Caliber preference

[.270]

if you choose to have limitations, that's fine. personally, i don't want any. and also, personally, i feel like a lot of the stuff that folks are using these days are going to eventually have a lot to do with hunting going away. the % of the population that hunts goes down every year. but the number of hunters goes up slightly, because so does the population. they aren't making any more land. we have what we have, and accessible land, public and private, goes down every year. the west is in a drought. but if you really look at it, the west is always in a drought. outside the rockies, it's pretty much a desert. there are some places, like the olympic rain forest and the sierra nevadas that get rain, but they are another story all together. game and fish departments don't manage wildlife anymore, for the most part. they manage a budget. the look for dollars to run their business. and they let out too many permits and allow things like elk running off the deer population, predators number to get too high, endangered species work, importing non-native species, manipulating permits so more non-residents can get drawn, etc., etc. to take precedence over real wildlife biology and management. all these things add up to, or subtract, as the case really is, less quality hunting opportunity. game numbers, land availabilty, permit numbers, all go down every year, while the amount of folks that want to hunt stays the same or creeps up slightly. throw in 800 yard rifles, range finders, big binoculars, trail cameras, quads, 15 guys with one guy with a tag, folks hunting in subdivisions, feeders, governor tags, etc., and things really get muddied up. personally, i feel that folks oughta get out and hunt as hard as they can. try to get closer than half a mile. learn how to track and use the wind. develop some real hunting skills. not technical stuff. the stuff that makes the hair on the back o' your neck stand up when you realize you're close. the stuff that makes your heart beat so hard you don't know what to do. don't be some emotionless sniper. i have good optics. i have some cannons that will shoot a long ways. load my own ammo. know how to shoot. my kids have rifles with scopes on em that together cost more than most pickups i've owned. i love to shoot long ranges. at pigs and coyotes and targets. and i will shoot a long way if i have to. but i don't think that it should be what a guy sets out to do. and you don't need a dang elephant gun to shoot a coues deer. as far as glass houses, them windows were broke out years ago. actually, i shot em out. i can't go like i once did. but i still go as hard as i can. i like to see folks hunt and take their kids hunting. now i'm going the other direction. i take my dad hunting. he's too old and beat up to do much, but he does what he can. and he can still dot an i from a fair piece. and i still learn from him. if you want to be impersonall and not get to know your prey, fine. but not me. i chose to hunt with stealth and experience. if you can't , or won't, get closer than across a canyon from what you're after, i feel sorry ya. ya don't know what you're missing. and i can kill anything, anytime, anywhere, with a .243. Lark.

[Coues 'n' Sheep]

if you choose to have limitations, that's fine. personally, i don't want any. a............ Blah, Blah, Blah(Your post was sooo long that I had to edit out the middle)...........if you want to be impersonall and not get to know your prey, fine. but not me. i chose to hunt with stealth and experience. if you can't , or won't, get closer than across a canyon from what you're after, i feel sorry ya. ya don't know what you're missing. and i can kill anything, anytime, anywhere, with a .243. Lark.

 

 

 

What is wrong with this problem and every problem in our Counrty today, is that EVERYONE on both sides of the line (Left or Right), are on tunnel vision/cruise control..... I agree with your point of view in many ways..... I not gunna pile rocks on you cause your Old Fashioned, Out-dated, Over Opinionated, or anything else..... You have a point of view that has many valid points.... That does not make a it.... "The Point of View"..... There are many things that you have piped up about on several different threads this last week that are just flat rude and completely BS, IMO..... but it is your opinion..... just don't expect me or all the who read it, to buy it.

I, too, have been so close that I was afraid that the critter was going to hear my heart beating out of my chest..... I have taken game from 12 yds to 410 yds...... there are guys have done it from closer and further away...... and I congradulate them!! The hunt itself and the country that you are hunting will determine how close you get to that next critter..... If you are always in control of that then you might have not thought to hunt some of the places that I have hunted. Not all canyons are a textbook 200yd shots across.... Not all brush is as short as Catclaw...... Take off your rose colored glasses, Lark...... There is a whole world out here for you to look at.

 

Oh..... and if you ever want to try and stop a charging Moose or Grizzly with that .243 call me cuz I would like to have some video of it.

 

CnS

[.270]

rose colored glasses? you need to look up the definition for that one. yeah, i'm rude and crude. so what? if you head out with a 1/2 miles gun, you're only looking to get within a halfmile. and i don't think that is a good thing for the sport. the goal should be to have a succesfull hunt. not a good shoot. you say you've made at 410 yards. i've made em at near 700 on deer. further on coyotes. bull elk at 6 with my bow. no range finder either, just kentucky windage. i'll do whatever it takes. but my goal is to hunt. not snipe. this original post was about comparing a few rounds and some guys decided that they had to add a buncha nonsense about a .243 not being a good choice for couse deer. not enough knockdown. won't buck the wind. and i took exception to it. and i'll say it again. i can kill anything with a .243. or my ol' .270. i love seeing how far away i can hit stuff. my kids have rangefinders and stuff and i tinker with em from time to time. never carry one. i have a real good set off glass. good scopes. fine rifles. i love all guns. but again, i think a guy oughta hunt. not just shoot. i really enjoy seeing folks hunt. even if they're in my way. because it's good for the sport and i know how much i enjoy it. but hunting should be a personall thing between you and your prey. not a long range snipefest that takes 40 pounds of gear and electronic technology. Lark.

[m gardner]

I really like the 270 winchester too (it's good for old arthritic guys), but I've shot alot of game with other calibers. The 243 or the 300 will work just fine. Just remember that the 243 was designed as a "dual purpose" cartridge and the 300 win mag was to kill big thin skinned stuff. The 270 was made to shoot deer. By the way,I'm really sorry you could never afford a decent pickup truck Lark.

Mark

[out2hunt]

Holy cow batman lark has a twin brother or split personality!Superhero offended you?Outhouse nice pun lol!Thats funny!And here I didn't think there was any humor anymore. What if by definition my "successful hunt" is determined by aone shot kill at over 500 yards on a buck that is only 100plusinches?If I want to get 20 yards from a buck I will do it with bow in hand!Nowhere I have read in any riflehunting magazine or hunting article does it say "You must shoot at a shorter distance to be a greater hunter"!Here's Your Sign .270!!!!Good Luck to you this hunting season!It's going to be hard to walk very far with that misplaced stick in your ars!LOL---Now that's funny!!!!

[bobbyo]

This thread is great! It is just what I needed to hear. I plan on taking my son's 243 on the early hunt, yet I plan on only taking shots in the 500 to 600 yard range. So I guess you could say I agree with everybody on this issue.

Bob

[ac guy]

I plan on only taking shots in the 500 to 600 yard range.

If you are extremely comfortble doing so, then have at it. I don't know you, so I'm going to assume you know your rifle better then your peter. I believe whatever makes a hunt enjoyable to someone, that is legal is fine. Good luck on your hunt.

[out2hunt]

Right on ac guy!Hope you have a great hunt too!

[AzTrapper]

I say shot whatever your comforable with be it a 6mm-06 or a 300 whatever. But I also think of the animal I want to make sure of two things first it dies quick and i do not have to spend hours tracking it. and second how much meat is going to be wasted. I have a friend who is a meat cutter and now lives in Dudleyville who also hunts who has kept track of this for well over 15 years and countless animals from whitetail to elk and if I remember right the 300's do not waste as much as smaller guns. I am can remember back when i could sneak up and shoot things at 50 yards or less but that was before the back when bad and the knees did as well now i still enjoy hunting as much as i ever did I just learned to shoot a little farther.

 

AzTrapper

[Coues 'n' Sheep]

you say you've made at 410 yards. i've made em at near 700 on deer. further on coyotes. bull elk at 6 with my bow. no range finder either, just kentucky windage. i'll do whatever it takes. but my goal is to hunt. not snipe. this original post was about comparing a few rounds and some guys decided that they had to add a buncha nonsense about a .243 not being a good choice for couse deer. not enough knockdown. won't buck the wind. and i took exception to it. and i'll say it again. i can kill anything with a .243. or my ol' .270. i love seeing how far away i can hit stuff. .................................................... but hunting should be a personall thing between you and your prey. not a long range snipefest that takes 40 pounds of gear and electronic technology. Lark.

 

 

 

I guess the Real difference between us is how we respect the critters we hunt. You are willing to throw a Hail Mary in the first quarter (700 yd hold over) and I only wish to be ready to throw a TD pass in the last 10 seconds of the game! You like your "Kentucky windage"..... God forbid you misjudge and wound something. I prefir to ensure a quick human kill and recovery..... I don't wish to hit an animal on a lark.... or by chance! You and I come from different worlds........ on one side desert, on the other mountains...... on one side age, on the other a touch of modernism. But make no mistake, I grew up hunting just like you still hunting...... but I have learned many things by having an open mind and choosing the best of both worlds so that I might be a better and more proficient hunter. I grew up in the mountains I live in and poor enough, that without game meat I would have gone hungry many nights. I too, know the importance of doing what it takes to get meat on the table. But, I prefir to do it with confidence..... not a Wing and a Prayer.

As far as calibers go..... as before a .243 is enough to get the job done most of the time. But for us.... next weekend..... My wife will be Carp Deer hunting with a 300 Wby Mag, shooting 180 gr. Barnes X bullets..... and I promise that bullet, wastes less meat than Any bullet on the market!! And I will be hunting Coues Deer with my 300 Wby. Mag. shooting 168 gr. Berger VLD's..... never hunted with them before but I like how they fly. Some of the places I intend to hunt will put me as close to deer as 100 yds or less...... other place I will get no closer than 400 (without wings)..... but either way I will be Practiced and prepared for all situations.

 

Good luck to all on opening day!

 

CnS

[.270]

i guess if a guy has to have a .300 mag to shoot an 80 pound deer it says a lot about the guy. he's just being ethical. my grandad and his brother killed a grizzly, in Az. too, with a .22 singleshot. guess they were unethical. but hey, if a guy ain't got enough confidence in himself, i guess he's gotta jack it up with somethin'. Lark.

[Coues 'n' Sheep]

i guess if a guy has to have a .300 mag to shoot an 80 pound deer it says a lot about the guy. he's just being ethical. my grandad and his brother killed a grizzly, in Az. too, with a .22 singleshot. guess they were unethical. but hey, if a guy ain't got enough confidence in himself, i guess he's gotta jack it up with somethin'. Lark.

 

 

Bah HaHaHaHaHaHa........ I think that falls under..... Stupid is as Stupid Does! I shoot a 300 Mag.because of its stability (in the wind)and velosity..... not really because of the knock down....LOL! You are really dazzling me with your stance on this Lark!!!! BTW....I am holding out for a 90+ lb. deer..... if that makes any differences.

[.270]

so you expect me to back off because you say so? i own more .300's than you can count. have over 500 rounds loaded, right now. and i can shoot the heck out of em. 'bout wore my shoulder out a week ago with one that won't hit right. but i don't need one to shoot a coues deer. if you do, that's ok. probly makin' up for a lack of hair or height of some other deal that some guys can't deal with. but that's fine. don't let me sway you into doing something unethical, like using a .243. or any other gun that you don't like. so, how big o' lift do have on your truck anyway? Lark.

[elpepe25]

so one person prefers another caliber that happens to be different from your choice, why make it a personal attack

[azpackhorse]

I shoot a .300 win mag for everything, I am 6'4", have all my hair and drive a small 4x4 truck that aint lifted