Hi fella's,does anybody know what calibers I can use to deer hunt in Ill. with,either a revolver or a contender?I looked at the rules but they look like a south Philly lawyer wrote.Example in section (1)case lenght not exceding 1.4 inches and section (2)a straightwalled centerfire of .30 caliber or larger,with no minimum case lenght:both of which must be available with the published ballistic tables of the manufacturer showing a capability of at least 500 pounds of energy at the muzzle.*Does this mean I should zerox a copy of a load manul an carry with me or what?I sure could sure your guys advice on this,is there a cabliber that would work with my contender that would reach out 150 yards,200 would be better,but I could live with 150

Slewfoot, in a nutshell you can use any straight-walled case of .30 caliber if it will produce 500 ft.lbs that means that it starts at .30 carbine and up. (does not mean certain .38 special target loads - hence the 500 ft.lb. requirement).
This was meant to include the new S&W magnums. Also in a T/C you could use up to a .444 Marlin for example.
Under the bottleneck rule really the only cartridge that qualifies would be the .300 Whisper (.221 fireball necked up to .30 cal.)
One last thing as you probably read, no semi-autos.
Hope this helps.

Also included in the bottleneck cases is the .30 Bellm. It is a shortened .444 case necked down to .30 caliber

how about the 375 jdj i would love to use mine down there.

i also have a 30-06 barrel but will have to use that else where.

700,

No you can't, the rules state that it can only be 1.4 max length and needs to be offered in a factory loading.

As mentioned, at this point there are only 2 approved cartridges for this- the 300 whipser and the 30 bellm. Straight wall cases have no maxmum case length.

thanks for the info guys,looks like I'm gotta got barrel shopping now,,,LOL,,my wife is gonna hate that