Is There Ever a Time to Hunt with Magnum Calibers?

[JPW13]

That’s an interesting take to portray the small cartridge crowd as the poster child of inclusion and acceptance of a wide variety of viewpoints. Lol

I'm not sure I'd use poster child, but from my own reading of this forum including all of each of the massive small cartridge threads there is a trend. I'm not interested in outliers or polarizing personalities from either camp. That being said, I'm seeing it's a lot of the same personalities that jump in assert that their way is the right way. Magnums kill, big bullets kill, little bullets do too. Shoot a magnum if you want (I do), but don't tell someone that is shooting something smaller they are wrong, with the wealth of info in this forum, to do so, is quite simply - ignorant.

 

[K9kodi]

I’d say it’s a stretch too. I find plinking with my 223 fun. Shoot all day cheaply , relatively, and work on mechanics. But I thoroughly enjoy the wallop of a 300 win mag or 338 win mag. I enjoy the mechanics and the challenge. Yes it’s easier to shoot the lighter bullet calibers, but I find it fun mastering the magnums

 

[K9kodi]

I think it’s kinda like shooting under pressure. Anyone can hit paper not moving. Change a variable , make the target turn on a timer, or make it a dude shooting back and the game changes. you need to master it. The big guns shoot with the same mechanics at the small guns. Just gotta put the time in.

 

[fwafwow]

So, are yoga pants no longer cool?

 

[omicron1792]

So, are yoga pants no longer cool?

Only if they are capri length.

 

[TaperPin]

I'm not sure I'd use poster child, but from my own reading of this forum including all of each of the massive small cartridge threads there is a trend. I'm not interested in outliers or polarizing personalities from either camp. That being said, I'm seeing it's a lot of the same personalities that jump in assert that their way is the right way. Magnums kill, big bullets kill, little bullets do too. Shoot a magnum if you want (I do), but don't tell someone that is shooting something smaller they are wrong, with the wealth of info in this forum, to do so, is quite simply - ignorant.

That sounds reasonable.

 

[K9kodi]

Do any of yalls states have a caliber restriction on big game? Here in Va they must be 23 caliber or greater

 

[KenLee]

Do any of yalls states have a caliber restriction on big game? Here in Va they must be 23 caliber or greater

22 centerfire on WMA in SC. No minimum on private.

 

[Axlrod]

Do any of yalls states have a caliber restriction on big game? Here in Va they must be 23 caliber or greater

In Montana there are none- you can use a 17 Mach2. Buck shot has to be "0" or larger, broadheads are min 7/8" wide.

 

[EastHumboldt]

https://rokslide.com/forums/attachments/c1e9395c-e0ab-41c8-8990-ed0613e2cefd-jpeg.258340/

 

[Bluefish]

Do any of yalls states have a caliber restriction on big game? Here in Va they must be 23 caliber or greater

Iowa is 35 cal or larger, min 500 ftlbs for gun 1/2. You can use 223 for late season population control doe. Colorado is 6mm minimum for cf and 50 call full bore for ml.

 

[j3h8]

Do any of yalls states have a caliber restriction on big game? Here in Va they must be 23 caliber or greater

California requirement is centerfire for big game. There are some mini stipulations for elk with a pistol, but other than that it's fairly basic.

 

[freezerfull]

Almost all center fire cartridges work when we’re talking non dangerous medium game animals. I’m of the opinion that people should hunt with a weapon they’re confident in. Limit yourself to your shooting capability and required impact velocity for your projectile of choice and things will work. Now in a my subjective experience, bigger is better if you can shoot it acceptably. This doesn’t mean small doesn't work fine but I personally appreciate the quick response with the bigger cartridge/bullet combos, especially if the possibility of longer range shot opportunities are likely.

In the last 10 years I’d estimate watching around 60-80 medium to large game animals die first hand (deer, bear, elk and one moose) from a variety of caliber bullets, shot from a variety of cartridges, with a variety of bullet construction. This may be a small sample size compared to some but is fairly diverse. The biggest thing I’ve noticed is specific projectiles (diameter and weight) produce more rapid results when mixed with the right impact velocity window created by a specific class of cartidges.


Just some personal notes regarding non CNS impacts:

Most impressive results for center vital shots:

210 gr Berger H-VLD at 300 win mag velocities. Impacts between 30 and 800 yards.

87 gr Berger H-VLD at .243 win velocities. Impacts from 10-300 yards.

165 gr Nosler Accubond (I know, complete opposite bullet function of the bergers noted above) at .308 win velocities. Impacts 50-400 yards.

Least impressive results for center vital hits:

Hand down worst experience - 165 gr CT ballistic silver tip from a .30-06. Only shot one animal and swore off the entire CT/Nosler ballistic tip bullet line. MD buck at 175 yards, quartered slightly towards. Two shots into the shoulder, neither made more than a couple pock marks of shrapnel damage to the onside lung. It turned into a civil war volley at that point, 6 rounds total and finally put the cross hairs on his neck to end it. Never had a rodeo like that before or after.

140 gr Berger H-VLD at 6.5 creed / 260 rem velocities. Impacts between 60-480 yards. I still frequently use this bullet as they always atleast make it into the cavity but they seem to upset earlier than other H-VLDs of other calibers and weights. They seem to upset and grenade very shallow. When I have got shoulder meat on the way in, very little shrapnel makes it to the offside lung. This has resulted in animals having their legs under them substantially longer than other combos.

150 gr Hornady SST at .308 win velocities. Also has been a very splashy bullet similar to the Nosler BT’s, even at sedate .308 win velocities.


Falling between all of these are results from other cal/weight VLD’s and accubonds, Berger elite hunter/hybrids, traditional cup and cores (interlocks mostly), interbonds, smks, partitions, Barnes TTSX’s.