How many hunts from a box of ammo?

I bought 10 rounds of 12ga sabots 4 years ago. I shot 2 deer and ive still got 2 left. That includes the rounds I shot to sight the scope in.

I just hate shooting ammo that costs 3 bucks a pop.
 
I always re-zero my rifles every year just to make sure they are still on. All told, I fired 19 rounds this hunting season in two different rifles.

I fired 6 rounds in my 45-70 Ruger No. 1 and the scope did not need any adjustment.

I fired 12 rounds in 7mm Rem Mag Savage. I "wanged" the scope pretty good the previous year and it needed a little adjustment.

As far as shooting at game, I took a nice 6 pointer at 55 yards with 1 shot from my Savage making that my 19th, and last, hunting related shot of the year.

I figure with rifle zeroing at the beginning of each season, a box of shells usually lasts me 2 to 3 seasons.
 
Duck hunting and dove hunting can often be measured in boxes per half day.

I often co-host duck hunting excursions on green timber hunts with as many as 15-20 VIP hunters. Even when there are half a dozen times when flocks of 50 or more ducks come in tight it is not unusual for out of say 15 hunters for only 3 to be able to actually shoot well enough to kill a duck. With a limit of say 6 ducks per hunter, the shooters can take down about 30 each. Of course, they always remember to say to each "once a year" hunter in their blind "nice shooting" after each flurry of shots. I usually carry two boxes of shells, and usually bring back about 1/2 a box; no one gets them all.

I specifically remember one morning when we only had three known shooters in 18 hunters in a green timber "hole" where 35 yards is a long shot. About 200+ mallards came in and all lighted on the water; when the first few nervous ducks started to get up someone yelled "get 'em" and it sounded like WWIII had started; when the shooting stopped, there wasn't a single duck down. I had been working on an old, lighter fluid type hand warmer, and didn't even pick up my gun, the mid-hole shooter had slipped out of the hole behind a tree to relieve himself and had his waders half down and the third shooter was in a big box blind trying to light a propane heater.

I got 3 out of the next wad to come in.
 
If you just count rounds that went into deer then I'm still on my second box, But like most people I shoot for the fun of it to. I shoot between 50 and 200 rounds a year out of my deer rifle depending on how many I load.

The old guys are good shots, but they probably put a lot of lead through targets to get that way.
 
It's a very rare big game season when I shoot more than a cartridge or two at game.

That said, I still manage to shoot my share of ammo. Various seasons, hunting various critters, as well as some practice time shooting jackrabbits and such can use up a bit of ammo.

Using one cartridge a year is all good and fine, but I enjoy shooting a lot of different stuff with a lot of different rifles and ammo.

All this said, I usually hunt with just the cartridges in the magazine and chamber. For a big game hunt with a limit of one animal, that's more than I'll need.

Daryl
 
I have the 7 mm Rem Mag and have 3 boxes of ammo. I've shot it once and downed a nice deer a few years ago. Although, I took a box with me every year. It is seem that I have friend who would like to shoot the big gun at a target.
 
HMMM. Since I handload almost all of my ammo and put it in 50 round boxes, I get 2.5 times the amount of hunting per box that those who use 20 rounders do. I never really thought about how many hunts I get per box; I shot 8 deer with 8 shots north of here once, and still had 42 rounds left. That was over 3 years time frame, and I figured I could fill the freezer for the next 15 years at that rate. At 6 rounds per year (3 for sight check and 3 at game), I should have enough ammo to last until 3003. I just bought 100 rounds of slug ammo for the picky arse A5 I own, and that should last 20 years at least. How many hunts I get from those 100 rounds depends on how many I use for sight in, and how far away the deer are while I'm hunting. I see deer that are way out of range for the slug gun, and I add them to the tally but I don't shoot at them so the number of hunts per box is greater. Anyone have a TI-54 calculator I can borrow? I'm confident there is a mathematical equation or function to determine the answer to this.
 
I cant imagine just shooting when you hunt. I Have more fun , well, as much fun as hunting when we go target shooting. It keeps you sharp for when you need to hit the game under demanding circumstances.
Id say it is likely i can burn through 50 rounds of 223 ammo in a week, very vey easily, hunting and shooting prior to.
 
Crowbeaner,

I load my ammo, and store it in 100 round boxes.

There was a time when I'd shoot up several of those 100 round boxes per month during the winter predator calling season, but I don't go through as much now.

I shot an awful lot of predator type critters in those days, and wore out the barrel on a Remington rifle in .243 by the time I was about 16 years old.

Daryl
 
What a wonderful story and a reflection of how it "used to be".
My first shotgun was a single shot. My first .22 was a single shot. My dad's
feeling was make your first shot your only shot.
I realize that their is more to being a gun owner than just hunting. Today, most everyone I know that owns firearms has hundreds if not thousands of rounds for each gun they own.
Still, that story was a piece of American history (depression era mind set).
 
Now I have purchased several boxes. Not sure why, except that I felt I wanted to stock up on them. I have several boxes for each of my main hunting rifles (.243, .270, and 30-06). However, they are still collecting dust.

I bought my first box for my .243 when I bought her three years ago to replace my 30-06 for the smaller deer here in Oregon. Even with sighting her in the initial year and once last year, I still have rounds remaining and I have taken my deer every year.

All I can boast is one round/deer per year. At this rate, I have enough to hold me out until the Good Lord comes or I die. I have even resorted to shooting the odd coyote and bear to use up some of the 30-06 shells that remain from a box purchased before they started putting internet addresses on the boxes.

So from my point of view (my .243 only holds four, if you have one in the chamber), six rounds is more than enough for a hunt. If you haven't made the kill in six shots, you may want to go back to the firing range for some more practice.:D
 
If all I did was hunt 20 rounds would take 20 deer. No brag, just fact. I'm 52 years old and been deer hunting since I was 12. Haven't missed a deer with a cartridge rifle since I was 15 or so(knock on wood). One shot, one kill.
 
when i was much younger and hunted whitetail i always took around ten rds for a days hunt... now i use either .308 or 7mm and take three rds .. usually only taking one per deer
 
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