Terry G

I got to thinking about this after our hunt was finished Saturday and it occurred to me that I have never had to track or give a coup de grace to a Deer no matter what size when it was hit with a .30/06 180 grain bullet. I only shot two with a 7MM Magnum and one of those did go about 100 yards after it was hit but still it can be considered to have went down with one shot. I only shot one Deer with a .223 from my old Colt SP-1 and though I managed a good heart/lung hit I tracked it over a mile and need a second shot. I have seen Deer shot half a dozen times with .30/30 and 7.62X39 MM both with hunting loads and the Deer just kept going. Actually lost a couple. I used to group hunt with some of my LEO cronies and there was quite an assortment of calibers present. The most wounding's were from the two calibers stated and from 12 Gauge 00 Buckshot. The .270 from what I remember worked every time as did the .308. Of course bullet placement is all important but it seems to me from this completely unscientific look, that your caliber of choice makes a difference.

Dorobuta

I like to use a .280 Remington for deer sized animals. I'm shooting an 140gr bullet at 2980 out of it with my hand loads.

I'm going to be using it on my Coues hunt, but it is overkill for a small deer like the Coues.

They're a very small whitetail sub-species, very challenging to hunt - they can literally vanish while you're watching them, and they are very smart and alert.

They call them the grey ghosts of the desert.

it's all spot and stalk here, no tree stands or blinds.

typical shots are 200 yds to 400 yds. I took one two years ago at 175 yds. I ranged it after the shot. The .280 dropped it where it was.

Terry G

When I hunted farmland the shot's were rarely under 200 yards, but since I only hunt my own land now shot's are always under 200 yards with most being under 100 yards. The .280 I'm not familiar with, but the ballistics sound Whitetail friendly. I've read about Coues Deer but I've never seen one in the wild. How small is small?

BigBassMan

A little larger than a Key Deer?

Dorobuta

think "great dane with antlers" but skinnier.

30 lbs of meat would be a big Coues. 20 - 25 would be typical.

Garand

Back when I did a lot of white tail and muley hunting, I was very happy with .308 Remington 150 grain Core Lokt, one shot kill, heart shot at 450 yards (my bragging shot). At the time I scored about 400 rds in a deal and it did me well for the 4 years I hunted in Saskatchewan and the remainder went when I sold the rifle.

Dorobuta

we have a lot of good sized mule deer, they just aren't as tasty, and not as challenging to hunt.

John in AR

I’ve used the 223 on deer with fine results, but I hate tracking wounded game and so pass up on some shots that I’d take if I was hungry. Plus our deer here are small. I wouldn’t use the 223 on the big ones we had in michigan unless it was an emergency.

Shortly after moving to arkansas I sold off my heaviest rifle, a 300 win mag BAR. Most powerful rifle I have now is the 454 casull, followed by 308; nothing heavier anymore. There’s really nothing in my area that requires it.

Dorobuta

There’s really nothing in North America that cannot be taken with a .308, including the big bears. Not that I’d do it, but the .308 is enough. (I prefer the .338 for big game, buts that’s me.)

boati

When I was moving from Ill to Texas, 1980, with Kay, we stopped to see my buddy Harry Claflin. While there, a friend of his drove up with a dead deer in his truck. It had been hit in the guts, behind the shoulder and a third 150 gr sp 3006 had broken its neck. It had covered 50m from the gut hit to the neck hit. Once they are adrenalized, all bets are off. Carmichael had one run 100m or so. after he broke both shoulders, quartering angle shots, 338 sp's at 200m. The mammalian brain maintains 4-5 second's worth of oxygenized blood in the cranium. You can blow the heart to pieces and the critter can run for 5 seconds, at 50 fps. If the ventricle has just pumped before the hit, the critter can run for 10 seconds. The caliber wound mean a thing in such cases. But if you brain them, they drop. of course, that requires far more hunting and shooting skills than you guys have.

Dorobuta

There are lots of ways to drop them. You have no clue what anyone other than yourself can do. After all, you’re the one declaring long range shots were impossible without wind meters, only to see a 12 year old prove you wrong.

You know very little about hunting. You know even less about marksmanship. All of this is clear from your posts. Maybe you need to spend some time with one of the not one in a hundred men, oops!

Dorobuta

Btw, a gut shot is a very poor hit. That’s the first clue it was a bad shot.

Using a bad shot to prove you know anything about hunting is not the best move.

Terry G

Who goes for a brain shot on Deer? An Idiot! Melvin's never hunted anything from the BS he's posted. Baiting at Night and getting Deer with a pocket pistol? What a Moron! You keep posting the most idiotic stuff!

John in AR

The same person who claims that his preferred ammo is capable of only 10 inch groups at 10 meters.

Dorobuta

Well you see, you can’t hit a bobbing head on a very short neck, without mostly missing and throwing ricochets everywhere. But a smaller head, on a longer neck, that’s easy. All you need are a few wind meters, and a tarp cut into strips. Don’t forget to stuff your pants with debris, if you get a yard.

You just aren’t smart enough to figure this out.

Garand

Melvin, it has been my experience when you hit a muley in the heart, they fall down. As usual shot placement counts.

BigEd

Maybe the smell or rotting leaves, grass and acorns masks his scent? Even though he'll sound like a walking bag of party mix.

boati

People with more experience say that it's sometimes not the case. Shots can be placed with the 223.too.

boati

One is with a pistol, while being shot at, dumbass, the other is just a deer, with a rifle, from braced firing position. dumbasses like YOU think that they are the same thing.

Dorobuta

No, you’re just trying to shape your fantasies to fit what you hope is the case. You’re trying to put words in our mouths, when once again, you’re wrong.