Caliber Over Kill

Overkill is fine as long as the hunter doesnt believe that they absolutely need a 300 win mag to hunt a whitetail at a 100 yards. I hate that.

My .375HH has shot 2 squirrels under a birdfeeder and 1 woodchuck at the edge of my lawn. 235 grain speer at 2970.

It was early spring, leaving my moms house, and a pesky squirrel appeared under her feeder. I was carrying the .375 out to the car so...I used it. 26" a bolt stainless stalker, leupold 1-4. It looked like the squirrel had swallowed an M-80, perfect fountain pattern. I found a kidney 15 yards from the feeder. Another appeared, same effect except that one was closer to the garage. I ran in to wash vaporized squirrel mist from the side of the detached garage before it dried. Could not reach the smear the head made when it bounced off the soffit nor could I get the front leg off of the roof - left that for the crows.

The woodchuck died instantly and my then 5 year old son observed that its heart was lying a few feet from most of the rest of the body. None of these animals ran under a building or into a woodpile to die and stink up the building.

In my experience of hunting Russian boar for the better part of 20 years now, there are few round that match, let alone exceed, the killing power of either the .444 Marlin, or the .45-70 Gov't.

Yet, people call the .375 H&H Mag over-kill?! Seriously? The boar I have killed with .444 and .45-70 have dropped within 15 feet. Some dropped instantly. The boar I shot with my Sig-Sauer 202 Safari .375 H&H Mag, with factory loaded Federal Premium, 300 grain Nosler Partitions, ran 200+ yards, and took near 3 minutes to drop-dead, and nearly 4 minutes to "expire". I hit it 2 times at 100 yards, and took out the heart and lungs.

Give me a big, slow bullet any day. Ain't no such thing as "over-kill", but in someone's mind.

Geno

Or stop a charging 400+ lbs hog like this one .....


with this .........

Yeah that was nowhere NEAR a charge. That was just an "Oh crap what the hell is that in the road" response. This is more of an escape charge but still, just, dayumn! http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=5WwK_1SFE_8

That's a cool vid and typifies a hogs response, one swat at the irritation and get out of Dodge. I've seen a guy cut up from a hog, big scar on his chest that got sewn up, but he was on a pig with a knife when the pig got loose. I've never known anyone hunting or just walking around get attacked by a hog. It just don't happen.

In my experience of hunting Russian boar for the better part of 20 years now, there are few round that match, let alone exceed, the killing power of either the .444 Marlin, or the .45-70 Gov't.

Yet, people call the .375 H&H Mag over-kill?! Seriously?

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The .375 makes a LOT of energy and is capable of taking Cape Buffalo. I wouldn't use a .45 70 on Buffalo unless I had a death wish. If I had a .375 (I don't, no reason, I only hunt hogs and deer mostly and a .308 is plenty) I'd use it on hogs, though. I mean, why not? Hell, if I had a .600 nitro express and wanted to shoot something with it, why not? I ain't worried about killin' 'em too dead.

MC, the only problem with the Nitro's (I have a couple so I know) is that they tend to kill on BOTH ends!!!

Good point.

I wouldn't use a .45 70 on Buffalo unless I had a death wish

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I'd be happy to use it. In fact, what I'd really like to use is a handgun. Some folks use bow and arrow...but that's not for me.

Now, would I want to depend on a .45-70 or handgun to stop an angry buff? No. But that's what the PH's rifle is for!

Gunnerboy said:

That coyotes with the 06 can be fun , especially when there (*SIC) still pups and your using bear loads

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*They're

That sounds cruel, not "fun."

Do you believe in overkill

A question for everybody do you believe in overkill
I personally don't

There are no different degrees of dead.

In most applications, yes, I do believe in over-kill.

Three of anything normally is a sure guarantee that one of them will work.

Two of anything is a bare minimum. This is called backing up.

Only one of anything and at best you have merely a possibiity of success.

These principles apply to anything.

Hell yeah... I personally have over-killed a turkey among other things.

.50 BMG on the night stand for home defense?

Overkill no, over penetration a big yes. I did watch a guy go after squirrels with a .375 h&h once they did not look any more dead than the ones i shot with .22LR, they were just in more places.

As someone said,

"Overkill is under-rated."

For standard hunting, there's not much advantage in "overkill." For dangerous game, I personally think there's a lot of advantage.

For SD, I don't believe in overkill. But I am a disciple of "overstop."

Unless you want a long tracking job ahead of you, there are plenty of applications for over-kill in hunting buck deer and antelope.

But the principle applies in almost all aspects of living as well.

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If you can hit what you're shooting at well enough to ensure a humane kill, then there is no such thing as overkill.
A slob hunter with a .460 Weatherby Mag will probably gut shoot as many animals as a slob hunter with a .243 Win. Caliber size will never replace marksmanship.

You keep believing that ... .

Then one day when you empty your rifle, you will wish you were the one with the magnum instead.

Seen it happen.

Sam1911 said:

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What does merged mean in this post? I'm sure once explained, I'll have a DUHH! moment.