I do not blindly follow anyone; I don’t care what anyone shoots. I keep an open mind and test things for myself, so during a long drive, I listened to JVB’s podcast about small calibers.
Highlights that I got from it:
Highlights that I got from it:
- He states that small-caliber guys are not being truthful about their results.
- Due to testosterone increases during the rut, bull elk gain large amounts of muscle, and their skin thickens, which implies that small calibers won't be able to penetrate enough to kill a bull elk effectively.
- Small-caliber bullets are not effective for strong quartering shots.
- A small-caliber bullet won’t penetrate enough if you have to shoot through the Paunch to get to the vitals.
- When faced with a once-in-a-lifetime animal, he encourages taking any shot that’s available, and a large-caliber bullet will make up for a less-than-perfect shot.
- Elk and Moose shoulder blades are significantly bigger than Deer, but he is referring to the Length of the shoulder blade. He does not reference the thickness of the shoulder blade at all.
- States that if small-caliber hunters believed in their choice, they would only shoot the animal once.
- States small-caliber hunters need to do Journalistically Forensic Peer-reviewed necropsies to validate their data.
- Several stories about large caliber bullets failing to penetrate entirely through animals. Does talk about one animal shot with a 223 in the brisket that failed to penetrate the thoracic cavity.
- States small-caliber hunters would choose a different caliber if faced with a once-in-a-lifetime or dangerous game animal.
- Agrees less recoil is beneficial.
- He does mention a guy in New Zealand who kills hundreds of animals a year and has a bunch of data against the effectiveness of small calibers. Still, JVB does not provide any specific detail from him other than it's dangerous to use small calibers on big game.
- JVB is entitled to his opinion and feelings but provides no data to validate that small calibers are ineffective for big game. The lack of supported data validates to me that this is all about getting views on social media.
