.223, 6mm, and 6.5 failures on big game

[mt100gr.]

Haha no problem!! The quantity was there, but the quality sure wasn’t. And I think that is just a catalyst of having a general season that runs well into the rut.

I’m sure there are other reasons as well like simply just genetic potential. But I felt like of all the bucks I saw, only 2-3 had a noticeably mature build.

My buddy killed one of them and I just sent the teeth off for aging. But I really felt that buck was nice and mature when I spotted him.

View attachment 797588

It's just good to hear that you saw some numbers somewhere!

And yes, as much as I love hunting them in the snow during the rut, I don't believe it is sustainable from a quality standpoint, with the hunter numbers MT is seeing now.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

I bought a pack of 6mm nitrile gloves off Amazon. I have 6 in my kill kit. There basically weightless and they make cleaning up my hands a breeze, especially when there’s no water available!

Yeah started with sleeves rolled up and gloves. Went through two pairs of gloves and the mosquitos, white socks, and no see ems were so bad I put the sleeves back down. Thought I had a 3rd pair but no go. The bugs were biting the backs of my palms so the thumb holes helped. Luckily it died 10 yards from the river so clean up was easy.

 

[Ucsdryder]

Yeah started with sleeves rolled up and gloves. Went through two pairs of gloves and the mosquitos, white socks, and no see ems were so bad I put the sleeves back down. Thought I had a 3rd pair but no go. The bugs were biting the backs of my palms so the thumb holes helped. Luckily it died 10 yards from the river so clean up was easy.

Noseeums were sent by the devil himself. I’d never live in a place that had them. The normal nitrile gloves never worked for me, they constantly broke, the thick ones are significantly better.

 

[barehandlineman]

My thoughts are bullet failure and just not enough of it. I tried it because i wanted to give it a try maybe i was wrong. All i did was validate my opinion. I elk hunt mostly i do deer hunt and hunt other critters. But every year my main goal is elk. I moved away from lapua for bullet choice 250 a tip ballistics is insane.
Those no seeums are no joke. Sleeves down gloves on cover your face.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

Noseeums were sent by the devil himself. I’d never live in a place that had them. The normal nitrile gloves never worked for me, they constantly broke, the thick ones are significantly better.

Yeah I’m gonna try out the maxi flex gloves that @huntnful uses when I leave on Friday to go try and kill an elk.

 

[HuntHarder]

Whoops, we couldn't find that.

These are really nice and thick enough that they do not tear easily.

 

[Ucsdryder]

https://www.grainger.com/product/60...VxTNECB0dOBs4EAQYBiABEgKJdfD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

These are really nice and thick enough that they do not tear easily.

Those are 8mm! @mxgsfmdpx has found that the 2mm do almost the same thing. He only has to use 4 pairs instead of 1 on an animal, but they’re lighter, cheaper, and easier and some guy on here said there’s no difference. He has lots of pictures of them being successful.


Sorry, bad joke! Please don’t attack me.

 

[Firestone]

I don't believe it is sustainable from a quality standpoint, with the hunter numbers MT is seeing now.

In certain parts of the state, quality still seems pretty good in some places from what I have seen and people I have talked to. But one bad winter in those places could change all of that to.

 

[willfrye027]

Inside of a 6 inch circle, at any range you will take the shot. I like 4 inches myself. However there is no group when shooting at deer.

Yes I have shot in the wind. If the wind is strong enough to push my bullet more than 1 inch per MPH I don't shoot. When shooting "stuff" at longer distances, especially if there is any wind seeing a small caliber bullets impact is pretty tough. the smaller the bullet the tougher it is. I lived in Wyoming and hunted there for 19 years. I learned then that counting on seeing a bullet impact to adjust my aim is a damn fool thing to do. I have also seen bullet impacts from 270 and 30-06 impacts. That said if you are taking a shot and counting on seeing a bullets impact to adjust your aim for the second shot you are guilty of poor sportsmanship. It's okay when shooting paper but not game animals.

You’re telling me that you can call the wind well enough to KNOW inch/mph?? You’re either world class or full of it.

Either way looking forward to your participation in the cold bore challenge this year. Sounds like you will do great.

 

[huntnful]

In certain parts of the state, quality still seems pretty good in some places from what I have seen and people I have talked to. But one bad winter in those places could change all of that to.

Oh I’m sure there’s areas that fly under the radar that absolutely still get age class. Where I was, there was zero hunting pressure (back packed in 6 miles) and plenty of bucks and still no age class.

So I’m not 100% sure what it is. If the bucks come low enough before season is over to get smoked by the day hunters, or if maybe they were old, and just none of them had the bodies or horns to represent that. We know a lot goes into it actually growing a big deer as well.

Mine is just purely speculation from what I saw in my smaller little 2-3 square mile area that I spent most of my time in.