Hunting Humming Birds With a 500 Nitro Express

[Kindrox]

I think two smaller but vocal camps are blowing things out of proportion. Yes there are lots of folks trying to figgure out how to use their 9mm to hunt deer and hogs, and other folks trying to figgure out if the .338 Lupa is enough for prarie dogs, but I think the majority of the board are more reasonable, and less vocal.

Any gathering of two or more is going to have at least one wacko, and THR is not an exception.

 

[DeathByCactus]

I could care less what a lot of people on the forums think about what firearms I like. If I want to buy a ".900" magnum super sniper rifle for hunting hogs, turtles, targets, or ninjas, I would do it if I wanted to blow the money.

I don't ridicule people for what they like to shoot, some people like faster and smaller, some people like jacked up and huge, others just want the basic. The snobby, "I r better than j0 because u like magnums and aren't as mature as me" approach doesn't hold up with me. Yeah sure sometimes people get ridiculous but... why be a jerk?

I started shooting a 7mm magnum rifle. I haven't needed another rifle since I was given it when I was 14 or so. Recently I downgraded to the 6.8 SPC. 7mmMag is just too easy to hunt with after 10 years of shooting it.

I shot a few .22 pistols, but never really liked them. I liked the boom and report associated with the larger pistols. I quickly jumped from 9mm to Colt's .38 super (the same one I use today for CHL). Great firearm, shot it well then, shoot it better now.

 

[halfded]

How about a 12 gauge with powdered lead shot, like the ones designed for shooting clays without having pellets travel so far? Cloud of lead vs. hummingbird? *poof*

 

[Red Eye Fred]

Back in the 60's an ad on a gun magazine said that this rifle would stop a rabbit in its tracks. It was a single shot 50bmg.

 

[Officers'Wife]

Hi Ohio Guy,

There is no disputing a matter of taste. I like lever action rifles, my husband prefers semi-automatics, my Dad is fond of bolt actions. My late uncle always claimed the function of a bullet was to 'let in a lot of air and let out a lot of blood' while my brother fully and passionately believes in speed over mass.

In the end it just doesn't matter, if a person is more comfortable with a magnum s/he tends to be more accurate. Same with action, ball size and velocity. After all, reality is simply a persistent illusion.

 

[Eightball]

Magnums have their place in the firearm and hunting world, but people still have a fascination with 'em. Though, keep in mind that sometimes the "Magnum" designation is relative; .357 Magnum was way more powerful than most of the stuff around when it was introduced, but is only "mild" nowadays (compared to the .460, .500, etc). Also, sometimes the "magnum" bit can be handy when smaller projectiles are taken into account, to make up in force what they might lack in physical size.

Though, if you're really distressed about the "magnum-itis" going on, I've heard that .357 Mag has taken pretty much every animal in the northern Americas (though it might've just been the US). Now, go hunt bear with your .357, and enjoy.

It all depends on how you look at it, and where you live, I guess. Do I advocate magnum for critters most of the time? Well.....that depends on how big is the critter, and how many legs it walks on

 

[WarHall]

Man, the engraving on that shotty is awesome!

But, back to my story: I once shot a hummingbird from about 50' with my trusty Daisy 880 pump BB gun. I didn't think I'd actually hit it, but I did. The weird part was it didn't even move. Just stayed there, frozen in place. I had to climb up the tree and unwrap his little legs off the limb. I can tell you this, though, I sure felt bad about shooting such a beautiful little creature!

 

[DRYHUMOR]

See, I told ya the kid with the BB gun works every time

 

[gbran]

I actually shot a ground squirrel once with a 50AE. Does that count?

 

[ConstitutionCowboy]

The topic at hand is still "Anyways all im saying is we all, or must of us started out with 22s, so how did we end up thinking it takes an elephant gun to shoot a rabbit ?"

So's you doesn't has to gut and skin them thar rabbits. You jes shoots 'em then picks up the meat!

Woody

 

[Ridgerunner665]

"Magnumitis" as I like to call it, is a very real problem...it is negatively affecting the accuracy of many shooters everyday (even though they are too "tough" to admit it). I'd wager there are FAR MORE game animals wounded and lost every year due to "magnumitis" than there are that are wounded and lost due to people using a round that is too small.

In another thread I saw somebody say "You don't drive a 6 penny nail with a screwdriver" and I agree...you should use a hammer, a 16 oz. claw hammer works just fine, but there a still a few dimwits that insist on using a 16 lb. sledgehammer.

 

[wheelgunslinger]

that is a beautiful double. I'm bookmarking that link and saving that pic.

There's a growing gap between knowledge through experience and knowledge through reading with sportsmen and nearly every other segment of the world's hobbies.

The solution is to fill in that gap with equipment, caliber, stuff, etc.

This is the biggest part of magnumitis. It's tiresome, but part of internet forums as much as it's part of loudmouths in gun stores or at ranges.

There are a handful of people here whose opinions I trust without arguing. That's about it.

Though, I'm very happy that we didn't have message boards like THR when I was a teen in the 80's. I'd hate for there to be a database of messages floating around out there featuring all the dumb things I had to say when I thought I knew something.

 

[SoCalShooter]

A lot of people over compensate with the power of a magnum because their shot placement is less than what it should be, I have two magnum rifles both are deer rifles, the magnums give me (typically) a flatter trajectory and more energy is retained by the magnum round when it impacts the target.

 

[mgkdrgn]

Hi everyone, my dad has a nasty humming bird problem, and from what ive been reading on some forums they can be hard to kill. so im thinking of buying a 500 nitro express. Im being sarcastic of caurse. My point is, ive been looking at some of these forums and i think magnum fever has run rampant, ive seen where peaple have posted, anything less than a 38 wont kill a chip munk, thats 1 hell of a chip munk. Anyways all im saying is we all, or must of us started out with 22s, so how did we end up thinking it takes an elephant gun to shoot a rabbit ? Just a thought.

Ummm, I think that Hummingbirds are "migratory", and hence federally protected.

You might want to check into that before you start offing them.

 

[Ohio guy]

Thanks everyone

Thanks all for the feed back, I didnt meen to start a war, i too own a 357. I was just wondering why some peaple feel,that being shot in the big toe with a 500 Sw is deadlyer than a shot in the head with a 22. Ive always thought accuracy was more important than, bigger bullets. I could be wrong on this, the point i was trying to make was, dont some peaple go over board on the power it takes to hunt or stop a human ?

 

[Ridgerunner665]

yes...they do.

 

[The Deer Hunter]

I don't know everyone's fixation with large calibers. A lot of guys go out and get .300 Winchester Magnum rifles as deer guns, while something like .30-30 will do just fine.

I'm sure some of it has to do with the "manly" aspect of it, but also ignorance. They idea that "the bigger the deader" probably plays a role in choice of a big caliber too.

Another thing you will come across on THR: A well placed .22LR can kill anything ever known to walk the earth. First you will have guys bickering about getting a caliber that can tear through all that "meat", and then it will switch to "shot placement is the only thing that matters". What you should be concerned about is both in actuality. I'm not saying .22lr can't kill deer, but it's not a very efficient way.

 

[wyocarp]

I was just wondering why some peaple feel,that being shot in the big toe with a 500 Sw is deadlyer than a shot in the head with a 22. Ive always thought accuracy was more important than, bigger bullets.

How many stories do you need of people who have been hit with a .22 in the head?

Accuracy is important. One has to actually remove the toe with the .500 in order for it to be deadly 100% of the time.

 

[Grassman]

Those hummingbirds have been known to kill people, vicious birds they are............

 

[akodo]

this obsession with large calibers is not necessarily a bad thing.

While I don't buy the bunk that a 30-30 or 243 isn't enough for deer, so you need a 30-06, or better yet a 300 WSM, there are some benifits.

Not that long ago people were carrying 32acp as a serious defensive cartrige, not a 'hot weather light clothing, better than nothing' gun. Not that long ago plenty of 32 long 6 shot snubs were carried. Heck Japan contracted with Sig to make the P230 in 32acp for police carry, and the Walther PP and PPK were very commonly encountered in 32acp outside the USA.

Further, there was a time when people thought it was okay to hunt deer with a 30 carbine and 32-20. While it is certainly possible, I'd rather we go overboard and go for a 30-06 for whitetail than backpedal too far and think a 32-20 is a good choice.

 

[danweasel]

dont some peaple go over board on the power it takes to hunt or stop a human

I haven't hunted a human lately. Is
.308 an acceptable caliber? Hahaha.

 

[Restorer]

The over-power factor may be a result of shooter immaturity, too. Imagine Tim Allen's Guide to Hunting (More power!) Shooters with a bit of experience know that you don't need overwhelming power to do every job. For example, with a Nitro, you wouldn't even need to hit a hummingbird, muzzle blast alone would pulverize it. Where's the sport in that? The best shot I ever knew used to dove hunt with a .410 single shot, and rarely missed. It used to drive me crazy!
With some endeavors the challenge is to do the most with the least, like landing a tarpon on a light-weight spinning reel using 20 lb. test line.
After you've got some experience you know that you don't want to use a 300 mag to take a deer when you can do it well with a .243.

 

[coloradokevin]

Don't shoot the hummingbirds, they are protected by law,as well as being beautiful and amazing creatures.

Yeah, the one that pecks on my metal gutters every spring at 0600hrs isn't a "beautiful creature" in my mind... but, I understand your point.

As to the point of the thread, I can see where the OP is coming from, though I don't necessarily think it is a problem directly related to folks at THR! These days I see a lot of new shooters who swear by the biggest, baddest, most sophisticated stuff they can get their hands on. These folks often ridicule those who use a lessor weapon, and in doing so often reveal their ignorance.

For example, I have a few friends who swear that you can't elk hunt with anything less than a .338 Ultra Mag, or a .375 H&H Mag. Obviously it is a bit ridiculous to imagine that these weapons are the practical minimum for such a hunt, though I see nothing inherently wrong with their choice to use that weapon if they want to. Yet, to this day the person I know who has taken the most elk in his life (an old timer I used to work with) has always used a .270!

Similarly, I think we can see this sort of "bigger is better" mentality showing up in the tacticool world of black rifles as well. I've noticed over the years that a lot of unskilled shooters believe that they can compensate for an inability to shoot by simply throwing money into a gun. But, as we all know, a skilled marksman with a stock off-the-shelf AR-15 is going to win against the tacticool novice who is carrying a gun that is decked out in $4,000 worth of accessories. This attitude even shows up among the ranks of some of my fellow officers at work. There appear to be three distinct schools of thought around here:

1) Toys win gun fights... buy the most expensive crap you can find, and keep adding it to your rifle until the thing weighs 19 lbs.

2) Skill wins gun fights. Carry nothing but a basic stock rifle with iron sights. Everything else is a waste of money by people who can't shoot.

3) Skill wins gun fights, but the right equipment will make a good shooter even better.

The experiences we've discussed in this thread are not unlike those that show up in other sports as well. Consider the following:

1) Do name brand shoes make a person a faster runner?

2) Does a more expensive climbing rope make someone a better rock climber?

3) Does the fishing pole do the work, or does the person holding it matter most?


Technology is great, and sometimes bigger is better. And, I see nothing wrong with using the technology if you want to. But, just because someone is doing something the "old way" does not necessarily make them wrong!

 

[pmeisel]

Tim Allen's Guide to Hunting (More power!)

That should be somebody's signature line......

 

[moooose102]

actually, the 500 nitro express would be a good option! just remove the bullet, install a 50 caliber sabot, and fill it with #8 birdshot. place a cardboard "wad" over that, and crimp in place. there you go, a 500 nitro express shotgun.
seriously though, a 22lr, or 38 special with birdshot would make short work of a hummingbird as long as you could get withing range.