Hillbilly Hunter
FNG
- Joined
- Sep 20, 2024
- Messages
- 7
Been reading the .223 for Deer, Bear..etc...thread for several months, and still only half way through that one. Also, really appreciate Form's scope evals. I am an old guy who grew up head shooting squirrels with a .22. Got a pretty early start with my first BB gun and .22, just after I turned 5, albeit I did kill my first bird with a bow, also at age 5. So, about 65 years later, here I am, and with probably only a fraction of the experience that many on this forum have. But, I did hunt pretty exclusively with a revolver for about 10 years. The real bottom line of all my personal experience is pretty simply, "it's a lot more important where you hit them, than what you hit them with." And, having said that, and depending on where you hit them, bullets generally matter a lot more than caliber...assuming a reasonable mix of velocity, sectional density, etc. Hunted lots of deer, bears a little in Canada, and plains game in Africa. Learned a lot from/about 1900 era "small bore" shooters like Bell, Sheldon, Stigand, Percivals, Pease, Llyle etc. They killed lots of very big stuff with 7mm Mauser and 6.5 M/S to include lots of Cape Buffalo, Giraffe, Brown Bears, etc. Killed lots of Cape Buffalo, tigers, etc., with stuff as small as .22 Savage Hi Power. As you probably know, those cartridges pretty much equate to our current 7mm-08, 6.5 Creedmoor, and .223 Rem. All of my hunting, reading, and "testing" pretty much confirms what they said 120 years ago..... I really can't tell much difference in quick, humane killing power, between shooting a .223, 7RM, or a .338 WM. But, I can sure tell a difference it makes...where you hit them, and depending upon where you want to hit them, what bullet you use. So....anyway, sorry for this diatribe introduction, but that is "about me," and what I have learned from life afield. I probably won't be posting too much, so included my "simple truths" right here. I hope to keep learning, and certainly appreciate the time and effort you folks have put into the forum...and heaven forbid....spreading the truth!
for the day for your lucid, intelligent, well thought-out introduction. 
