Iowa has had a rifle season the past four Januarys. Other seasons, including the seasons for bucks are shotgun, but does can also be shot. Anyway lots of permits are available for residents and I've shot around 60 deer over the past three years. My guns were a 20-ga rifled slug gun (with the best available Winchester and Hornaday sabot slugs), a 6MM-06 (with 70-grain varmint bullets at 3,950 fps), and a .338-378 (with 225-grain bonded bullets at 3,330 fps). I can't compare all the guns on large bucks because they can only be shot with shotgun slugs but I can make a comparison for does. It seems that on average they drop faster with the .338-.378, even at very long ranges, although one doe hit though the lungs ran about 200 yards. At much closer ranges, up to past 150 yards the 20-ga slugs do real well. The deer shot with the 6MM-06 always die, but generally run 50 to 75 yards, and don't leave a blood trail as there is no exit hole. I will use a 6MM-06 with a different bullet next winter. I do lots of shooting with air rifles, and calibers from .17 Hornet on up. I get a lot of practice and don't think I flinch when shooting at game even though it sometimes hurts with the .338-.378. However, I don't shoot big guns much for practice, just enough to be sure they are sighted in correctly. I think too much practice with high recoiling guns can cause one to develope a flinch. And whenever possible wear ear protection when shooting because the noise is really much worse than the recoil. I think the noise (without ear protection) from practice with a .243 would give me a flinch more than the recoil from a .338 (with ear protection). Also, I think many guns are too light for the calibers they are chambered for. A little extra weight in the barrels would make them hold much steadier for offhand shooting and make the recoil much milder.

Aw, come on Seafire, surly your not afraid of a little crossfire are you? I won't let them be mean to you!!

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
Aw, come on Seafire, surly your not afraid of a little crossfire are you? I won't let them be mean to you!!

Yea come on Seafire we'll watch out for you. I saw that some guys had been shooting some 11.5g bullets with the .14 at 4650fps. Sounds like a perfect combo for some head shooting on those monster whitetails of the Carolinas. See if you can work some Blue Dot reloading experiments into your busy schedule using the .14 with those head shooting monolith 11.5g bullets. Should be like lightening!!!!!!!

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
Caliber makes little difference to me, but I know they all have to be used properly and with a properly constructed bullet placed in a vital area, the rest is

This is 100% correct. I've seen many a well-hit deer kick the bucket with a small bullet in the boiler room and I've seen many not-so-well hit deer run off, completely unimpressed by the big bullet that just slammed into them.

I learned on a .243 like many young hunters. I learned the importance of shot placement and patience in the field because supposedly, the .243 didn't kill as well as the .30-06 we had in camp.

Later in the hunt, I would take a nice deer in the 150# range with that .243 by sinking a 100gr Core-Lokt just behind the shoulder, punching a neat hole through the lungs and hitting a major artery. That deer was face down inside 30 yards. I was ecstatic with the shot and the performance of my little popgun.

The .30-06 didn't do so well when it threw a 150gr Interlock into a deer's shoulder at 200 yards. After a casual 5 minute walk up to the deer, we found it was still alive and needed a follow-up into the vitals to put it down for good.

No knocks against the '06 here, it's still about as good a round as you can find, but if you can't shoot it straight then you're better off with something smaller that you can shoot straight.

Give me any caliber from a 22 L.R. on up and I will kill, not wound deer consistently..All I will do is change how I hunt them, and not take unrealistic shots..The lighter calibers only add a degree of difficulty to the hunt...but if you cannot make those adjustments then you don't need to be out there using light rifles, or any rifle for that matter..Do your "hunting" before you shoot.

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
Give me any caliber from a 22 L.R. on up and I will kill, not wound deer consistently..All I will do is change how I hunt them, and not take unrealistic shots..The lighter calibers only add a degree of difficulty to the hunt...but if you cannot make those adjustments then you don't need to be out there using light rifles, or any rifle for that matter..Do your "hunting" before you shoot.

Careful there Ray. With comments like that you are going to piss off the three amigos and remember their opinions are much more reliable than whatever numbers of years of experience you may have acquired. Or the collective experiences of members of this board.

These boys regard their opinions as Gospel and have them closely aligned with their egos, so tread lightly there lad.

God, I love it when Ray brings up the .25-35. I had a nice old 94 rifle with octagon barrel and Lyman tang rear, and was simply astonished at how easy it was to shoot and how accurate it was at 200 yards with the irons -- and this was shooting two or three boxes of mismatched and cruddy old factory ammo. Why, oh why did I let some Winchester nut buy it off me? It was truly a hunting tool to inspire confidence.