I was a kid, growing up in the boondocks of bushland Saskatchewan, in the 1930s. Virtually everyone lived on wild meat, all year. The country I knew was over-run with elk, plenty of moose and a fair smattering of deer. An older brother was the hunter in our family and during about a ten year period he killed about 35 elk and six moose, plus some deer (jumpers.)
The bush homesteaders used many different calibres, but the 30-30 was far and away the most popular. The little stores of the day stocked rifle shells, and of course, they always had 30-30. I understand it was this way over the entire area of northern Canada. Thousands and thousands of people living on wild meat and the most common rifle was the 30-30.
A story I was well aware of, having heard it first hand, as well as by others, was a man who shot moose and sold the meat. I remember the figures, in 1928 he shot 28 moose. His rifle? You guessed it, the old faithful Winchester 30-30.
In the 1950s I knew a man who supplied his family with moose meat during the 1930s in BC. He told me that during the depression he shot about 32 moose, and his rifle was the 30-30. I then asked him how many he had wounded. He thought for a fair bit, then answered, "I don't remember any that got away wounded." Until about the end of the 1950s, the major hardware store in Prince George, the heart of the hunting area in central BC, sold more 30-30 ammunition than any other calibre.
Remember, those early hunters were HUNTERS. In the 1930s they wore Indian buckskin moccasins, and they sneaked through the bush. Because ammunition cost money, they never wasted it by shooting at anything, except from a position that would virtually assure them of a kill. A man I knew very well used a Winchester 351 self loading. If the question were asked on these threads if the 351 was suitable for deer, I think the answer would be, no. But, this fellow in Saskatchewan that hunted with one, killed nine moose with one box of twenty cartridges!
I know, it is hard for modern people to have any idea what conditions were in the 1930s. A box of 30-30 ammo probably cost about $2.00, but if a man was fortunate enough to get a job, he was very lucky if he earned a dollar a day. It was common to have only two or three rounds of ammunition in the house, and no money to buy any more. But the man would go hunting for meat for a very needy family, maybe with two 30-30 shells. Do you think he took chances on missing, or wounding an animal.
Yes, for a good long time there was more big game shot with the 30-30 than any other calibre. Of this I have no doubt.
