Mule Deer ammo choice

[FEENIX]

Hey, don't knock it until you've tried it. Actually a few decades back, I used one while hunting Southern Whitetails in swamp thickets (I had that whole survival thing going then), and I made one for a friend who used dogs for wild hog catching. Prior to the lance, he would approach the nose or ear caught hog from the side and slash its throat with a Bowie knife. I told him he was going to lose some fingers from an angry hog, so he allowed me to make him a 6' lance with a 1' blade instead.

I do not think he meant to hunt with a lance but rather hunt with Lance from AZ

 

[del2les]

I do not think he meant to hunt with a lance but rather hunt with Lance from AZ

Yep......had to re-read it. Geesh! getting old eyes and mental comprehension. Thanks!

 

[FEENIX]

Yep......had to re-read it. Geesh! getting old eyes and mental comprehension. Thanks!

Brother, they call it Golden years, but I disagree.

 

[del2les]

Brother, they call it Golden years, but I disagree.

Golden? Heck!.....I'll never see those again. Heading for Diamond.

Now back to the ops thread on bullet choice. It depends on your expected range, your abilities and which load shoots best in your rifle at those ranges. YMMV

 

[skippertwo]

Thanks for the suggestions.

Had the 30-06 hiding in the back of the safe and I had not killed anything with it yet so I thought I would give a chance.
It's a Dakota Model 76 classic with a Zeiss Victory HT 3-12x56 sitting on top.
The ammo choices were selected on what I have on hand.
The rifle shoots better than I do. All the ammo will break a stationary clay target at 250 yds.
Looks like I need to find a longer range.

 

[Mostly Tailfeathers]

Skip,
Any of the top brand .30-06 rounds 150g. or larger will kill a mule deer just fine out to 300yds. They are not a real hard critter to kill. If you plan to shoot past 300 you've got some time to practice if you have the ammo! You don't have to shoot out to 600yds but you will kill more deer if you can. Idaho is mostly steep! Good luck! MT

 

[LVJ76]

Brother, they call it Golden years, but I disagree.

Golden? Heck!.....I'll never see those again. Heading for Diamond.

Now back to the ops thread on bullet choice. It depends on your expected range, your abilities and which load shoots best in your rifle at those ranges. YMMV

Apologies to the OP, I'm not trying to hijack the thread, but you two are going to make me hit reverse before I get any older and go back to the true golden years

 

[Mike Matteson]

None of the above. Everybody knows the only way is with a 6.5 Creedmore.

6.5 Creedmore a slow boat to China.

 

[HRM Johnny]

Just a thought. You might contact the boys at hammer bullets. I had the impression that they now had a supplier for loaded Ammunition. I'm not certain, but if you contact them they should be able to give you all the information.

 

[171farm]

Realistically speaking what is the longest range you feel comfortable taking a shot at an animal? Whatever that is get to a range and test at that range to pick.

 

[cabelasken]

If you are strictly going after MD and elk are not on the menu, I would try out some of the many new long range hunting bullets available in lighter weights. You might be able to add 200 FPS more to your load and the new bullets expand reliably at velocities below 1800 FPS and also perform well on deer sized game. But if you are confident in the loads you already have, they should work fine. Bullet placement trumps most other factors.

 

[PHunter]

I would take it out to distance that you're comfortable with. I always take a bowhunting approach when it comes to rifle hunting. Here in Montana like Idaho we don't always have that option of getting close either. One other thing I would do if you have access to one is, Chrony the factory ammo you listed so you can input to a ballistic calculator. A lot of the factory ammo I used to use (Barnes, Hornady, Winchester) all had different MV that was listed on the factory ammo box. This might help getting a better idea of what your bullet will do at say 500-600 when and if your matching data into a rangefinder. As always perfect practice makes perfect, not practice makes perfect.

I know this is a long range forum so take this for what it's worth.
After several years of hunting Montana I found that even though I practice out to 500 yards I usually try to limit my shots at deer to about 350 yards.
I let wind ad other field conditions inform my decision.

 

[jordanrw23]

agreed! only shoot at the distance you're comfortable with and ethically capable of. One mans "long range" might be something very different than another mans. That's why I mentioned taking a bow hunting approach. This past season my 13yo son shot his deer in the back country at 930yds but he and I both know he is capable of that shot as well as the rifle at that distance. In this case there was no other option of getting closer due to terrain. Ethically if I knew he wasn't going to be able to make a shot at that distance I would have never allowed it and on to another deer we would've looked. Example: The year before as a 12yo he made a 463yd shot twice on a 200" muley w/ a 257wby mag and a handloaded 100g Barnes TTSX which the group under pressure was 1.5" at that distance and proven the kid has nerves of steele! LOL. However some people might not be able comfortable shooting that distance.

 

[jordanrw23]

I know this is a long range forum so take this for what it's worth.
After several years of hunting Montana I found that even though I practice out to 500 yards I usually try to limit my shots at deer to about 350 yards.
I let wind ad other field conditions inform my decision.

agreed! only shoot at the distance you're comfortable with and ethically capable of. One mans "long range" might be something very different than another mans. That's why I mentioned taking a bow hunting approach. This past season my 13yo son shot his deer in the back country at 930yds but he and I both know he is capable of that shot as well as the rifle at that distance. In this case there was no other option of getting closer due to terrain. Ethically if I knew he wasn't going to be able to make a shot at that distance I would have never allowed it and on to another deer we would've looked. Example: The year before as a 12yo he made a 463yd shot twice on a 200" muley w/ a 257wby mag and a handloaded 100g Barnes TTSX which the group under pressure was 1.5" at that distance and proven the kid has nerves of steele! LOL. However some people might not be able comfortable shooting that distance.