Our Legendary Shooting Editor Explains Why Bigger Deer Cartridges Aren’t Better

This story was initially printed within the October 1978 concern of Outside Life.  

Not removed from my boyhood dwelling within the inexperienced valleys of East Tennessee there as soon as lived a person who fancied himself as one thing of a deer hunt­er. By all accounts, he was a moderately odd man and far given to gentleness and onerous work. He was the type of man you’d like as a neigh­bor apart from one peculiar quirk. On the time of 12 months when the swollen necks of antlered deer mark the start of their ageless ceremony, he raged like a person possessed by de­mons. 

I as soon as encountered him on this state and, unwarned of his situation, dedicated the error of asking him if he’d had luck on deer thus far. He fastened me together with his fiery eyes and skewered my chest with a bony finger. 

“Hit one smack within the coronary heart I did,” he rasped, ”Not an inch greater than 50 yards, however he simply checked out me and danced off in addition to you might be. However I’m prepared for the subsequent one.” Then, stepping nearer and whispering as if sharing a forbidden secret, he stated, “I’ve ordered me one in every of them three hunnert H. and Holland Man­grums like they shoot lions and elephants with. Subsequent deer I shoot at I intention to chop him a dusty.” 

That was the final time I noticed him. The subsequent spring he purchased a farm in Alabama and moved there. I’d all however forgotten him till a number of years later after I was looking in Alabama and heard about some wild farmer within the subsequent county who hunted deer with a .458 Winchester Magnum. 

My guess is he was the identical fellow I’d recognized earlier than. He had been struck with a traditional case of what I name the Iron Deer Syndrome.

Iron Deer Syndrome 

This syndrome is particularly insid­ious as a result of it feeds on the weak­nesses of its victims. Right here’s the way it works. A deer hunter goes into the woods with a brand-new firearm that he believes to be (and really is) a dandy little whitetail rifle. Let’s say it’s a .30/30. He will get a straightforward shot at a standing buck — the largest he’s ever seen. He misses. He misses as a result of the rifle was not sighted in, as a result of he’s a poor shot or off form, due to buck fever, or just because he closed his eyes and flinched when he jerked the set off. 

In his personal thoughts there was no approach he may have missed. The deer was simply too near miss, the shot too simple. So he seems to be for an additional expla­nation for why the large buck ran away. 

The caliber! That’s it,” he tells himself. “That rifle ain’t received sufficient energy to kill an enormous deer.” As far as he’s involved the matter is settled. Subsequent 12 months he’ll use a much bigger, extra highly effective, harder-kicking rifle. And he does. He sees one other large deer, goals, flinches, and misses once more. His­tory repeats itself. 

I’ve preached this sermon earlier than and I’ll preach it once more: The place a bullet hits a deer is extra vital than the dimensions, form, or velocity of the bullet. 

No Positive Kills 

I get plenty of mail from deer hunt­ers telling heartbreaking tales in regards to the large buck that received away, and asking me to advocate a cartridge or bullet that may at all times drop a deer like a poleaxed ox. The unhappy reality is that there’s no sporting cartridge you’d wish to shoot that may unfail­ingly kill a deer in its tracks even when the bullet hits within the coronary heart/ lung space. True, most well-hit deer go down the place they stand, or take just a few steps, however there are at all times ex­ceptions. 

A couple of years in the past when looking whitetails within the Northeast, I got here throughout an excellent buck and two does feeding on the fringe of a stand of timber about 150 yards away. They had been transferring slowly, so I took a stable relaxation and punctiliously aimed my .270 the place I judged the highest of the buck’s coronary heart can be. Once I fired, all three deer whirled and bumped into the quilt. The buck appeared as if he’d been hit, however he was transferring quick. I discovered him lifeless within the brush about 70 yards from the place he had been after I fired. The 130-grain bullet had achieved a lovely job. The center was all however indifferent from the most important blood vessels, and the lungs had been in shreds. 

One other time I hit an enormous mule deer buck twice with 250-grain slugs from my .338 Winchester Magnum. The buck gave the impression to be fully un­harmed, and he trotted practically 200 yards earlier than collapsing. One other time I raked a buck by the chest with a 175-grain bullet from a 7mm Remington Magnum. He went about 50 yards earlier than piling up. 

A looking pal of mine dotes on the ability of his large .35-caliber magnum wildcats, however after I query him a couple of explicit trophy mule deer head in his den he at all times hedges and modifications the topic. It took multiple shot from his cannon to kill that buck, however what number of he gained’t say. 

All of those had been unspooked deer nicely hit with nice cartridges, however for some motive none went down as if the world had been jerked out from beneath them. True, they had been simply discovered. However the level I’m making is that no sporting rifle or cartridge com­bination ensures you an on the spot kill even when the bullet is correct heading in the right direction. (You possibly can drop a deer on the spot­ly by hitting it within the mind or sever­ing the neck vertebra or the again­bone, however these are comparatively troublesome targets and also you usually tend to miss altogether).

Don’t be discouraged by these examples of deer bounding away after being hit solidly with highly effective rifles. A far bigger share of the deer I’ve hit correctly died the place they stood. Any deer hit within the coronary heart or lungs goes to go down earlier than he goes very far. With both the center or lungs ruptured by a bullet, the animal can not stay greater than a number of seconds or a minute or so on the most. We’ve all heard tales about deer that ran miles and received away after being hit within the coronary heart or lungs. This takes us again to the Iron Deer Syndrome; such deer are poorly hit, if in any respect. 

There are any number of car­tridges that provide all of the “knock-down energy” a whitetail deer hunter may ever hope for. These vary from the zippy little .243 Winchester by such stump busters because the .45/70. Previous favorites such because the .30/30, .300 Savage, and .35 Remington are nonetheless wonderful selections and are available a wide variety of rifles. Late-comers such because the .308 Winchester and .358 Winchester-likewise have established themselves as long-run favorites. 

Bullet Placement 

As soon as a deer hunter realizes that no cartridge accommodates a magic potion, and finds out that bullet placement, not horsepower, offers the most effective odds, he turns into a greater, extra profitable hunter. The trick is to decide on a rifle that will get you heading in the right direction rapidly and simply and one you could shoot with confidence. 

For a number of years now I’ve doted on a trim little pre-’64 Mannequin 70 Winchester stocked by Clayton Nel­son and rebarreled to .280 Reming­ton. This rifle has starred in quite a lot of my looking articles, ap­parently inflicting plenty of readers to suppose I’m touting the .280. 

However this rifle can be simply nearly as good, and would have killed as a lot sport, in any of a number of different calibers. The rationale I’ve been so profitable with this rifle is as a result of it factors like a custom-fitted English shotgun, and it reliably sends the bullet within the direc­tion it’s aimed. I’ve confidence in that rifle, and that’s what any deer hunter wants—confidence in his rifle and confidence in his potential to make use of it. 

This confidence comes from utilizing a rifle you might be snug with. That is why the actually nice whitetail deer rifles of the previous a number of generations have been these which are particularly mild to hold, quick to intention, and simple to shoot. The rifle design is at all times extra vital than the cartridge in a terrific deer rig. The outdated favourite .30/30, for instance, is a profitable deer cartridge as a result of it has been chambered within the Mannequin 94 Winchester, Marlin’s Mannequin 336, and the Savage Mannequin 99 lever-action carbines. All are actually terrific shut­-range deer rifles that make nearly any enough caliber look good. 

Learn Subsequent: The place to Shoot a Deer

The “Brush Busters” Fantasy

The good brush bullet fantasy is simply that—a fantasy. True, some calibers give extra dependable efficiency in brush than others. However a few of the rounds historically often known as “brush busters” are usually the poorest per­formers when known as on to drill by thick cowl on their option to the goal. Until you plan to hold a .577 Nitro Categorical loaded with 750-grain slugs, you might as nicely neglect about any cartridge with the ability to bulldoze timber. The very best brush busters are rifles which are correct and shootable sufficient to allow you to overlook the twigs and hit the deer.

Tramping by the woods with a 10-pound rifle has by no means been the cleverest approach of exhibiting one’s power or deer-hunting savvy. Assessments and observations amongst extremely expert aggressive riflemen have proven that fatigue performs an enormous position in marksmanship. After carrying a 9 or 10-pound rifle for 5 hours, you aren’t as prone to hit the place you intention if the rifle had weighed solely six or seven kilos. 

Likewise, you’ll be able to neglect any advert­vantages lengthy barrels are presupposed to have over stubby ones. The accuracy distinction between lengthy and brief tubes is surprisingly slight. That’s why I favor the 18 ½-inch carbine variations of Remington’s Mannequin 7 42 autoloader and Mannequin 760 pump over the longer-barreled variations of the identical fashions. It at all times appears that the final inch or so of barrel will get in the best way or snags brush whenever you’re making an attempt to fireplace. 

For the reason that Winchester Mannequin 94 lever-action carbine has made itself the usual by which all deer rifles are judged, it is usually the logical stan­dard for evaluating general size. With a 20-inch barrel, its complete size from buttplate to muzzle is 37¾ inches. The little Ruger Mannequin 44 carbine is an inch shorter, and most different carbines are an inch or two longer. Rifles for much longer than 40 inches general are too lengthy for efficient dealing with in shut quarters. 

Learn Subsequent: The Best Deer Hunting Cartridges

Some bolt-action rifles fall into the carbine class. The Remington Mannequin 788 is just 41 ¾ inches over­all, even with its 22-inch barrel. I as soon as owned a candy little bolt-action Mannlicher that measured solely 38 inches general. Weighing a number of ounces beneath seven kilos and chambered for the snappy 6.5×54 Mannlicher cartridge, this was my hands-down favourite deer rifle till I went again to school to get a grasp’s diploma and needed to promote it to maintain my stomach from nibbling at my spine. 

Lastly, observe, observe, observe. If you happen to personal just one field of 20 shells, observe with 15 of them. The re­maining 5 will carry out so much higher.

 

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