How many calibers

I have a bunch of calibers and have killed big game with everything from a .22 up to a .375. After 40 years of this hunting stuff I think the following is true. Big bullets, (if your body can handle them), are superior to little bullets. Big and fast usually beats small and fast. Big bullets leave big holes and makes game tracking easier because there is usually more blood trail. That doesn't mean I don't think smaller cartridges won't get the job done. Often they do wonderful. I don't wish to hurt anyones feelings by insulting their favorite deer-wacker. However, if I have so much invested in a trip that to muff it by shooting a marginal gun during a critical moment would cause great emotional pain, I go with the largest gun I can comfortably shoot. As I get older recoil does bother me a little more but I tend to still shoot hotter cartridges. Let me ask the question a different way. Do you think the deer, the Kudu or a large bear knows what they have been shot with? Of course not. However, if the shock of terminal velocity is not great enough, you may have a problem.
 
I too agree, that everything else being equal, I'll take a bigger bullet/hole every time. If a hunter/shooter can shoot their .35 Whelen as well as someone else shoots their 6.5x55, than they might just as well use it. It'll work darn well, I can assure you.
 
first deer rifle was a Winchester 38-40 then 30-30, 30-06
Rifles I have are:
303 Brit, 30-30, 30-06, 6.6Jap, 7mmWSM, 300Win Mag & 7.62X39.

Range, Terrain & Size of animal determine Caliber, Dangerous animals possibly 12ga Sabot's
 
I've taken whitetail deer with
30-30 (took first deer with this rifle, borrowed from my father)
300 wthby (go to rifle)
308 win (just to get it bloody:D)
50 cal muzzleloader

12 ga (turkey)
 
key word "usually"

Big "usually" does beat big and fast, but in my humble experiance of about 5 rounds, I can think of specific exceptions.

Another thought, which may have been stated similarly already, calls to mind a sentiment of musky angler Joe Buechner. He holds that confidence in one lure over another has little if any direct correlation with the lures actual qualities, but rather with the individual angler's confidence in one or the other. Because of that confidence, the angler will give that lure more opportunities to do the job. Increased opportunity=increased succes...simple logic.

So to come back to guns...The more confidence I have in my 6mm over my 30/30, the more likely I will harvest more game than with the 6 than the 30. Why? It spends more time in the woods. Trajectory, expansion and cartridge capacites are irrelevant.

How much you "think" you know...??? Descartes said, "Cogito ergo sum."---I think, therefore I am." I THINK kills depend on being where the game is, shot placement and common sense practice AFTER trigger pull. The first two depend on familiarity and confidence with weapon.
 
Not to argue and simply to show another point of view; if one has supreme confidence in a .35W, because of the number of DIT harvests it's made, would that not still hold true they'd prefer it and shoot it more confidently than a .243?(we know the .243 is a proven deer killer). The fact that a rifle has lower recoil, thus is automatically a better "shooter" is simply ludicrous to my mind. I've done enough shooting with others to know for certain that there is a wide window of comfortable/acceptable recoil between individual shooters and hunters. I'd also agree that an experienced hunter might choose after many years of experience, ultimately to use a lighter caliber as he/she ages and recoil becomes more bothersome, allowing their experience, patience and judgement to over come the slightly handicapped position they may have put themselves into.

You have brought up an excellent point, however. I believe likely half the marginal hits that result in a lost animal, plus, perhaps most of the misses are simply due to that bit of doubt that creeps in at the instant of trigger squeeze (what is supposed to be a squeeze, anyway). These doubts are in a hunter's mind for many reasons, not the least of which include: too little range time (practice), not checking their rifle's zero, new/different ammunition used, and using an unfamiliar firearm. Simply a few of the very common bad habits common to many inexperienced hunters (I'd venture that most experienced hunters here have seen examples of all these points).

Saying a caliber is better or best, because it's "easier" to shoot in someone's opinion, is a way overly simplistic answer, IMO.
 
I have killed game with these calibers. These are guns I own.

.22LR
.222
.223
20 ga slugs
12 ga slug and buckshot
.30-30
.308
.30-06
.45-70 Springfield BP loads
.45 Muzzleloader
.50 Muzzleloader
.54 Muzzleloader
.357 Mag
.38 special
.45 LC
 
Let's put this question upside-down:

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Is there anything (in hunting) you couldn't do with a 7x57?
Click to expand...

Got to talking to a fellow who had a 7x57. Seems like it's one of those cartridges that kills out of it's weight class. He's taken all kinds of game with it over the years including one of those "pants filling" incidents that occasionally occur.
 
Both the 7x57 and 6.5x55 are known to kill way over what their "paper ballistics" would make one think. This is most likely due to the heavy for caliber, excellent S.D. of the popular loads used for many years in these calibers. I hunt with both and if you look up the S.D.s of the 140gr 6.5x55 and 175gr 7x57, you'll see how they've made their money.

What I'm trying to say is that I wouldn't argue with a man's choice of a 7x57 for a one rifle battery. Heck, I've been known to say, that in my opinion, in 90%+ of all big game animals shot, deer to moose, a well placed shot from any caliber between 7x57 and .300mag will result in a harvest, with little, if any, effective difference to 275 yds or so.(laugh if you like!):D
Simply my opinion.
 
I have used 6.5 x 55
308 Win.
44 Mag
303 British
12 gauge slug
as well as a number of Bows.
Haven't quite gotten the hang of Muzzleloaders though. :p
 
30 years old, been hunting since I could legally. Every big game animal I have taken has been with my Model 70 in .270 Winchester. I did pick up another highpowered rifle this year, a .358 Winchester, but havent had the chance to take anything with it yet.
 
I , too, use a .270 (Model 70 Winchester w/synthetic stock) for big game.

Varmints- .22-250 Model 1885 Browning Hi Wall

I bought a .308 Remington 700vls last year. I put on a synthetic stock from a 700PSP. I am going pig hunting at the end of this month and hope to blood it with a hog...

I carry a Ruger Stainless Security 6 in .357 as a side arm when hunting pigs.

Birds- Remington 1100 12Ga....
 
270 win. Remington 78 Sportsman has taken all my mule deer, elk, and antelope except for one which was taken with a .54 muzzle loader and a patched roundball. Coyotes and foxes, 12 guage, .22 long rifle, .357 mag, 44 mag, .223, .270 win, 30-06, 300 weatherby, 8mm mauser. Abandoned sheep dogs, 7.7 arisaka, 270 win.
 
45-70 lever action marlin for bears +
What ever I feel like using that day for deer = compound bow, crossbow, shotgun, 6.5x55
 
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