Author Topic: The Worst Deer Calibers Ever (Read 10635 times)

45-70.gov · « **Reply #60 on:** February 17, 2011, 12:53:35 PM »

the failure of the 30-30.....is only exceeded by the 270 winchester

more people take to the woods and on a daily basis with THESE 2 rounds
and come home empty handed

never even seeing a deer

maybe they need a different cartridge?

??

RaySendero · « **Reply #61 on:** February 17, 2011, 01:11:45 PM »

Yeah, Lighten-up guys!

I too was getting along OK with the article until he started picking on my 8mm Mauser and 303 British Enfield!!!

While I would agree with him about the American Factory loads for the 8x57 are "notoriously lackluster" - That's why I roll-my-own 8mms.

But I really didn't like the idea of using my 303's "two-piece stock as a decent canoe paddle"!

ironglow · « **Reply #62 on:** February 18, 2011, 01:51:25 AM »

And imagine my H&Rs being compared to Chinese matchlocks !

JeffG · « **Reply #63 on:** March 05, 2011, 06:45:33 AM »

My list of "worst" would be ....any rimfire, 25/20, 32/20, 30 carbine...when I was a kid adults trying hunting deer with 30 carbine fmj. A lot of hunter input goes into "bad rounds" either you place your round, track the (wounded) deer, recover your game... or not.

ironglow · « **Reply #64 on:** March 06, 2011, 01:37:00 AM »

Put a .458 Win Mag through the tail of a fox and it will only speed him up.. put a 30/30 in the eye of an elephant and he drops...
Rver hear about "bullet placement " ?

bubba · « **Reply #65 on:** March 06, 2011, 01:59:52 AM »

I think we should start a new forum called the caliber of the year. It sure seems that a lot of guys get wrapped up in the newest bigger better faster harder hitting killing deer deader than any other caliber ever invented crap. I guess if we plan to be in the know and have the most effective calibers, we need to keep up with the jones'. Me I will stick with my tried and true.

45-70.gov · « **Reply #66 on:** March 07, 2011, 01:37:41 AM »

Quote from: bubba on March 06, 2011, 01:59:52 AM

I think we should start a new forum called the caliber of the year. It sure seems that a lot of guys get wrapped up in the newest bigger better faster harder hitting killing deer deader than any other caliber ever invented crap. I guess if we plan to be in the know and have the most effective calibers, we need to keep up with the jones'. Me I will stick with my tried and true.

i can't beleive you think a 45-70 or 30-30 will work

they are just too old......won't even do mack 2

Pat/Rick · « **Reply #67 on:** March 08, 2011, 08:45:07 AM »

For a limited time (next year and a half) I will be offering a one years subscription to petersens hunting magazine, in trade for your obsolete deer wounding .30-30's and .45-70's. P.S. please inculde any unused ammo,dies, brass, and bullets.

parkergunshop · « **Reply #68 on:** March 08, 2011, 10:13:22 AM »

Ok,

I have killed deer with just about every caliber from .257 Roberts to .458 Winchester Magnum and with a .357 Magnum Pistol, I used my .357 Mag because a six inch barrel was required to be legal, my .44 Mag's barrel was too short. The first hit with the .357 took the deer down and I climbed down from my tree stand to finish him off.

The most reliable deer killer in thickly wooded mountains, has been a Persian 98 Mauser in 8 M/M with the original barrel shortened to 18 inches in a mannlicher stock with my handloads using the old Norma 196 grain bullet.

The worst deer killer I have seen is the .30 Carbine used by a high school classmate.

My 45/70 with the 300 grain Winchester Jacketed Hollowpoint handload to 2300 FPS is awesome in heavy brush. It is in a Ruger No1, but followup shots have not been needed.

Halwg · « **Reply #69 on:** March 08, 2011, 12:32:52 PM »

Swampman just likes to stir the pot & incite the masses. That's what got him kicked off Marlin Owners, but I see he's still doing it here. Go Swampy, you da man!

Freezer · « **Reply #70 on:** March 08, 2011, 12:47:51 PM »

After reading the posts and thinking for a while I came up with two conclusions.

One thinking gives me a head ache

I took two aspirin and got an upset stomach

Thinking is bad for my health

Two; The worlds worst deer calibers are the shoulder thumping, teeth rattling, head splitting magnums that with any pratice at all will make a normally fair shooter flinch so bad he'll miss a good deer standing still and broad side at 100 yards.

So in my world it's better not to think too much and shoot rifles that are fun to shoot and I don't mind practicing with.

nasem · « **Reply #71 on:** March 12, 2011, 05:49:28 PM »

Quote from: The Famous Grouse on January 18, 2011, 05:22:04 AM

Predictably, this article in Peterson's Hunting magazine generated a few responses.

The Worst Deer Calibers Ever:

http://www.petersenshunting.com/content/worst-deer-calibers-ever

I have to say, taking the emotion out of it, I have to mostly agree with his opinions as they relate to deer. Even though I own guns chambered in 3 of the 11 cartridges named.

I can't agree with his opinion of the .243 however, and he does kind of backtrack all over this by stating that even though it's one of the worst deer calibers, he whacked 2 deer stone dead with it just this season. And he rates it highly as an antelope caliber. What the heck? Correct me if I'm wrong, but pronghorn are roughly the same size as the deer (whitetails) are around these parts AND the shots on pronghorn tend to be a lot longer than the shots we take here in the North Woods. Granted we don't do the deer feeders and corn spreaders to fatten up our deer like the Texas hunting ranches do, so in that case he could be right.

Overall, I can see three trends in the cartridges he chooses for the "Worst Ever" list: The trend toward using huge, heavy magnum calibers for deer, clinging to obsolete calibers that were OK back in their day, but have now been surpassed, and the use of oddball or wildcat calibers that can only be made to work through extensive gunsmithing and handloading efforts.

Anyone else read the article?

Grouse

lmao... I loved how he made the 7mm mag recoil like a howitzer yet recommends that if you want 1 gun to kill almost all (and can "tolerate" recoil) then 300 RUM is your best bet......

semperfi1970 · « **Reply #72 on:** April 06, 2011, 06:18:49 PM »

This thread is funny as all get out, so I will add my two cents. I have seen whitetail deer droped stone dead with a 222 and seen deer run for hundreds of yards when hit with a 30.06. You want a deadly whitetail deer combo try a 55 grain v-max at 4,050 out of a 220 swift. Some would say its way to light for deer size game, well it causes more carnage than my .308 with a 150 grain soft point every time. Dont knock it till you try it, Im talking about complete and total jelly vitals. You will never get the hydro shock of a varmint bullet over 4,000fps with a big bore caliber round. Just my two cents for thoes who think they need a shoulder cannon to kill a little old whitetail deer.

Spanky · « **Reply #73 on:** April 06, 2011, 09:10:57 PM »

Quote from: semperfi1970 on April 06, 2011, 06:18:49 PM

This thread is funny as all get out, so I will add my two cents. I have seen whitetail deer droped stone dead with a 222 and seen deer run for hundreds of yards when hit with a 30.06. You want a deadly whitetail deer combo try a 55 grain v-max at 4,050 out of a 220 swift. Some would say its way to light for deer size game, well it causes more carnage than my .308 with a 150 grain soft point every time. Dont knock it till you try it, Im talking about complete and total jelly vitals. You will never get the hydro shock of a varmint bullet over 4,000fps with a big bore caliber round. Just my two cents for thoes who think they need a shoulder cannon to kill a little old whitetail deer.

You're right on the money Devil Dog. I've shot lots of deer with rifles from my 22 hornet to my 12ga. shotgun and the worst damage to any of 'em has been with the 22 calibers. It's funny to say but the most damage to any deer I've shot came from a 45gr. softpoint out of my 22 Hornet. I shot a doe in the lungs at about 40ft. The bullet broke a rib on the way in and broke a rib on the way out and everything in between was jelly. The offside ribcage had a bloodshot area about the size of a grapefruit.
Some guys just don't understand the damage that a 22 (especially the fast 22's like 22-250 or 220) will do to a deer.
I'll try to find the pics of the doe I shot with the Hornet... it's pretty nasty.

Spanky

us920669 · « **Reply #74 on:** April 10, 2011, 07:34:35 AM »

Man, this one keeps going - I love it. I would say the guy is probably a competent writer who just ran dry and produced possibly the worst deer hunting article of all time. I recall when Peterson took over my favorite hot rod mag back in the 70s or 80s and wrapped that sucker right around a phone pole. If you want a good hunting mag join Safari Club International - none of this school kid nonsense, just interesting and useful articles, even the ads are great. I didn't finish the article either, so I don't know if he neglected .43 Spanish - just look at that cartridge, what a deer slayer - but he did get my attention by mentioning .303. My first deer was in a shotgun only area, but my first rifle kill was with a British service rifle my dad lovingly butchered for me. I think I used a Remington 180 gr soft point which ran almost full length and mushroomed perfectly. I still have it. Of course, those were the days when we watched Bonanza in black and white, so I guess he has a point. I know a very successful deer hunter who likes 25-06 to the neck - no complaints. And there was this weird eye doctor I used to hunt with who packed a 7 Mag, needed three shots to get one to settle down. He might have gotten enough meat for a sandwich. Think I'll go load up some 40-70 Ballard for next year.

Pinkerton · « **Reply #75 on:** April 15, 2011, 07:17:24 AM »

To take this article seriously is laughable and to fear it would spread miss-information makes me laugh as well. These gun rags aren't technical manuals, or the spoken word of god!

They are infortainment, and this article was entertaining, the writter clearly stated it was tounge in cheek and he even made fun of himself and other gun writers in the process. So laugh at it, I'm going to keep living in Deadwood, with my two inch mustache and enjoy using my 99 in 300 Sav. and feel like it gives me "wood cred"

3leggedturtle · « **Reply #76 on:** April 15, 2011, 04:14:21 PM »

Dont ya know the 30/30 is the worst ever. Its neither accurate enough or powerful enough for under fed white tails at 75 yards. Of course if you put it in a 10" to 14" barreled singleshot pistol its good for moose and elk up to 200 yards

Swampman · « **Reply #77 on:** April 16, 2011, 03:25:12 AM »

Excellent article.....

sidewinder319 · « **Reply #78 on:** April 16, 2011, 04:44:07 AM »

Here in the Rocky Mtn west nothing has changed. It seems from reading these post that the deer population has mutated. Deer in other areas are now all most bullet proof mutations of deer that lived in the 20th century. With this being the case I can see why your grandfathers old 30-30 meat getter will only wound the modern day deer. In the back country of the western U.S. the deer thankfully are of the original stock. Yes, they still die from being shot with 30-30s 32s 45-70 etc. just like in the premagnum days. Neat huh.

BRL · « **Reply #79 on:** April 21, 2011, 02:35:34 PM »

Most deer these days are on steroids and have personal trainers. Heck last season I saw one wearing a golds gym t shirt.

bluez · « **Reply #80 on:** April 22, 2011, 02:27:07 AM »

The .444 marlin is a great deer round, with the propper bullets. Shooting light .44 mag hollow point bullets, it's a deforestation round yes, but with .44 rifle bullets it's great. And not to powerfull, as he implies. The problem is, that there is not really any perfect deer cartridge. It all depends on distance, the shooter (recoil) , type of deer and other factors. So then you can argue against almost any caliber as an deer round.

Tackleberry · « **Reply #81 on:** April 25, 2011, 05:56:49 AM »

I had a friend in college who happily killed deer year after year (one shot kills) with his M99 Savage in .243...double turd I guess, funny how he never noticed the problem with either of these things. I guess ignorance is bliss...I recently built a .243 on a Yugo Mauser action...didn't need one...more of an excercise than a requirement. Had never had a .243 or even shot one..I can see now why people would like to use them...the rifle I built, ultra light and handy, low recoil, and very accurate, so accurate that I would not hesitate to make neck shots with this rifle, whereas I wouldnt even think to do that with my other rifles (EXCEPT...my Browning A-bolt in that other turd caliber .280..which has not failed to kill in one shot over ten times in the last 15 years). Can't speak for the other rifles...but the .300 Savage is the model that was emmulated for the .308 Nato...

Oh and I didn't mention that my very first deer was taken with a Marlin 1893 carbine in .32 win special...killed that Mississippi deer pretty dead..he wished it had been a terrible deer round..

bluez · « **Reply #82 on:** April 27, 2011, 01:05:12 AM »

the top deer wounding cartridge of all time i probably the 32-20

Hooker · « **Reply #83 on:** April 27, 2011, 01:57:18 PM »

It's not the caliber of the rifle but the caliber of the hunter that makes the difference.
Get with in the effective range of the cartridge and put the bullet where it needs to be.

Pat

parkergunshop · « **Reply #84 on:** April 27, 2011, 02:27:38 PM »

The person who wrote the article lacked hunting knowledge and was short on common sense when it comes to military rounds. I'm sure that he never served in the military.

The 8x57 and .303 British have killed millions of men and deer are little if any harder to kill and they don't shoot back. I have killed several deer with the 8x57, .303, 7x57, 7.7 Jap, 6.5x55 30-06 .308 and 45-70 all military rounds. All were killed with handloads except for the Norma Factory load in the 7.7.

I believe that it has been repeatedly said that the .303 British has killed more game in Africa than any other round.

Never had a wounded deer get away with any caliber, even with a .357 Magnum pistol which took two shots. Like someone said earlier the shooter and bullet placement is what matters most.

Some writers are short a few bricks in their stack is my viewpoint, and this one in particular.

clum sum · « **Reply #85 on:** April 27, 2011, 02:50:08 PM »

16" 50 cal Mark 7 as used on the Iowa class of Battleship, no meat, no woods just a big hole. As said here and other places, its not what you shoot but where you shoot. Their is no best or worst cal, only good and bad shots.

1marty · « **Reply #86 on:** April 27, 2011, 04:09:40 PM »

I hunt with a Browning xbolt 7-08. During the year I spend hours at the range practicing. Bench rest, standing etc. I've yet to have a deer run more than 25 yards. This last year I put a deer down with a spine shot at 100 yards. Lucky shot-no; the bullet went right where I wanted it to go.People are so hung up on bullets they think if they have that majic bullet they'll get a deer. 98% is the shooter, not the ammo.

sidewinder319 · « **Reply #87 on:** April 28, 2011, 05:34:44 AM »

1Marty, so very true.

us920669 · « **Reply #88 on:** April 28, 2011, 05:59:51 AM »

I'll second that, or third it, whatever. And Parkergun, I'm glad to hear someone else has used 303. For that matter, the idea that there is something wrong with the cartridges used by major nations in the greatest war in history is laughable. Of course, he is talking about availability of guns and ammo, but the only gun that matters is what's in your hands, and anything can be reloaded. Our ancestors used a round ball over black powder, which reminds me that I think I have taken more deer with my muzzle loader than anything else, probably because of hunting conditions. Some of today's muzzle loaders approach the power of a dangerous game round, but I'm still using an old sidelock, and it's never let me down.

OldSchoolRanger · « **Reply #89 on:** April 28, 2011, 06:19:43 PM »

Take one gun, in any caliber.
Take a shot, get one kill, or take a shot, get a miss.
Now which is the better?

Goes without saying (snipers have it right), bullet placement is key, everything else doesn't matter.

Read the article and take it for what; in your opinion, it's worth.

The writer did his job, which was to generate interest, whether good or bad, and looking at the posts

$:-\$ on this thread, he succeeded.
BTW, the posts on this thread are getting mighty

interesting.