Best caliber for hunting - WHAT?..........

R

RustyRick

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 5, 2013
Messages
267
Location
North Western Alberta
I get so tired of the WISDOM of my own opinion regarding which caliber is THE BEST ELK rifle, or WHITE TAIL, or Black Bear. It is all BS. The discussion SHOULD BE, how precise or accurate should I be on paper before I try to kill my game. I see way to many shooters in August at the range happy being able to hit a 1 foot square target, or bigger. Makes me shudder.

Now here comes my opinion. If a hunter can not keep 5 shots in a 2 inch circle (or smaller) at 100 yards, he should NOT be hunting live game.
 
Thanks for the soap box lecture. How big is an elk's vital area at 100. We all have our limits. Skill, equipment environment etc etc. However, you're taking criticism to another level which feeds myopic, unproductive condescension.

Before this comes off as holier than thou I confess I make fun of and criticize more people at the range than anyone. (All things creedmore are laughed at) But I'm not willing to revoke their hunting rights.

We have an old benchrest shooter at the local range that walks around and talks with everyone. Somehow he complements people into shooting better by helping with form or equipment.
 
I guess I missed my point. There is no (arguably) no such thing as "the best caliper for....) What it depends on is, how responsible am I going to be when I pull the trigger? Skill, equipment, environment are all a variable I the shooter control. Taking a bead on an antelope at 300+ yards with a 40 MPH 90 degree wind may be a don't shoot a 243 with a 95gr bullet. With a 300 Mag and a 200 gr bullet, well now the question is am I capable of holding rigid enough and calculating the correct drift.

I would like to see writers major on our responsibility over, over gunning without training. We have all seen hunters that buy a box of ammo that last 5 years, but it is the best caliber for that Texas WT. That logic is woefully illogical.
 
RustyRick said:
Now here comes my opinion. If a hunter can not keep 5 shots in a 2 inch circle (or smaller) at 100 yards, he should NOT be hunting live game.
Click to expand...
And if they did should they be allowed to hunt at 200yds?

For me the metric is nobody should take a shot at any distance they haven't successfully practiced at.

How about 6in circle at any distance?
 
RustyRick said:
I guess I missed my point. There is no (arguably) no such thing as "the best caliper for....) What it depends on is, how responsible am I going to be when I pull the trigger? Skill, equipment, environment are all a variable I the shooter control. Taking a bead on an antelope at 300+ yards with a 40 MPH 90 degree wind may be a don't shoot a 243 with a 95gr bullet. With a 300 Mag and a 200 gr bullet, well now the question is am I capable of holding rigid enough and calculating the correct drift.

I would like to see writers major on our responsibility over, over gunning without training. We have all seen hunters that buy a box of ammo that last 5 years, but it is the best caliber for that Texas WT. That logic is woefully illogical.
Click to expand...
Oooh boy. What part of 200gr 300wm or 90gr 243 makes you think the 300wm will have less wind drift? What is the only factor in wind drift?
 
I sometimes worry about hunting on public land after watching some of the people at the range. The good news is most of those unprepared and unskilled people will not go far from the road when hunting. Overhearing some talking about mag dumping at running deer just makes the hair on my neck stand up.

I really try to provide assistance when someone is having trouble with accuracy. The last trip to the range a gentleman was having issues. I suggested making sure his scope base and rings were not loose. Pulled out my torque wrench and after a bit of work, he was shooting 1.5" groups.
 
I'm not much for giving people advice on what they should or not do. Back in my early 20's I had a savage 30/06 with a bushnell scope that was maybe 1.5-2 moa. But I was a bowhunter and knew how to get close. So at 30-40 yds that was good enough lol. Every man should know his and his equipments limitations.
 
RustyRick said:
I get so tired of the WISDOM of my own opinion regarding which caliber is THE BEST ELK rifle, or WHITE TAIL, or Black Bear. It is all BS. The discussion SHOULD BE, how precise or accurate should I be on paper before I try to kill my game. I see way to many shooters in August at the range happy being able to hit a 1 foot square target, or bigger. Makes me shudder.

Now here comes my opinion. If a hunter can not keep 5 shots in a 2 inch circle (or smaller) at 100 yards, he should NOT be hunting live game.
Click to expand...
I assume the majority of hunters can't do that, off a bench, now.
Lord knows about field shooting !
 
Is cabin fever a thing in early September?

Can we judge someone harshly for needing 5 shots?

Do I have to unfriend my wild alaskan buddies who check a zero every other year with 3 on a piece of paper, but more animals humanely harvested for subsistence than most will in a lifetime?

What about my buddy with a job that should train him better, who shoots consistently well under your stipulations... but gets buck fever so bad he's missed animals inside of 100 yards?
 

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