What is YOUR Small Caliber on Big Game Experience?

[KHntr]

I can't believe 94.5 percent of roksliders are on the small calibers for big game bandwagon.

That could be that the “won’t use it and am against it” guys likely haven’t opened the thread due to the title.

 

[Unckebob]

That could be that the “won’t use it and am against it” guys likely haven’t opened the thread due to the title.

I don't consider a deer to be "big" game so I voted no.

I have been talked into the 223 with 77g TMK for deer and have a Tikka I am getting handloads dialed in.

I plan to let my little guy use it.

I will shoot my

 

[LeftyWilbury]

my newish 243 with 87 gr hammer absolute hunters has only taken two deer so far, but i feel confident it will kill anything i appropriately point it at. this coming down from 30-06 and 7mag and 308.

but i'm NOT a long range hunter. my woods are thick and i'm quiet. i support smaller calibers and better shots. ymmv

 

[5811]

That could be that the “won’t use it and am against it” guys likely haven’t opened the thread due to the title.

Probably some truth to that. I tried to make a neutral title but I could have done better.

 

[mt terry d]

223, 77 TMK
If deer qualify as "big game"
@60 yards One n' done
@250 yards One n' done
@120 yards One n' done
@320 yards One n' done
If cow elk qualify
@320 One n' done

 

[mt terry d]

If I'd waited a day to post I could have added these
223 77 TMK

144 yards One n' done


346 yards One n' done

 

[nubbin]

With big game being subjective, i do 90% of my deer hunting with a .243. I’ve shot whitetail and hog with it. The results of those shots have all been pretty boring results. I shoot them in the vitals, they run 20-60 yards and die. I’ve had the same exact results with 308, 30-06, 30-30, muzzle loaders, and Archery. Blood trails and exits wounds have all varied solely on shot placement, regardless of method used on said deer. I’ve only elk hunted once (archery) but my .243 wouldn’t be my go to choice, I’d take the 30-06. Used the 30-06 on mule deer, and IMO it did nothing that my .243 wouldn’t do.

With that being said, outside of Archery, I’m a simpleton when it comes to hunting. I don’t data crunch, i don’t fret over the trying to cover every what if. I put more thought into Archery and arrow set ups because using a bow, oh crap moments seem more common place. I don’t gamble on shot angles, I’m not afraid to pass up because a situation feels uncomfortable. I shoot heavy for caliber and stick with the vitals. If someone told me i could hunt whatever, whenever, for free but all i could use was my .243, I’d sign the dotted line and go hunt.

 

[MoeFaux]

I don't consider a deer to be "big" game so I voted no.

Agreed. Poll results might (but - being rokslide - also might not) differ if we defined big game. I would call all deer medium game, and would have no compunction about chasing one with a .223. I voted NO, however, because my personal minimum for elk or caribou is a 6.8/270.

 

[Stinky Coyote]

6.5 Grendel with 123gr factory eld murders count?

7 seasons Alberta, 21 animals, 10-420 yards, average shot distance 170, average recovery distance 10 yards, 7 species. Moose, sheep, wolf, black bear, whitetail, muley, antelope. 3 different shooters.

Launched from several rifles, anywhere from 2605 fps on high end down to a good majority of kills only launched at 2386 fps including a 420 yard bang flop deer.

Positive experience. Get shorter recoveries and more drt’s than I was with .270 wsm and .270 win running 140 accubonds. All about the bullet.

Which for me I set a low limit of 120gr, after seeing some .243 experiences moved to Grendel 123’s and would never look back. We can hunt 6mm here and I would with 108’s and prolly would try 88’s in arc if .22 allowed. My low limit of 120gr may end up moving. Not worried about much with eldm in .25 sd range at moderate velocities, very good performance.

If I were forced to mono I would have to move to a 120 with more case capacity to get speed up. However before that would happen I’d just buy a couple boxes of cx ammo and give the ammo away and keep the boxes and put my eldm ammo in there instead for any potential fish and game conversations.

 

[Unclecroc]

I’ve not personally shot a deer with a 223 but my late great uncle always hunted deer with a tc contender pistol and #1365 55gr Sierra gamekings and he never had much issue staying in deer meat.
I have shot many deer with a 22-250 with everything from 55 corelokts to 50gr ttsxs. I’ve witnessed many more with a 22-250. All accounts have been impressive and let me say these rifles weren’t no fancy fast twist deals, they were all 1-14 and 1-12” twists. The main thing is stay away from varmint bullets. A 22-250 is one heck of a deer cartridge when loaded with the right bullets.

 

[mt terry d]

And..........

223 77 TMK
331 yards
Dropped on the shot.
She lifted her head so I put another one in her ear hole.
Why? Because I could.
Pretty cool to see the "poof" when the bullet hit.
Kinda like the Zapruder film.

 

[wind gypsy]

Deer are the first thought that comes to mind when I hear "big game". Probably because they are about the biggest thing you can hunt in much of the country and where I grew up, not counting the bears.

 

[mt terry d]

Re: Post #66
She was quartering to me facing right.
Concerning the bloody hole in the brisket.
I thought that was the bullet entrance and knew her
right front leg was broke when I gutted her and had the thought
"that's odd" but didn't dwell on it due to conditions at the time.
But after boning out her right front leg I'm not so sure.
Could the hole in the brisket be from bone fragments or
possibly part of the bullet?
And no, her leg wasn't broken before I shot her

 

[AKSandman]

Use what works for you and I’ll only offer my opinion if asked. I just ask the same in return.

Here is my experience with small cartridges and big game.

5 moose and counting with a 2O4.

All headshots, instantaneous lights out, not even a muscle twitch. From my experience, it is so ridiculously effective that I will not be changing tactics (switched from heart/lung shots with a 300 wsm). Cleanest kills I have ever seen. Period. No if, ands or buts. Walk up and slit the jugular to bleed them out like in a slaughterhouse. Cleanest meat I’ve seen. No bloodshot meat.

On large bulls (50”+ or 3+ brow) it doesn’t break the skull cap, so if you shoot a 50”+ with two brow tines, you are legal. On spike/forks and cows, expect a broken skull plate. Not sure I’d shoot a bull over 65” with it, but for your average moose, it’s an absolute killer if you are a marksman and a level headed hunter.

Of note: the next time you have access to a cleaned moose skull, shine a light in the hole at the base of the skull and take note of where, and how thin the thin parts of the skull are. You don’t have to hit the thin spots to kill with a 20 cal traveling at nearly 4000 fps, but seeing how thin some parts are makes the whole “I’ve heard of people killing a moose with a 22” make a lot more sense. And no, I don’t recommend you shoot a moose with a rimfire because that is Illegal, and for good reason.

Would I recommend my methods to others? No, but then again, I don’t really recommend anything to anyone. This is just my experience.

 

[ManOfSteel]

I’ve got no problem with it as long as a guy isn’t running around wounding every animal he points his rifle at. I have a 338RPM, 7PRC, 308, 6.5PRC, etc.. I’ve killed more deer with a 223 and a 62gr Fusion (30-412yds) on a depredation permit than you could fit in a semi over the years.

This year I’m bringing my 22CM out for deer and antelope with a 77TMK or an 85.5 Berger LRHT. Both shoot exceptionally well for me and I practice positional shooting at range a couple thousand rounds a year. I’d have no problem shooting an elk inside 400yds with my 22CM. That said, I’m still taking my 7PRC with me when I’m going for elk because the distances can push out further than I’d trust the 22CM to do it at where we hunt.

 

[barrister]

Without a clear delineation of what is considered "big game", it was interesting to make that determination for myself and decide how I would vote. Even though there isn't any biological basis for it, I drew the line between a mule deer and a whitetail. The reason is personal to my situation, because I can hunt whitetails every single year, for multiple days per year, with an over the counter tag in my home state and adjacent states. Those hunts aren't unique or as much of a "big deal/big game" to me. By contrast, I'm 53 and I've hunted mule deer three times, elk once, moose once, aoudad once, black bear once. Those are "big deal/big game" to me because they are unique and special opportunities.

When I have lots of hunting opportunity like whitetails, I have no issue trying some variety or experimenting with guns and calibers. I have so many whitetail killing firearm devices, it's somewhat wasteful. LOL. 30-30, 6.5 CM, 450 BM, 45-70, 223, 30-06. I'm even adding an old Savage 99 in 300 Savage for nostalgia sake.

But, when I may only draw that tag or devote those resources to hunt something once or a few times in my entire life, I will get more conservative and traditional in my caliber choice. Seeing a lot of the "me and my friends have killed hundreds of (insert the big game animal here) with a small caliber" comments got me thinking about this as it relates to me. I respect those responses and experiences, but I won't ever have that body count or even opportunity count for mule deer/elk/moose/etc. So, for me personally, that difference influences my choice and how I voted.

 

[ezwy]

Not actually MY experience. My grandpa, and my dad's uncle hunted elk with a group of guys in the island park/west Yellowstone area around the 1920s-1960s. Lots of party hunting going on back in the day so they had 12 guys with tags and they would go home when they had 12 bull elk. Uncle Ray used a 243 all those years and killed more than his fair share of those elk, adding up to dozens over time. I'm sure those bullets were likely a hair lighter than today's and inferior in terms of expansion. Anyways, these are the stories I grew up with and never had qualms about hunting elk with a 6mm rem model 7 when I started hunting at 12. Killed my first elk with it as a 100lb kid. Still seemed like a loud, hard kicking rifle back then.

 

[elkhunter505]

Important distinction, if I was limited to mono’s only… I think I would get a 6.5prc, being able to use highly destructive bullets is key for the small caliber

This is my dilemma, I am fully committed to monos and have seen solid kills from them when I do my job. I have shot lots of animals with a 6.5 PRC, 7mm, and .30-06 with various copper bullets with good success. When I put the bullet where it needs to go, stuff dies. Unfortunately this year I shot both my bucks twice because I hit them both high in the spine on the first shot which did anchor them but led to some pretty heartbreaking walk ups when they were picking their heads up. These shots were taken super fast and one offhand and one prone in scenarios where it was a shoot or they’re getting away moment. However, I will do a better job in the future and want to see others results with 6mm using hammers or some type of fragmenting mono. I have never seen a fragment from all the coppers I shoot and I think that fragmenting could offer some forgiveness for spine shots or marginal shots which I hope to decrease in the future.

 

[akmerle]

Agree with what other are saying as far as big game and small caliber needs to be defined.

As an Alaskan, I would consider "big game" caribou / black bear as the minimum, and deer / sheep / goat as still medium sized game.

Then would consider 6mm and down as small caliber, and 6.5's in the medium caliber category.

No personal experience with small caliber on large or medium sized game, but have friends that take lots of black tail with their AR's with no fuss. Personally have shot deer and caribou with 6.5CM with great success, and the two largest bodied Yukon moose I've ever seen harvested were taken with 6.5CM by some buddies.