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am I an idiot on rifle caliber choice?
toddwilson_@excite.com
Member Posts: 389 ✭✭✭
I need some help. I live and hunt in southeast oklahoma and will almost never take over a 150 yard shot at a whitetail.(200 max) The last deer I took last year was about 125 yards and running and I used a .243. But I have a cousin who lives in a larger metropolitan area who considers himself an expert on guns. He says 30-06 minimum for whitetail and will not listen to me. So we have decided to let this forum be the judge. I bought a nice savage 7mm-08 for my new deer rifle. Now is this caliber going to be enough for the above metioned shots or not. Please help settle this debate there is a nice steak dinner riding on the outcome. As always thanks for your replies. But even more so on this topic.
Comments
AlleninAlaska
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Greg
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Woods
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the .30-06 is a far more capable round. it is the most versitile cartridge ever made. from the 55gr and 88gr accelerator submunition discardind sabots to the 220gr corlokt and the 250gr barnes and woodlieghs solids the loadings cover a wide bullet weight and type range. at distances under 150 yds there is little "real" difference between the two.
if al you want is a sub-150yd deer gun then go with the .30-30. if you want a more versitile multi use cartridge that can cover more game at more ranges go with the .30-06. best regards, mike.
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Captain Kirk, Tech Staff
The "logic" is that if the .30-06 is the ideal mankiller in war, it should be the best deer-killer, man and deer being so much alike. Unfortunately, it is more correct to say what you've already heard, that for hunting even the largest deer, the .30-06 probably IS overkill and your rifle should do you very well indeed, and will not be likely to send wounded deer disappearing into the brush -- which of course is the nightmare scenario with too-small cartridges and bad placement combined. Yes, you have enough gun for deer hunting; a lot of them are sold for the purpose.
While your buddy is not WRONG, exactly, since the .30-06 will be effective on larger deer (man-sized game) without tearing up the meat, it is more gun than you need and at 150 yards will very possibly perforate, making awareness of your distant backdrop even more of a necessity.
Here, we have a lot of brush too thick to see through, but thin enough for bullets to penetrate over to the next farm or addition. Even in Indiana, there's not a lot of completely uninhabited countryside. In such a situation, "too much gun" is not a very good idea. The short answer is, contrary to your buddy's opinion, your new gun is not inadequate to the task. In fact it's right down the middle of what's acceptable, even ideal, for the task.
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