Hi & Thanks to all. I guess I was just interested in cast hunting. I know a jacketed hunting bullet at 30-06 velocities is hard to beat....BUT...... I want to do this the 'homemade' way. ( if we get the season, that is) The range will be close- under 100 yards..... I hope under 35. I think enough of the animals to not take long & potentially cruel shots. Besides, 'earning' one by stealth or stalk would give me great satisfaction. I know I could get a good rifle/jacketed load/scope and dump one at 500 meters. I have shot too much silhouette not to believe it can be done.

But that would be like flying over the mountain in a plane - not climbing it with sweat and effort. Ya, I know- that's weird.... but it's the way I would do it. Dale

Yep, Jumptrap is right. Have confidence.
With my 6.5X55, I figured my effective working range was around 120 yards for deer size critters. With my .358 Win at 2100 fps, stretch that on out to 225 yards for up to elk size. I believe Shuz killed his moose further than that with his .35 Whelen. Back in my gunfighter days, I killed an antelope at 175 yards with the .44 mag. from a Redhawk.

Honestly, the very best thing to do, is just try it. Choose your gun of choice, cast a pile of bullets, sight the firearm for them and salley forth and whack a critter. I promise they work, haven't had one bounce off yet and never lost a deer either.

There is no magic involved nor anything unspectacular about how they kill. Keep a few things in mind, ie., the velocity is much lower, so trajectory is higher and the 'shock' effect of hi-vel loads doesn't exist. BUT, make a leak in the animals vitals and it'll die. The main thing is to have CONFIDENCE that a cast bullet will work. They were in use for hundreds of years before the recent advent of jacketed bullets. Forget what kind of projectile you are using and make a good shot.

I have a brother that has killed 30+ buck deer with a muzzle loader and cast bullets in the past 32 or 33 years.
Several of them weighed 175 pounds or more,most all of them were one shot kills.

WC