How do you chose your hunting cartridge?

How do you chose your hunting caliber?

  • I go with what everyone else is using for that game.

    Votes: 11 6.5%

  • I go with what my dad and grandad used.

    Votes: 13 7.7%

  • I go with the most powerful thing I can accurately shoot.

    Votes: 26 15.5%

  • I go with the caliber everyone else say's is too small.

    Votes: 6 3.6%

  • I don't care about the caliber, I go with the GUN I like best, whatever that is.

    Votes: 44 26.2%

  • I don't have a choice, I use the only firearm I own.

    Votes: 13 7.7%

  • Other...please explain.

    Votes: 55 32.7%
  • Total voters
    168
I pick a range of cartridges which is suitable for the game intended , and go with the one that interests me the most.

For instance, there isn't much difference between a .270/280/308/30-06/300/7mm etc so any of those is suitable for deer to moose, just pick whatever one interests you the most.
 
I am a rifle enthusiast so I keep several around. I never have to settle for just one rifle to apply to all types of hunting.

6MM Rem, 700 BDL, for deer and the occassional fox or coyote. Works great for knocking the heads off late season pheasants in the stubble.

260 Rem, 700 ADL Titanium for above the treeline. Not a super light weight, but it tops out at 6 pounds with scope, mounts, sling and 4 rounds. Thanks for parting with it A-Zone.

270 Husky. Not my favourite rifle, but I like having a rifle for which I can buy ammo at any gunshop, Canadian Tite or Wal-Mart if I am in a pinch.

280 Rem on a Titanium 700. My custom build and go-to gun for everything. A bit heavier than the original Titanium, but a lethal long range rifle in a lighter than average package. If I could only have one rifle for all types of hunting, this would be it.

30-30, Model 94. Great 100 metre or less bush gun. Ammo available anywhere.

35 Whelen. Great medium bore. Low recoil, big punch. Primarily my moose, elk and bear rifle, although I have yet to take a bear with it. I also carry it for deer in the thick bush as it anchors them on the spot every time. My #2 choice if I had only one rifle.

If you want only one, general purpose rifle, there are a hundred or more threads on which to choose.
 
Since I have most of the common calibers already , i go with what I feel like going with on the day I go out. sort of like , what clothes to wear today. I've been known to get stuck at 4 different rifles and not being able to decide which one I want to take that day , and ending up letting the wife decide for me , for a particular day. One just a side note guys wish her well , the totally blind lady (wife) is going for her PAL/RPAL shortly :) That should really ruffle ottawa :cool:
 
I go with the rifle that makes the most sense for the game I'm hunting and terrain I'll be hunting in.

For example...in the tight coastal BC pines for deer I'll use my .303...out in the interior of BC where longer shots are more likely I'll bring my 7mm Rem Mag for deer.
 
Whichever caliber i take depends on what i'm doing. Thick stuff : 35 Remington or 300 Savage in lever action rifles. Longer ranges: (400 yards and in) 30-06 or 308 in bolt action rifles. If i'm hunting distance, it's usually over a cut so ranges can vary. I find that i have no use for magnum cartridges where i live now. Most shots are 200 yards and closer so there's no reason for the magnums. All standard sized cartridges will do the job just fine. I'm not saying i won't get any magnums in the future. I'm just saying that right now, i have no use for one.

Caliber/Rifle choices depend on what, where and how you are hunting. End of story.

Dorian
 
I've got a pile of calibers, but in many cases when I'm carrying one I wish I were carrying something else that is more suited to what I'm doing or I just like more. With few exceptions I wish I were carrying a 22/250, 7mm STW, .300 mag or .375 H&H. Obviously situations vary, but I've never wished a .300 was a .308 Win, an STW was a .270 or .375 was a .35 Whelen.
After awhile you start noticeing a lot of decent rifles don't go much of anywhere except the range, and wonder what the exact point of still owning them is. Scarey thought, that one.
 
While hunting I only have 2 to choose from, a .17hmr and a 7mm rem mag and there isn't really much choice depending on what I'm after. When choosing a new gun, I argue with myself and others, spend months reading threads on here, then end up buying the only one that's in stock at the time, making all that decision making useless but still fun
 
I use the calibre I feel is the best tool for the job. ie: this fall I'll be htg calling season moose in close quarters; marshy areas surrounded by forest so dense light itself is scared to go in there. My choice for that is my 450, iron sights.

Last fall I htd antelope in open country. My first choice would have been the 270, but since I gave that to my son the only "tool" in my cabinet that is very fast'n'flat with a good scope was my 300, which is overkill due to the velocity of the round and subsequent potentially devestating impact energy at the range I figured I'd be shooting, but for that hunt, it was the best tool I had. Fortunately my aim was true in the ribs and I damaged no meat.

Of course once I pick the calibre I choose what I feel would be the best bullet, and then try to work up a load with the velocity and accuracy I am looking for.
Yes, I'm very anal about this.

That being said, in all honesty all the hunting I do could be done with a 30-06, but I am able to have what I feel are better tools for a specific hunt, so I use what I feel will do the best job.
Obviously opinions will differ. Being from Alberta I have the advantage of knowing what I'll be drawn for next yr, so can spend the entire year of shooting working towards the best I can muster when the time comes.
May sound corny, but like I said, I'm anal about this, and I take my responsibility as a hunter very seriously.
 
I like hunting with old hunting cartridges - .25/35, 6.5x55, 7x57, .30-06, 8mm Mauser, .33 WCF, .38/55, .40-82 WCF, .44-40, and .45-70 Govt., just to name a few. No coincidence that many are over a century old.

Each old cartridge is matched to the game being hunted. The biggest rush I get is proving again and again that they still work well and that big game are still not armor-plated. :owned::D
 
Other...please explain.

OK, cost, efficiency and ergonomics. That is what drives the vast majority of us. The rest have their own reasons which probably don't agree with those 3 reasons, but they have the right to choose something unique.

For example. Most hunters here have a 30-30 lever gun for bush deer hunting because it works for them.
I choose a a bolt action 6.5x55 or 7.62x39. It works too, but it is unique to me.
To most hunters here the gun is but a tool to harvest game. I'm more interested in the firearms aspect than the hunt and it reflects my thinking.
 
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