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A couple of years back, I traded into an old Model 70 in .257 Roberts. It was kinda rough, so during the cleaning-up process I meddled with the stock-fit a tad...
Loaded up some mild-ish loads; shot inside of an inch. Basically, there ain't no flies on the .257...
I guess this whole thing comes around to fair chase and clean kill, right? If you know you're a good shot, and you're selective about when you take what sort of shot, you can do quite well with smaller cartridges on larger game than other hunters. Like I've said, I've killed a bunch of deer with a .243.
But, picture this. If I had put one of those lighter bullets "just a leetle far back", he might just disappear behind a bush and I'd have a serious tracking job or a lost deer. I believe that the same shot with the '06, 50% more bullet at the same velocity, he'd go down and then as he struggled to get back up, I'd wallop him again. I dunno. Just me, I guess...Hell, I'll spend a dang hour looking for a downed dove or quail-bird...
For instance, if you know pretty well that you're gonna ambush a mule deer or an elk from a tree stand; and the range will be less than some 10 to 20 yards: Wouldn't a .22 rimfire between the eyes do quite well?
It used to be not-uncommon on some south Texas hunting ranches for a wetback or maybe one of the ranch hands to sit out all night by a stock tank, with a .22 rifle. When Ol' Bucky came ambling along to get a drink, Plink! The buck was then offered to a camp of hunters for $5 per point...
But that ain't hunting.
Later, Art
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