Worst Deer Calibers

NolanOsborn

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British Columbia
* I think people are reading this as " they wont kill deer effectively" No where in the article does it say that they won't. It just states that in many cases there are better, similar, choices. As well as each one having a " on the other hand" section, where the writer lists good reasons for using the cartridge. It is not as ridiculous as many of you believe. *



Petersens Hunting just ran an article with the 12 worst calibers for deer hunting. I assume they mean the 12 worst commonly used calibers.
At any rate, here they are in no particular order.

- 7mm Rem Mag
- Any .22 centrefire
- .44 Mag ( in rifle )
- .375 Win/ .444 Marlin
- .280 Rem
- .300 RUM
- .243 Win
- .300 Savage
- .30-06 Ackley Improved
- .32 Win special
- .8mm Mauser
- .303 Brit

Just figured I would post it for some good old fashion debating/pot stirring.
 
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Sounds like a typical hunting rag (didn't read it).... Did they give any reason on their choices? Any link?
A better article would be the 12 worst bullets for deer hunting... At least it would have validity.....
 
Someone was hittin the crack pipe pretty hard when making that list.

I'm not exactly sure what then mean by worst. Worst in what way? WORST without an explanation is pretty vague.
 
They gave a list of reasons, some of them purely because they were unnecessary, other too little power, other too much.

The .303 struck me as odd, because they said it was hard enough to get ammo, let alone soft points you could hunt with. I guess its different in the states, but I know canadian tire regularly stocks 150gr Brit rounds.
 
Obviously the "best caliber" style articles were getting old even for them so they decided to mix things up a bit. Probably broke some poor guy's heart. I know I sighed with relief when I saw my own caliber had been omitted.:rolleyes:
 
WTF kinda list is that??? :rolleyes:

Yeah, .22 caliber centerfires I can agree with, pushing the envelope on the low side.

Anything from .243 to .300 WM or WSM is a good "deer" caliber.

Anything bigger of the magnum variety is arguably getting silly...which is not to say that hunting deer with .375 H&H just for the heck of it is necessarily dumb.

But "worst"??? What is "worst"???

A 30.06 Ackley is "worse" than a straight up 30.06??? And the reason would be...???...what?

Guess I'll have to pick up an issue. This one I've got to read!
 
Gun writers really have nothing important to write about anymore.

This article sounds like the people at my local gunshop to a T. A lady there tried telling me a .325 WSM/200 grm. TSX combo was WAAAAAAAY too much muscle for deer.

She then told me I needed a .270WSM/140 BT combo...MUCH less meat damage...:puke:
 
Seems like a rather arbitrary list to me, I guess sometimes they need articles to fill space near a deadline.

Agreed. Seems very controversy-starting and s**t disturbing.

Wow whoever compiled that list is a moron. The only one I agree with is the .22 ceterfire one, thats it. Each of the others have their place in deer hunting depending on the gun, hunting techniques and geography of the area. Maybe if they had put .17hmr and .458 win mag on thier I might have agreed with those.

There really is no "bad" deer cartidge from .243-.450 marlin, with the exception of a few "safari" cartiges , which may be overpowered for the application perhaps.

My $0.02
 
that is just so much BS it's hard to believe people spend time and energy dreaming up such crap...imagine...a 280 Rem or a 7 Rem Mag being a "bad" deer caliber...hard to believe.

Good thing I didn't run into decent buck last weekend...I was carrying one of the "worst" deer calibers....may have had a wreck.....
 
Screw that.

Hey Petersons: As an outdoor journalist myself, I'd like to publicly issue the following statement: Bull.

Someone there does not have the slightest clue, and the editor is an idiot (yeah, I said it) for letting that tripe run.

Frig....anybody with a computer can be an "expert" these days.......

If any of the editorial staff from Petersons *happens* to be a member and read this, shoot me a PM if you are interested in replacing this guy (let me guess.....Skip?) with someone who actually spends more time in the bush than behind a keyboard and knows what he is talking about.
 
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Another good reason not to subscribe to magazines. I used to have it come monthly but stopped several years ago when they published a bunch of crap about traditional muzzleloaders being no good for hunting.
 
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