Last weekend I shot a small desert mulie with a .300 H&H using 200gn Partitions at about 2900fps. I was less than 30 yards from him. Went in just behind the left should and angled out the right side. The exit wound was a little bigger than 1/2 dollar. I didn't think I was over-gunned at all.

I see no problem using the .30 Wby Mag for whitetail. I have shot Columbian Blacktail with mine and it wasn't destructive of the eating meat.

The trick is to match the bullet in one's cartridges to the game being shot.

In theory small deer don't offer much resistance to the bullet as it enters them, so the bullets open slower (or even less overall). A lot of that slowness to open is possibly offset (or more than offset) by the increased impact velocity. So, a fast moving bullet striking game may open about the same overall as a slower moving more frangible bullet will on heavier game. At least that's the theory often propounded.

Trying a few different bullets on deer will tell a shooter which one performs best from his rifle on the size animals he is shooting. He should stick with the one which works best and not worry too much about being under-gunned or over-gunned.

Hunters should remember that a 308, 30-06, 300 WM and 300Weatherby are all throwing the same projectile downrange.

The magnums provide a flatter trajectory and do the same work as the standard calibres, but 50-150 yards farther down the line.

I wouldn't choose a 300 Weatherby for whitetail. Even with lung shots you get the same results as shooting the deer with a bow; a bunch of blood shot flank meat completely covering the entrance shoulder and ribs. The meat doesn't have to be thrown away yet it is all mushy and is best ground up.

For a serious whitail gun, I would step up in caliber and down load. One of the best Whitail calibers is a downloaded 338 RCM pushing 210 grain TTSX bullets. I would build a super accurate rifle capable of shooting 1/4" at 100 yards then practice shooting at a muzzle velocity of around 2800 fps. That is plenty of energy to shoot up to 400 yards.

Interesting recommendation on a load:

.338" at 2800fps with a tough bullet.

I use .338" 225 gn TTSX at 2800fps from a 338WinMag in Africa. The .514 BC is great out to 400 yards should one ever need that distance, and it holds together up close at the muzzle.

[[One correction: I'm not sure that a 210 TTSX at 2800fps in a Ruger 338 RCM is much of a download. A velocity of 2800fps is about a max load with the heavier 225gn TTSX in the 338 WinMag. Dropping to the 338 RCM would require dropping the bullet weight a bit if one were to keep 2800fps.]]

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I wouldn't choose a 300 Weatherby for whitetail. Even with lung shots you get the same results as shooting the deer with a bow; a bunch of blood shot flank meat completely covering the entrance shoulder and ribs. The meat doesn't have to be thrown away yet it is all mushy and is best ground up.

I have shot a few white tails and a couple of elk with my .300 Weatherby and have never had the results you describe. Results such as you describe have more to do with bullet choice than caliber choice in my opinion.

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Originally posted by Crazyhorseconsulting:
Can ANYONE present proof, that ANYONE has EVER been forced to use a .300 Weatherby for hunting ANYTHING?

Old thread but here it goes: Long before I owned one or shot anything bigger than a 270 I was asked to use one or be called a pussy. When you're 14, that is pretty much being forced to do something.

There is no such thing as too much gun, ever. The argument of too much gun is just total BS. A .600NE will kill a deer just as effectively as a .243. More folks undergun themselves than overgun themselves.

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Originally posted by tiggertate:
Long before I owned one or shot anything bigger than a 270 I was asked to use one or be called a pussy. When you're 14, that is pretty much being forced to do something.

I was in my 30s, but drew a similar reaction from friends for using a .30-06. We were hunting big fields in NYS. Ended up with a bad luck Ruger 77 .300 Win that was as handy as a club. Finally found happiness in Rem 700s in .300 Roy.

I think the .300s may have made difference exactly twice - and in both cases it was a matter of simplifying hold to make boiler room hits, and not a matter of greater lethality.

Could easily go back to using the '06 for the rest of my life here in ME.

Sam

As a kid reading Outdoor Life and the various hunting articles and books I could get my hands on, I wanted a 270 and a 300 Weatherby.

I did buy the 270 first. A couple of years out of college and working though brought me to get that 300 Weatherby and a nice Leupold scope with my 270 trade in. For some years following that 300 Weatherby WAS my hunting rifle.

If I was going to Colorado, or to S. Texas, or to Alaska, or to New Mexico, that 300 Weatherby traveled along in its Haliburton gun case.

I had a 12 gauge pump, a 12 gauge over and under and that 300 Weatherby as my hunting battery. And you know what, I did a lot more hunting then than I do now with a safe full of rifles and shotguns.

I don't know that the extra power of the 300 ever made that big a difference. I probably took more hard time from locals or even guides as a younger man from Texas with a Weatherby. On a couple of those hunts though some of them were quick to change their opinion. Both of the rifle and the Texas guy.

I always used the Weatherby factory loads and I almost always use the heavier for caliber bullets across the board on game animals. I used the 180 or 200 gr Partitions as I recall.

I have taken several whitetail deer with my 300wby. Both deer this season were with it. You people who criticize us 300 users crack me up. Is it a bit much, YES. But i'm sure some of you who think it's a sin to deer hunt with a 300wby are driving big pickup trucks, f250s or dodges with cummins diesels to commute to work. I own several "deer rifles" but when I'm hunting where I may get a real long shot I carry the 300. Sometimes I carry it because it's a Winchester m70 with pretty wood and I'd rather stare at it than the laminated stock on my 25-06. To answer the original post, I'm shooting a Hornady 180 gr flat base over imr7828. It accurate and you don't need a partition or fancy bullet. Meat damage is similar than any other high powered rifle. To quote a friend,"I'd rather have a little meat than no meat at all".

Looks like the peanut gallery is already here.

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Originally posted by Crazyhorseconsulting:
I have used the .300 Weatherby with 125/150 and 165 grain bullets here in Texas along with one pronghorn and on elk in Colorado.

This Over Kill/Under Kill nonsense is just that, NONSENSE!

If you want to use it, find a load your rifle likes and go for it.

It is up to you to decide if it is what you want to use, because you will be the one using it. I personally like the caliber and before any of the "Peanut Gallery" starts making comments I have killed deer with a .22 Hornet and several with a .257 Robert's.

Despite some folks opinion, there is only one degree of dead.

Just make sure you use Fed 215 primers and any bullet you group well with. Excellent long range caliber.

God Bless, Louis

I use a 300 RUM these are the bullets that I have used on whitetail and antelope I don't see anymore damage to the meat than I did when I used my 30-06,or 308
180 grain scirroco
180 grain Federal trophy tip
180 grain barnes TTSX
180 grain partition
180grain accubond

I also use the 300 weatherby mag for anything I want dead.
75.0 gr IMR4350
Hornady Interbond or Interlock

For a season or two back in 2000/01 I used nothing but a custom 300wby in a LH remington 700. It was super accurate but heavy, I think I shot 2 deer with it and a Spanish goat billy,and it wrecked all that I shot with it. I went back to my blaser r93 in a 7x64...less weight less "blast" same dead critter at the end.

Ed

Funny We have plenty of those diesel drivers around here as well. Most of the trucks have never been off the pavement... Afraid to get a scratch on them...

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Originally posted by dsmit50:
I have taken several whitetail deer with my 300wby. Both deer this season were with it. You people who criticize us 300 users crack me up. Is it a bit much, YES. But i'm sure some of you who think it's a sin to deer hunt with a 300wby are driving big pickup trucks, f250s or dodges with cummins diesels to commute to work. I own several "deer rifles" but when I'm hunting where I may get a real long shot I carry the 300. Sometimes I carry it because it's a Winchester m70 with pretty wood and I'd rather stare at it than the laminated stock on my 25-06. To answer the original post, I'm shooting a Hornady 180 gr flat base over imr7828. It accurate and you don't need a partition or fancy bullet. Meat damage is similar than any other high powered rifle. To quote a friend,"I'd rather have a little meat than no meat at all".

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Long before I owned one or shot anything bigger than a 270 I was asked to use one or be called a pussy. When you're 14, that is pretty much being forced to do something.

No it isn't. Giving in to that type nonsense is being a pussy, I don't care how old you are.

I went deer hunting with a .458WM recently. So no, a 300Wby is not too much :-)

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Originally posted by IanD:
I went deer hunting with a .458WM recently. So no, a 300Wby is not too much :-)

LOL. I'm trying to work out a deal on a 458 now. My buddy asked what the hell I'd do with it and I said it would make a heck of a brush gun for whitetails. A 45-70 on steroids!

MOst overkill comes from a fragile bullet not the caliber, and it the 300s that is magnified many times..

I only shoot 200 gr. Noslers and Woodleighs in my 300 H&H and I load right up there within grabbing distance of a 300 WBY..Its been my go to Mule deer trophy huntiing rifle otherwise I'll use my 06 with 180 Noslers, and btw the 200 gr. Nosler in the 06 is pretty darn impressive on deer or elk..

As a rifle nut, I love em all. One of my favorite loads in 300 Weatherby are 165 grain Barnes Triple Shocks. I took the 300 Weatherby on my 1st African Plains Game hunt and it performed great. However, bullet placement is everything (IMO). While I love my 300's (Win Mag and Weatherby) my faithful 30-06 is my go to rifle for most shooting at reasonable distances. Recently in Tanzania I used the 06 on everything from Klipspringer to Kudu dropping em dead either in their tracks or after a few steps. Ultimately this is another one of those endless debates about what is best. Use what you like to shoot and are comfortable using.

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Use what you like to shoot and are comfortable using.

That pretty well sums up the whole issue, why does it matter, if it really does, what a person uses as long as they are satisfied with the results they are getting.