Do you actually use the best most optimal firearm/cartridge you have access to when hunting?

[Skoghund]

When I lived and hunted in England I used a .308 most of the time. Because I was stalking mainly roe, fallow , and in later years muntjac that are all small to medium deer i used 165grn Nosler Balistic tips. That rifle bullet combo killed hundreds upon hundreds of deer over many years.
For the last Twenty years I've lived in Sweden. On my ground we have roe, moose and boar. So I load premium bullets for my hunting. I load my .308 with home loaded 165grn Norma Oryx. My thinking is this, I know most of the animals I shoot will be yearling moose and boar but I want a bullet that will kill the biggest, toughest once in a life time boar or moose that will run by me. In my double 8x57 JRS I've three loads that I have worked up that all shoot to the same point of aim. 180grn Lapua Naturalis and a 180 grn fox classic hunter, both are mono metal bullets. and a Sierra 170grn prohunter load.
A lead ban is coming through out the EU and so far I've been pleased with how the mono metal bullets work.

 

[Thomasss]

NO. I shoot what my gun likes to put inside quarter at 100 yards. That's a cup and core bullet. Right now it's a Hornady Interlock l65 grain SPHP. Like Popeye The Sailor, use to say D.D.T. "Drop Dead Twice" Put 'em down as quickly and quietly as possible.
I can't consistently load partition bullets to do that in my 30.06 and I am in the middle of getting ELD-X to shoot a decent group in my son's .270 Win. He may go back to Interlocks as well next fall. All these new bullets don't mean c*** if you the shooter can't get them to effectively perform.

 

[Ks5shooter]

Yep my dedicated deer gun 7mm-08

 

[Varminterror]

How boring life would be if we only had salt with which to season our food.

Throughout most of my youth, our limit on deer each season was 9, so I was afforded the opportunity to take a LOT of deer with a LOT of different cartridges. These days, I have a lot more on my plate, and we’re only offered a couple of tags now in my units, so I have defaulted to hunt with whatever rifle I’ve been shooting the most, which for several years has been my PRS match rifles. Luckily, I do find these 6mm cartridges to be very near the middle of what I consider to be the optimum window for deer hunting cartridges, but 26” barrels and 22lb rifle weights are a bit outside of my vision of optima for rifle specs.

When I head out of state on hunts which are less accessible than hunting deer and coyotes in my own backyard, I carry a sufficiently large hammer to add surety to my shots, and such, I carry a 30 cal magnum. But I acknowledge this is far beyond the boundary of my optimum window for recoil and powder consumption, trading that concession for anchoring power and effective range while hunting unfamiliar territory.

 

[The Happy Kaboomer]

Here we can kill 5 bucks and 8 does. Every time I kill a deer. That rifle goes in the safe and another comes out. This is what makes it fun.

 

[WisBorn]

MAYBE, YES, DEFINITELY!!!

I am a deer hunter and have used the following set ups to fill tags.
Lever actions 30-30, 45-70 7-08 great shorter range woods. The first deer I shot with a rifle was the 30-30 terrible set up on the edge of a agriculture field. Could have shot 400 yards. Dropped the buck at thirty yards.
The 7mm-08 would be good out to several hundred yards.
Single shot 25-06(Ruger #1) and Semi automatic 308 (Rem 742). I can't say either rifle is ideal for any situation.

Bolt action rifles my favorite action type and will cover every hunting terrain with the right scope type and rifle length.
30-06, 308, 300WM, 300wsm, 25-06, and 7mm Rem Mag. Have all been successful.

I feel that the 308win with 2-7 or 2.5-8 scope is great in a short quick handling light rifle from 0-300 yards it is as good as it gets.
My favorite 7mm Rem Mag, I manly hunt from a stand and have wood shots from 0 to ??? Yards. I also have open shots across an agriculture field as far as I will shoot. And midrange shots across the marsh.

So my current rifle Weatherby MarkV ultra lightweight in 7mm Remington Mag with a 3.5-10 scope is perfect for me.
I'm going to add a 308 for days I want to walkabout .

 

[mcb]

I also think some of this comes down to what type of hunter you are and how that meshes with your firearms interests. I had a hunting buddy that I hunted rabbits with over his dogs. He had very few firearms, and he always used the same 20 gauge 870 and what ever shotgun shells were on sale. This was not that he could not afford the guns (I think he made more than me and I am well blessed in that department) but that simply his passion was the hunting and the dogs and the gun was simply a tool that was used as part of that passion. As long as his 870 worked and he could hit rabbits with it that was all that matter to him. I on the other hand, I was always showing up with a different shotgun, new ammo to try, or some other hunting gadget to test out. Hunting is as much an outlet for my passion for firearms and related tech as it is a passion of its own. We have given each other a lot of flak (in fun) over the years for how different our approaches to hunting is but the rabbits always got the short end of our hunting adventures.

 

[Legionnaire]

Gotta say no. There is enough overlap in my safe I’d be hard pressed to identify the optimal cartridge for any application. Not to mention that I’ve taken whitetail with a 12 gauge (slugs), .44 Mag revolver, Encore pistol (.243), and compound bow in addition to multiple rifles in different cartridges, limiting myself to the ranges appropriate for each … because I can. Pretty sure hunting squirrels with a Single Six isn’t optimal, but it’s as fun as it is challenging.

 

[Ugly Sauce]

 

[mcb]

View attachment 1141376

Clearly you have selected an optimal rifle, just roughly 400 years too late.

 

[Ugly Sauce]

Clearly you have selected an optimal rifle, just roughly 400 years too late.

Back to the future! Well...the future 400 years too early.

 

[9x56MS]

If optimal means using a weapon that challenges you, then I certainly do. Bought a 32 caliber CVA muzzle loader just to make squirrel hunting fun again. About half of my big game rifles wear iron sights only and at my age that is a whole nother challenge.

 

[mcb]

If optimal means using a weapon that challenges you, then I certainly do. Bought a 32 caliber CVA muzzle loader just to make squirrel hunting fun again. About half of my big game rifles wear iron sights only and at my age that is a whole nother challenge.

Well no the optimal rifles usually does not mean it challenges you, BUT that is sort of my point in this thread, some of us often choose less than optimal choices for the particular challenge they offer. That is part of the enjoyment. So maybe they are optimal in that sense, the sense of challenge and enjoyment.

 

[Ugly Sauce]

Well no the optimal rifles usually does not mean it challenges you, BUT that is sort of my point in this thread, some of us often choose less than optimal choices for the particular challenge they offer. That is part of the enjoyment. So maybe they are optimal in that sense, the sense of challenge and enjoyment.

"Optimal" is, what optimal does? One man's optimal, could be another man's...not optimal. !!! Methinks a rifle could be optimal in one sense, and may not another. I consider the ballistics of my .62" Jeager to be optimal for the game I hunt, and the range at which I hunt them. To another, learning to achieve 100% reliability with a flintlock would be very un-optimal. Using a single shot, especially the slow loading kind, is optimal for me, as it forces me to make the first shot count. To others...not having a backup or repeat shot(s) would not be optimal, or even acceptable.

The flintlock certainly optimizes my enjoyment. But another person would get more pleasure from a modern, far and flat shooting rifle. They might look at the flintlock and say: "why bother?" I might look at the modern rifle and say: "how boring". "too easy".

On challenge, my Jeager will deliver on power, accuracy and reliability, so no challenge there. My range is limited, so I am challenged to hunt a little better...but that's a good thing. But, in my case I'd put challenge on the bottom of the optimal list. !!!

 

[mcb]

"Optimal" is, what optimal does? One man's optimal, could be another man's...not optimal. !!! Methinks a rifle could be optimal in one sense, and may not another. I consider the ballistics of my .62" Jeager to be optimal for the game I hunt, and the range at which I hunt them. To another, learning to achieve 100% reliability with a flintlock would be very un-optimal. Using a single shot, especially the slow loading kind, is optimal for me, as it forces me to make the first shot count. To others...not having a backup or repeat shot(s) would not be optimal, or even acceptable.

The flintlock certainly optimizes my enjoyment. But another person would get more pleasure from a modern, far and flat shooting rifle. They might look at the flintlock and say: "why bother?" I might look at the modern rifle and say: "how boring". "too easy".

On challenge, my Jeager will deliver on power, accuracy and reliability, so no challenge there. My range is limited, so I am challenged to hunt a little better...but that's a good thing. But, in my case I'd put challenge on the bottom of the optimal list. !!!

Exactly, unless we define very precisely the goals, conditions, and limitations we will hunt under the definition of best/optimal is so ill defined that we get to pick what we think is best and call it optimal. This is why threads about what is the best/optimal gun/cartridge for a application so often devolve into a bunch of difficult to support opinions.

I don't even bother lying to myself anymore that I am hunting with the best gun/cartridge. I am simply hunting with a sufficient gun/cartridge that, for a variety of reasons, is the one I wish to hunt with.

 

[bearcreek]

I hunt for meat, not for sport, so I choose the weapon that gives me the best chance of success.

 

[Ugly Sauce]

I hunt for meat, not for sport, so I choose the weapon that gives me the best chance of success.

I understand that. I hunt both for meat, and to be out in nature where I belong. Sometimes success just means going home early. Don't really see hunting as a "sport". For me, it's mostly being out in the wilderness, with meat being the icing on the cake. !!!

On the other hand, when hunting Turkey, just as a "for instance", the most modern shotgun imaginable gives me absolutely no greater chance of success over my flintlock musket. So in that respect, my musket would be both optimal from a technical standpoint, and the enjoyment standpoint.

 

[mcb]

I am not sure I can make a meaningful distinction between meat and sport hunters here in the US. I can make a distinction between sport and subsistence hunters but not meat and sport hunters. Unless you are going go hungry if you don't succeed is their really a difference between a sport hunter and a meat hunter? The classic "evil sport hunter" that kills the game, takes the trophy, and leave the meat to rot is a vanishingly small percentage of our US hunting population. I like the freezer full and a nice rack or fan to decorate the hunting cabin with.

 

[bearcreek]

Unless you are going go hungry if you don't succeed is their really a difference between a sport hunter and a meat hunter?

I don't think one has to have the danger of going hungry in the mix in order to be considered a "meat" hunter, the same way that I don't think a person has to be at risk of going hungry in order to "farm" chickens for meat. When I say that about myself it simply means that the primary reason that I hunt is for the meat. Do I have antlers on my wall? Yes I do, but I would never consider paying money to dress up those antlers in any way, no matter how big they are. I don't post pictures of myself with an animal I've killed on social media or even send pictures of myself with the animal to friends. If any photos get shared, it's of the meat being processed. When I kill an elk or deer, the last load to get packed out is the antlers, because they're the least important. When I pick a weapon to use for the hunt, I pick the one that is most likely to give me success. Understand that I have no ethical objection to hunting for "sport", as long as it's done in a manner that preserves the long term viability of the resource. Also, to be clear, I very much enjoy hunting, for a number of reasons, including as Ugly Sauce put it, "to be out in nature where I belong". I don't think something has to be un-enjoyable in order for enjoyment not be "the" reason that the activity is being undertaken.

 

[mcb]

I agree a meat hunter does not have to be reliant on a successful hunt, that is a subsistence hunter and very few in the US would fit that later definition. But in your previous post you state you hunt for meat not for sport and that some how justified picking the best/optimal weapon. Choosing the best weapon available because putting meat in the freezer is important to you is a perfect acceptable justification for doing so. Though, you seem to be imply being a meat hunter is elevated above a sport hunter and IMHO there is no need to contrast that against a hunter that see the most important aspect is to harvest the best trophy animal they can. I am not seeing how that distinction or comparison matters?

I hunt for meat, not for sport, so I choose the weapon that gives me the best chance of success.

This statement is just as valid if we swap meat and sport and to argue otherwise does a disservice to all hunters. As long as they are legally hunting the reasons they hunt should not make one better or worst than another.

 

[ttittle]

I voted no. I do hunt with cartridges capable of taking the game I want, but each year for different reasons. IE deer hunting. Usually I take my newest rifle capable of taking deer. Next deer season I will be hunting with my dad's old Marlin 336. He has recently passed and I have already promised myself I will hunt with that rifle till I take a deer with it.

 

[WisBorn]

I voted no. I do hunt with cartridges capable of taking the game I want, but each year for different reasons. IE deer hunting. Usually I take my newest rifle capable of taking deer. Next deer season I will be hunting with my dad's old Marlin 336. He has recently passed and I have already promised myself I will hunt with that rifle till I take a deer with it.

I am happy that my Dad is still with me and he actually hunted some last season even with very cold temperatures.
He used my RH Savage 243win instead of his 30-06 or 308. He liked having less recoil and it is a really accurate rifle. When he does pass I plan on using his M700 30-06 opening day.

 

[WisBorn]

I voted yes on the poll, as I was primarily thinking about rifle hunting for whitetails.

With turkey season around the corner. I am considering using my dad's bolt action .410. It was previously owned by a family friend that was like a third grandfather to me.

When I started turkey hunting in 1994 I tried to find the ultimate turkey blaster.
I have used the following turkey set ups.
1- Mossberg 835 28" with 3 1/2" #6
2- Mossberg 835 24" with 3 1/2" #6 & #4
3- Browning BPS 10 gauge 24" with #5
4- Browning BPS 12 gauge 26" with 3" #5
5- Benelli Super Black Eagle scoped with a Leopold 1-4 loaded with 3 1/2" #5 Heavy Shot. This is the ultimate blaster. It kind of took the challenge out of hunting. Call the bird inside of 60 yards and retrieve the bird.
6- Remington 332 O/U 3" #5
So maybe the challenge of the 410 may be fun. Call the bird inside of 30 yards

 

[Ugly Sauce]

I voted yes on the poll, as I was primarily thinking about rifle hunting for whitetails.

With turkey season around the corner. I am considering using my dad's bolt action .410. It was previously owned by a family friend that was like a third grandfather to me.

When I started turkey hunting in 1994 I tried to find the ultimate turkey blaster.
I have used the following turkey set ups.
1- Mossberg 835 28" with 3 1/2" #6
2- Mossberg 835 24" with 3 1/2" #6 & #4
3- Browning BPS 10 gauge 24" with #5
4- Browning BPS 12 gauge 26" with 3" #5
5- Benelli Super Black Eagle scoped with a Leopold 1-4 loaded with 3 1/2" #5 Heavy Shot. This is the ultimate blaster. It kind of took the challenge out of hunting. Call the bird inside of 60 yards and retrieve the bird.
6- Remington 332 O/U 3" #5
So maybe the challenge of the 410 may be fun. Call the bird inside of 30 yards

Yep, an 11 gauge flintlock works well on turkey for me, sure don't need them nuclear powered turkey-guns. I have also taken a couple with my grand-dad's double barrel 12 gauge hammer-gun, made in 1914, using 2&3/4" shells I reloaded with black powder. Just don't need them Ultimate-Nuclear-Super-Duper-Magnum Blasters. !!!!

 

[Bartojc]

When I was young, and actually hunted more, I only had one shotgun, one deer rifle, and one 22. Shotgun was bird, .22 was squirrel, and the good ole 30-06 was deer. Life was simple.

Fast forward 30 years and now I have no less than 6 rifles capable of taking a deer. I have about the same in 22 or 22 mag, but still only two shotguns oddly that are both the same gauge and both pump action.

I find I have options now depending on game and where I am hunting. All I hunt these days are deer mostly and I have a couple options depending on where in the state or country I am hunting. I find at times I have also become more sporting, and only take shots I am sure I can make with the firearm I have that day.
Jeff