most sane folk, I'd suggest these cartridges for deer and elk. Probably in this order too, depending on recoil tolerance level:

1. 30-06
2. 7mm Rem mag
3. 338 Win mag

Notice how there is no 300WM in the list....

 

[bsa1917hunter]

Just added .30-06 to the poll.

Just think what the poll would look like if you would have had this cartridge in the list initially...... I'll bet it would annihilate the competition....

 

[No_Regerts]

That is one of the worries I have is ending up with a deer missing its chest. I have been shooting the .300WM since I was 12 and can put a round into a 1 inch area around the bullseye at 200 yards so I have gotten quite comfortable with it but also with the .308.

You cant eat a whole lot out of the chest cavity. I'd just as well turn the whole chest cavity into coagulated gore than anything.

One thing you can do if are really that concerned about it is use tougher bullets with controlled expansion. This will give you cleaner holes I guess, but might not provide the internal disruption I would want.

When I hunt deer, I use a bullet that will open completely in the first 6 inches or so because a big deer isnt more than about 12 to 14 inches across the chest. This means Gamekings, Ballistic Tips, Interlocks, etc if I'm shooting a 308 or 30-06. In a magnum, I generally only use bonded bullets or partitioned bullets. I'm playing with 150gr Barnes Tipped TSXs in a 300 WM now. Shoots flat enough to make 400 yard shots less complicated and retains most of its weight. Leaves big holes and dead animals.

 

[No_Regerts]

Oh, same Barnes TTSX out of a 30-06 at near 3000 fps is just as devastating. Zeroed my buddy's Savage 30-06 with a load using a 150gr TTSX and he damn near decapitated a 2 point with a neck shot.

 

[bsa1917hunter]

Oh, same Barnes TTSX out of a 30-06 at near 3000 fps is just as devastating. Zeroed my buddy's Savage 30-06 with a load using a 150gr TTSX and he damn near decapitated a 2 point with a neck shot.

I know a lot of guys like those mono metals at warp speed, but have also seen some absolute carnage when using those bullets. Give me a good controlled expansion bullet like the Nosler partition, any day over those please...

 

[No_Regerts]

I know a lot of guys like those mono metals at warp speed, but have also seen some absolute carnage when using those bullets. Give me a good controlled expansion bullet like the Nosler partition, any day over those please...

I'm starting to get over my phase with them myself. They are pretty destructive if they are going fast enough to expand.

 

[jsparks747]

Just think what the poll would look like if you would have had this cartridge in the list initially...... I'll bet it would annihilate the competition....

I did another poll and it only won by 6 votes.