Shot Placement or ....

[fisherman66]

I have a 6.5x20x50 on my 22-250 so with the magnification on the highest level I was able to make sure I was aiming at this bucks heart and lung area.

You cranked up the power to 20 times to make sure your were aiming at the heart lung area? I figure a 4 power scope is good to at least 300 yards.

I think the 6.5x55 is one of the finest medium game cartridges around. Congratulations of a very successful season.

 

[Todd1700]

Based on my experience I'm not convinced a larger bullet/rifle caliber makes up for a bad hit.

I don't think it does either. A slightly bigger hole in a deers gut is not necessarily going to make finding him more of a certainty. A lot of deer are wounded and lost every year in this country with large caliber and magnum cartridges too. I'm not saying there isn't a minimum caliber for each type of big game animal but shot placement is the once and forever king.

 

[skydiver3346]

Shot placement is king....

This is most important when shooting any caliber gun in my opinion.
The 6.5x55 caliber rifle you are now shooting is an excellent deer cartridge with very low recoil (no flinching = more accurate shots). That is my choice for deer hunting as well. I have made shots with a 7mm mag before where the deer ran for long distances (not perfect shot placement), so making proper shot placement is always best.