I never have any problems using one bullet for everything. In fact, i make a point of it, so as to learn what the load/bullet will do. I pick the load/bullet for the biggest animal i will hunt, and then use a bullet that will work for that animal and everything else smaller than that too.
That is pretty much what I do as well. I hunt elk more than deer and use my elk loads for deer, antelope and even the occasional varmint.
This is exactly why i use NP's, as they have a soft nose to work perfectly on smaller animals, and the rest of the bullet will hold together and drive deep in the biggest animals... That's what makes them the bullet for all occasions.
DM
These days I pretty much hunt with Barnes TTSX/MRX and North Fork bullets. Both work well from the muzzle to as far out as I will take a shot (a little over 600 yards in good conditions).
Too expensive for most game.
For you, perhaps.
Several years ago I filled my antelope, deer and elk tags and later calculated what the savings would have been if I had used cup-and-core bullets. My calculations at the time showed that after several years of similar success I would have saved enough for a cheap glass of wine with my diner out.
I’ve found that a lot of folks who complain about the cost of premium bullets spend a lot of their income on cigarettes and booze or coffee or soft drinks. Although I’ll have an occasional glass of wine with my dinner out, like I did last night, I rarely drink at home and don’t smoke. I don’t drink coffee and the only time I have a soft drink is at the movies. A 12-pack of beer goes elk hunting with me every fall but it often lasts until March or later, too. “Too expensive” is a matter of personal priorities.
The person that wants to hunt with premiums can work up cheap loads that shoot to the same point of impact as the premium bullets of choice, then use the cheaper bullets for most of the practice shooting. If a person doesn’t handload they can generally find factory loads that will achieve the same end. (I’ve done both.) By doing this a box of premiums can easily last several years. The cost difference between Remington Express (Core-Lokt) and Remington Premier (Scirocco, Core-Lokt Ultra Bonded) or Federal Premium (Partitions) is $20-21 using today’s prices at midwayusa. On a cost-per-shot basis that is $1. If the hunter is doing his job, that is $1 or $2 per animal. Unless a person is shooting off his back porch and processes his own game, the additional costs for premium bullets get lost in the background when compared to other expenses like licenses, fuel, food, equipment, processing and so on. Never mind expenses for equipment maintenance and insurance and so on.
This year I spent about $700 for fuel for my antelope and deer/elk hunts combined. Throw in food, processing fees and licenses and I spent about $1,500 total. For bullets I used 100g TTSX for the antelope and 180g MRX for the deer/elk hunt. Compared to handloaded Core-Lokt bullets I spent an extra $2.58 for my premium handloads. Trust me, I didn’t give that $2.58 a second thought.
“Too expensive”? Not hardly.
