Harry Stone
Member
Let me preface this by saying I'm no accomplished deer hunter. I've gone out for about 6 or 7 seasons and had no success so far. I go with my dad and uncle so it's as much about spending time with family for me as anything else. They have much better results than me, but they've been hunting for 50 years.
Anyway, here it is. I live in southeast Missouri. Deer hunting around where I live is limited by terrain to shots well within 100 to 150 yards, as far as I've found. For where my family hunts, in the woods 50 yards is a long shot down a deer trail. We use muzzleloaders, .50 caliber and they work just fine for us. I see a lot of guys around here at the range before deer season sighting in guns in calibers I just don't understand. There seems to be quite a lot of them using .300 Winchester magnums. For the ranges people shoot around here it seems like that's way more than what they need.
Now I'm not trying to say they shouldn't be allowed to use a gun like that, or that's there's something wrong with using more than enough power to get the job done. What I'm wondering is what I'm missing, like these guys know something I don't. I've asked my dad what he thinks, and he doesn't have any clue either. Does anyone here have any ideas, or is it just a case of bigger is better?
Anyway, here it is. I live in southeast Missouri. Deer hunting around where I live is limited by terrain to shots well within 100 to 150 yards, as far as I've found. For where my family hunts, in the woods 50 yards is a long shot down a deer trail. We use muzzleloaders, .50 caliber and they work just fine for us. I see a lot of guys around here at the range before deer season sighting in guns in calibers I just don't understand. There seems to be quite a lot of them using .300 Winchester magnums. For the ranges people shoot around here it seems like that's way more than what they need.
Now I'm not trying to say they shouldn't be allowed to use a gun like that, or that's there's something wrong with using more than enough power to get the job done. What I'm wondering is what I'm missing, like these guys know something I don't. I've asked my dad what he thinks, and he doesn't have any clue either. Does anyone here have any ideas, or is it just a case of bigger is better?