Caliber for 100-300 yd Deer or Elk Newb

I like the 308 in 30 caliber and 270 for a longer range gun. The benefit to the 308 is its a shorter action and it will be a lighter gun. The ammo is also easy to find. With todays bonded ammo, there is no need to use any larger caliber. This coming from a guy that carried a 300 Win Mag for 20 years and did not see it kill any faster than a 06, 308, or 270. Dead is dead and "Bang, flop is the intended goal.
Case in point: Last year I dropped a big doe with a broadside shot with my 223 using a Barnes TSX 55grain bullet. Total pass through and dropped her cold. A 308 or 270 is significantly more powerful and will take anything you will be hunting from the large deer family or black bear.
 
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"don't trust everything you read on the internet"-Winston Churchill.
Click to expand...

Actually, it was said by George Washington, at the Battle of Valley Forge.

At another famous Revolutionary War battle, the commander yelled, "Don't shoot until you see the whites of their cellphones!"

LOL
 
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The OP said something about low recoil for a newbie

One of the sages here in TFL posted once that a wildlife employee in Wyoming said the .243 Winnie was used more often than any other caliber for elk by the Wyoming Game and Fish employees when they hunt. First and foremost is hitting the animal. If you have been at the range trying to shoot that 300 mag and can't get it done, you are wasting your time. A miss with a bigger caliber is still a miss. A bad shot is still a bad shot. Sorry folks, but I have observed several shooters at various ranges trying to master their 300 Win Mags and making the ground shake, while they shoot really poorly.

.308 or 270, 7mm-08, or 280 have recoil plenty for a newbie, and will all get'er done on deer farther than most of us will shoot. And on elk, they are all good to 300 yards.
 
Well my pet load for the .300 Win. Mag. runs a 200 gr. Speer Hot Core a bit over 2800 FPS really doesn't kick me that hard. But, the rifle fits me well and has a Decelerator pad. Someone said that when fur is in the scope you don't notice the kick. Strange but I find that to be true. My longest shot ever was 530 yards laser measured on a cow elk and I was shooting the .300 Mag. At the shot I didn't seem to feel any recoil and the sound of the shot was more like, "poof." I had the same effect when I shot my antelope in 2009. My thought on this is I was concentrating so hard on making the shot that my senses block the feeling of the recoil and blast of the shot from my notice. :eek:
Paul B.
 
Paul--I hear you, and it is the same for me (only with a 270.) But if a shooter is sighting in and practicing, then he is at a bench or some other form of rest, and shoots several shots. That is where the flinch arises for me.

I have an old single barrel 12 gauge that I can shoot really good. I grabbed a box of Remington 3" turkey loads to go pheasant hunting with one fall. They had 1 7/8 oz of shot and are hot loads. I shot several of them at birds and never really noticed how much recoil it had. When a couple of roosters flew into the weeds around an old rusted out water tank, I shot a round at that tank to scare the birds up for my buds. The recoil from that standing shot darn near knocked me down! So yes, when shooting at game we tend to not notice the muzzle blast and recoil.

If a new shooter is recoil sensitive (like me) starting with a 300 win mag would not be my suggestion. YMMV
 
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