reynolds357
New member
I grew up believing faster was better, bigger and faster was even better, Weatherby was king, and I was an adult kid at Christmas when the line of RUM cartridges came out. My first deer rifle was a 7 Rem mag. My second one was a .35 Whelen. and now I mostly hunt with a 7 RUM.
My son just turned 6. He has been bugging me every day "Daddy, I want to kill a deer." I kept telling him "I will let you go hunting with me." He kept saying "No, I want to kill a deer." I let him hold my mod 7 7-08. Too long for him. My next genius idea was to get my 7-30 Waters TC carbine. Too long for him. Cut a $100 stock? NO. So, I call my dealer and order a left handed, youth, Savage Axis, is .223 Remington. I knew (due to my background) that this cartridge was definitely not up to the task of whitetail hunting. I was going to load up some Barnes X to at least give my son a chance of killing a deer. I swore I had some, but I did not. So, 62 Gr Fusion was the "best" I could do on short notice.
Tonight, he shot a 6 point buck at 118 yards. The deer was quartering toward him. The bullet went in under the front left shoulder blade and exited at the back of the rib cage on the other side, leaving a nickel sized exit wound. The deer piled up (drt) and only kicked two times. The inside of the deer was a mess. Lungs were destoryed and the chest cavity was jello.
I said all that to say this, I guess I have been beating myslef to death with magnums for years for no real reason. My valuation of the .223 Win. as a medium game round has definitely changed.
Before anyone lectures me, there was no doubt in my mind that my son could place the shot. He shoots skeet disks at 100 yards with his .22 rifle. Out of the last 200, he has missed one time. He shot a 3/4" 3 shot group at 100 with this rifle. I had no doubt that he could responsibly place the shot.
He saw the deer before I did and he shot it about a half second after I gave him permission.
My son just turned 6. He has been bugging me every day "Daddy, I want to kill a deer." I kept telling him "I will let you go hunting with me." He kept saying "No, I want to kill a deer." I let him hold my mod 7 7-08. Too long for him. My next genius idea was to get my 7-30 Waters TC carbine. Too long for him. Cut a $100 stock? NO. So, I call my dealer and order a left handed, youth, Savage Axis, is .223 Remington. I knew (due to my background) that this cartridge was definitely not up to the task of whitetail hunting. I was going to load up some Barnes X to at least give my son a chance of killing a deer. I swore I had some, but I did not. So, 62 Gr Fusion was the "best" I could do on short notice.
Tonight, he shot a 6 point buck at 118 yards. The deer was quartering toward him. The bullet went in under the front left shoulder blade and exited at the back of the rib cage on the other side, leaving a nickel sized exit wound. The deer piled up (drt) and only kicked two times. The inside of the deer was a mess. Lungs were destoryed and the chest cavity was jello.
I said all that to say this, I guess I have been beating myslef to death with magnums for years for no real reason. My valuation of the .223 Win. as a medium game round has definitely changed.
Before anyone lectures me, there was no doubt in my mind that my son could place the shot. He shoots skeet disks at 100 yards with his .22 rifle. Out of the last 200, he has missed one time. He shot a 3/4" 3 shot group at 100 with this rifle. I had no doubt that he could responsibly place the shot.
He saw the deer before I did and he shot it about a half second after I gave him permission.
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