[Tomas]

I recently returned from my annual hunting trip to Idaho. I took a decent 3x4 mule deer, but didn't really even see much elk, let alone a bull - which was the other tag I had.

Here's the purpose of my post: One of the guys I hunt with, a former guide, doesn't really put a lot of thought into his bullet choice. I use a .308 win., and use a 180gr Fail Safe over 43gr of 748. I took a lot of time picking my bullet and load, and worked up the load using different bullets and powders, etc. I feel great with it as an all-purpose load, geared for elk, but fully capable of taking deer. The former guide, who uses a 7mm mag., stays out there for nearly a month, and always uses his deer load on the elk. One year he used a 139gr Hornady, one year a 130gr Barnes X, and this year, a 140gr Accubond. Thing is, he's a dead-eye killer, and always seems to drop the elk with humane killing shots, rarely needing any follow-up shot. He took a huge 5x5 (public land) this year with a double lung at 125 yards while it was at a full run, and it just destroyed the innards of it. We recovered the bullet just inside the rib-cage of the far side.

I've tried to talk to him about it, but it's hard to win an argument with the guy when bullets don't seem to matter, and he just keeps one-shot dropping everything. Should I just drop it? Seems like shot placement wins again. Maybe the bullet choice really doesn't matter that much.

Tom