|
I have been hunting deer for over 1/2 a century and done so in various states where several deer a year were allowed. So I can't count the number I have killed. I have killed them with arrows, handgun bullets, and rifle bullets as well as muzzle-loader bullets and round balls.
I have received crossways looks from others for using weapons that were "too big" (like 50-140 Sharps, 458s, 460s and 416s as well as 62 cal flintlock) and "too small" (like 357 magnum handguns,one time loaded with 38 specials, 45 ACP handguns and a wood arrow shot from a 42 pound bow.) I have never used a single weapon on any big game animal that I was unsuccessful with. Not one! This is not to say I have been 100% successful in every outing, but what I am saying is that EVERY weapon I have used, I have killed game with.
So what I know to be true is that it's the wound you inflict that kills. Not the gun. Not the shell, not even really the bullet.
It's the hole.
The deepest hole you can have any any animal is through and through lengthwise.
If you have a weapon that will give you sufficient penetration the only thing left to vary is the diameter of that wound. Those 2 things are the only 2 things that can be varied from weapon to weapon. We call them "Penetration" and "cavitation".
Every other variable is about the man shooting,(or choosing not to) not the weapon used.
I do not use super small rifles on deer just because it makes no sense to do if if I have something bigger. I do.
But I have no doubt that I could.
I have an acquaintance in Susanville Calif who is in his mid 80s now, and has killed so many deer with a 22 rim-fire that he had lost count before he was 30, and he's still doing it. He told me he only lost 3 in his life, and all of them were when he was a young teen before he learned where to hit them.
In my collection of rifles now, the smallest rifle I have that I will take for deer is my 6.5X54, my 30-30, my 7.62X39 or my 25-06.
Why? Because I have nothing to prove. I know I'd do fine with my 223s or even my 222, and probably would do well with a 22 LR, but I have nothing I feel I need to prove.
The 22 LR and the 222 Rem are not legal here and I see no reason to take a chance on getting a citation, but I know that if I needed to for some reason, I could kill a deer with a 22LR.
But pushing "right to the edge of the envelope" just doesn't make sense to me. I need to ask myself what I am trying to prove that is not already proven by thousands of men, over 100 years?
I have gone hunting with several men and women and a few kids who used 223s. In fact, I loaded the ammo for 4 of them. They all shot carefully and all have taken deer and antelope, and so far all have done it with one shot per animal. So far every one has given us an exit wound too. No antelope or deer shot with those 223s that I have seen killed went more than about 25 yards.
So this is all good material for banter back and forth, but in the final analysis it's always the shooter and his/her skill that makes up 99% of the equation.
The real trick to having a super high shots-to-kills rate is to NOT SHOOT when you should not shoot.
That's about ethical hunting, not what tool you have in your hands. Holding fire until you know you can kill is what it's all about.
That's how I have killed deer with 45 ACPs a 38 special round, and a wood arrow with a 2 blade broad head only 3/4" wide, shot from 42 pound bow.
When I shot I KNEW I was going to kill.
I didn't have to think "maybe I can do this".
The maybe's I turn down and I hold my fire. Not shooting is the key. Know when to NOT shoot and you'll do fine
|