Is the .300 Win Mag too big for whitetails?

I have hunted with the 300WM since the very early 70's. A lot of Mules and Whitetails have been harvested with it. I have always found an exit wound, be it through both sholders (waste of meat) or ribs. Usually it is quite large. The bullet seems to carry enough energy that when it strikes bone and starts to come apart, it also turns the bone into projectiles. I have had only one that did not strike bone (rib) on either entering or exiting. Furthest I have had to chase a deer was 40 yds or so. Almost all of them dropped within their body length. I also seem to get about the same results with elk. For me, there is nothing I would rather use for deer or elk.
 
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what boltgun said...

Boltgun71 is right on target.

Use a heavier bullet that doesn't have a Nosler BT type constrution (rapid expansion) and stick to side-lung/heart shots. Someone else suggested handloading some "light" loads. If you load a .30 bullet to 2700 fps, that's no different than shooting a .308 or 30/06.

I'm shopping for a .375 H&H Mag and I plan to temporarily "retire" my Rem 700 .308 for the next two years and use the mag for deer hunting exclusively. I'll either use a low expanding bullet or else go to a lighter load; I found some commercially available - .375 moderate recoil ammo

Any ways, it is all about shot placement as many have said, I'll stick to side shots behind the leg getting the heart and lungs and ribcage.

Perhaps you'll use it for a season and go back. My goal is rifle familiarity and comfort level...
 
I no longer own a .300 Mag of any make/caliber but that's a personal choice. As a handloader I weighed the benefits of what I got in performance, price, pain etc from shooting a belted magnum or any magnum for that matter. To me, the rewards were few and the negatives were many. I shot a .300 Wby Mag for years and thought it was the best thing since sliced bread and I still love to shoot my No.1 7mag but its expensive and not a go to gun nor needed. But dead is dead and my little 7mm-08 kills them dead as a doornail if I can see them in the scope. I wouldn't be scared to take one of my 30'06's for just about anything out there unless it was a Cape Buffalo, Lion or some big African game then again I haven't been to Africa and have no desire to go. If I want to hunt a bear then I'll take my .338 but I don't shoot it more than a couple of times a year.

Its all personal preference and what you want to shoot. One thing that I have noticed from people shooting the magnums is that many bought these guns that shoot a pound of powder each pull and every time they flinch. Especially after a couple of rounds at the bench, it gets to their head and their afraid of it subconsiously. If you can't shoot it effectively, practice with it practically and be steady when it counts it doesn't matter. Hunting is about shot placement first and foremost. Heck, I got a neighbor that has killed 4 deer this year with a .204 Ruger, not one took a step but they were all headshots and he's really comfortable shooting the gun.
 
Head-shots don't waste much meat....
Click to expand...

They're also difficult to make properly; there's a high chance of simply wounding the deer and having it run off to die in a few days or weeks because you blew its jaw off and it can no longer eat or because of infection.

It's not generally a good shot to go with in the vast majority of situations.
 
When I use a cartridge gun it's a hot loaded 30-06. It's almost to 300 mag pressures. I use 165 gr. bullets with no problems.
 
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