dropping deer "DEAD RIGHT THERE"

grumpyvette

Administrator
Staff member
you can use darn near any reasonable cartridge, but the key to dropping deer fast is in BOTH proper shot placement and in a bullet that expands yet penetrates well, a 270 win, 25/06 or 257 wby 308 win, and 30/06 are close to ideal in my experience on both white tail and mule deer, you certainly don,t need a huge magnum, but because I generally use the same rifles to hunt ELK Ive had more experience on deer with the 358 win and 35 whelen using my standard elk hunting ammo,

personally Ive had excellent results from my 35 whelen using 250 speer bullets over a stiff charge of 4320 , 4895 or 748 powder and a 215 federal primer

just place the shot in the light green area in the diagram to destroy the arteries over the heart and your deer drops almost 80% of the time and few make 10 yards...TRY IT YOU MIGHT BE AMAZED AT HOW MUCH MORE EFFECTIVE YOUR RIFLE IS
deerdrop.jpg


shotpl.jpg

good hit in either location with a 250 grain speer 35 cal bullet from your whelen (or 270 win) (the two calibers I use most on deer) are going to be mortal wounds, but hits in the green area rarely fail to drop deer, hits in the blue area frequently result in a death run of 30-60 yards
I can tell you that I've found shot placement ,
and the projectile you select ,
is far more critical than the info stamped on the brass case heads,.
its your physical condition, your ability to spend the time and effort,
to hunt as long and as hard as required, your persistence,
your ability to get into range and place your shots precisely that the key.
I've spent a respectable amount of time hunting deer and elk,
I've used a,
30/06,(190 grain)
270 win,(150 grain
35 whelen,(250 grain)
338 win,(225 grain)
45/70,(405 grain)
340 wby,(250 grain)
358 win (250 grain)
375 H&H,(270 grain)
and a 458 win,(405 grain)
on several hunts.
if you place your shots well,
know the games anatomy ,
and use reasonably heavy for caliber bullets...
.they all worked, and all produced lethal wounds,
and dead deer/ and elk.
you can spend a good deal of time and effort sorting out, or worrying about your rifle and ammo,
but from the results I've seen, if you just select the most accurate and largest caliber rifle,
and select,decent ammo, that your confident in, using
that you feel comfortable with, and understand the games anatomy you'll do reasonably well.
personally I think the two best are the 340 wby and the 375 H&H, but they have all worked.
running stairs frequently with a 40 lb back pack,
and practice at the local range , shooting from field positions ,
not shooting off the bench rest ,
will do you a lot more good than worrying about whats stamped on those brass cartridge cases
 
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