It's all about ballance.. About your expected distance and your area... I will be totally honest and say 12 gauge slug under 50 would be my go to... Have seen too many results and quick kills where I am shotgun limited to think otherwise... In one case I actually found a large percentage of the lungs outside the deer and on the ground...
Bullet Speed or Heavier bullet for 300 yard shot?
- Thread starter huntingfish
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BigUglyMan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- New Scotland
I'm an old Fudd at heart and I love my 180gr Partitions in the '06. I'm sure 165s would work just fine but I started out using 180 grainers in the '06 because the Old Man hunted on the barrens and there was always the chance of bumping a grizzly out there. My brother uses 165 partitions in his '06 because that's the load the Old Man worked up for him when he was 14 and picked the rifle off the table for his birthday (we had a choice of any of the Old Man's rifles that year for our birthdays and I took his Sako '06 and then traded him for his M70 300WM a few years later). I doubt that either of us would be better off than the other. Except that I'm a better shot, of course!
I have been in both camps. But when it comes to putting the game down, you MUST be ready to follow-up. Let me set a scenario...
8 does feeding in a field about 130-150yds off. My wife's first actual animal. I kept my scope on the doe she chose, she fired, the doe hunched up, took a few steps, and laid down. I shifted my sights to harvest one myself, when she told me that it had gotten back up. I tried to find her, but the deer were now milling about too much and the entire herd left the field. Short story, lost the deer. Since then, if a second shot remains, we take it.
Last season, cow at 260yds+/-. 165gn bulk Remington cup and core, 2600fps. Heart shot. She swapped ends and headed for the trees, slowly so I knew I had hit her good, but I was not going to let her get into the trees, so when she got to the woodline, she stopped and I put one through her shoulders, BOTH SHOUDERS, she laid right down, but her young brother got her up again!! I ran forward, just as she took a step in the woods. She just stood there, head down, not wanting to move, but only offering a texas heartshot. At about 100yds, I dropped to a knee, yelled and she looked back at me and got one between the eyes. Still took me 2 hours to get her gutted and out of the woods, and I STILL had to cut down a tree to get her out!!
Gutting and skinning told the story of the hits, each one was a decent kill shot, but things happened. If I had held to my old rule of one shot, I would have still had a moose, but it would have taken all night.
8 does feeding in a field about 130-150yds off. My wife's first actual animal. I kept my scope on the doe she chose, she fired, the doe hunched up, took a few steps, and laid down. I shifted my sights to harvest one myself, when she told me that it had gotten back up. I tried to find her, but the deer were now milling about too much and the entire herd left the field. Short story, lost the deer. Since then, if a second shot remains, we take it.
Last season, cow at 260yds+/-. 165gn bulk Remington cup and core, 2600fps. Heart shot. She swapped ends and headed for the trees, slowly so I knew I had hit her good, but I was not going to let her get into the trees, so when she got to the woodline, she stopped and I put one through her shoulders, BOTH SHOUDERS, she laid right down, but her young brother got her up again!! I ran forward, just as she took a step in the woods. She just stood there, head down, not wanting to move, but only offering a texas heartshot. At about 100yds, I dropped to a knee, yelled and she looked back at me and got one between the eyes. Still took me 2 hours to get her gutted and out of the woods, and I STILL had to cut down a tree to get her out!!
Gutting and skinning told the story of the hits, each one was a decent kill shot, but things happened. If I had held to my old rule of one shot, I would have still had a moose, but it would have taken all night.
You are not a Fudd - you just know what works reliably and predictably...every time. Not much point in trying to reinvent the wheel.
Of course Partitions are not new and cool, and the .30-06 sure isn't the hot new kid on the block.
When I was younger i use to follow the shoot 'til it drops scenario....however by doing so I've ended up with moose with half a dozen bullet holes in them from a 8mm Remington mag. (destroying a lot of meat)...when with a little patience the first shot through the lungs would have done the job. Also after not havingthe amimal go down after say the second shot, I would get nervous and my accuracy would go to hell. Now, being older and hopefully a little smarter I will get ready for the follow up shot but if there isn't much of a possibility of the animal disappearing quickly I'll watch its reactions before firing again.
