I do what I can. Lol weather it's right , wrong or indifferentwv270 WM, I'm surely glad he didn't have a 6.5 CM and you "blindly" suggested that the 30-378 is superior to the CM...... True blasphemy!memtb
Mule deer hunt out west.
- Thread starter Cuatro
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LDHunter
Well-Known Member
You've taken hundreds of mule deer? Really? That's pretty hard to believe. In what state? How old are you?
I think your 6.5x284 is an excellent choice for mule deer. Loaded with 140/142gr VLD's at 2975-3000FPS, mine has accounted for several big bodied Alberta mulies over the years from 265 to 760 yards, all DRT. i personally prefer rifles with some weight for better stability if longer shots are planned. Mine is 11 pounds.
David Lindler
Well-Known Member
I hunt mule deer every year in Nebraska. . All the calibers u listed will get the job done. The larger calibers with heavier/ longer bullets will retain more kinetic energy at longer ranges and have less wind drift. It is always windy in the west. Mule are tough critters and can take a large dose of lead. I have a 338 win mag, 338 Lapua and a 338 edge. I like the big heavyweight bullets that the larger 338' s shoot. If it doesn't drop the deer in it's tracks, it will leave a monster blood trail.
Average shots in the west are 300 plus. Smaller light weight bullets really lose energy past 500 yards. I have shot muleys with my 270. It does a great job, but shots past 500 are iffy. The heavyweight Berger bullets are devistating on game. Hornady ELD-X Also perform well. Make sure you select a bullet that will open by up a long distance. Hornady superformance in the 6.5 would be a nasty combo for shots less than 500 yards.
Whitetail shot Berger bullets. Massive exit. Last year's Nebraska mule
Hard to beat the larger calibers with heavier longer bullets. Better penetration and less wind drift. All the Calibers u listed will get the job done.
I would be limit the 6.5 to 500 or less. Hornady superformance in the 6.5 would
be a good choice.
I like Berger bullets. Laser accuracy and devistating terminal energy. Whitetail pic. Berger bullets. Muley from Nebraska last year with 338 edge
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loneranger916
Active Member
6.5x284 is your best bet. The rest are overkill, especially 338.. Thats bear or moose status.
David Lindler
Well-Known Member
I like big exit holes and massive blood trails. Never lost a deer with any of my 338"s
David Lindler
Well-Known Member
Berger bullets are awesome in accuracy and devistating terminal energy on game. Massive blood loss and large exit holes make for easy Tracking if needed.
BallisticsGuy
Well-Known Member
After some of the experiences I've had, I know that something can be too dead too fast. I have lost more than half of the meat on blacktail deer to destruction on 2 separate occasions. One was a 7mag on a 130lbs deer at about 30 feet. Entered the upper back, punched through the boiler room and pretty much shredded the off-side foreleg but also managed to bloodshot most of both back straps and the on-side leg in the process. The other was a .444marlin on an 80lbs deer at just over 100 feet. Entered the neck around midway down then proceeded to grenade every vertebrae down to the end of the rib cage shredding every bit of meat in the front end with bone fragments. With the 7mag Dad and I were looking at cross canyon shots being most likely and one happened to walk out right in front of me. With the .444, my .308 deer rifle was damaged when I took a bad fall the day before so I resorted to my .444 that I had for a bear hunt and one happened to pop out a bit close. That said, I'd still rather lose a bunch of meat than lose all of it.
My deer didn't have an exit wound, but it did its job well. It went 20-30 yards and flopped over backwards.
My buddy shot a forky at about 40 yards quartering away and it didn't take a step. He hit it behind the chest and it exited behind the shoulder. It had a big exit wound. Same gun same Berger 135gr Classic hunter.
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It's not necessarily overkill that I believe you've experienced here. It sounds to me like the improper bullet for the application. I too have a 444 marlin and thought that the 240 gr Hornady hollow points that do great in my 44 would be alright in the 444 . Boy was I completely wrong absolutely trashed both front shoulders on a medium sized Wv doe. Wrong bullet plain and simple .
I'm a firm believer in there is a proper bullet for every application. I've personally seen probably 20 deer shot with a 223 and the 60 gr partitions and only one moved after the shot . Other than dropping straight down she went down hill bout twenty yards.
My dad hunted with a 300 Weatherby as long as I can remember he shot 180 Hornady bullets and as long as he didn't dead center a shoulder you could expect a bullet sized entrance and a 2 inch exit nearly every time. So as far as over kill I don't personally believe there is such a thing
David Lindler
Well-Known Member
Shoot behind shoulder and save meat. Try the 265 grain Hornady superformance flex tip in the 444 and the 225 gain in the 44. Fast and flat, but minimal meat damage. Dead deer. Good blood trail if he doesn't drop.
BallisticsGuy
Well-Known Member
How is it improper bullet selection? I guess I could have used FMJ's but really, it was wrong chambering for the game size and distance. Rock throwing distance means those bullets hit fast. The .444 would have had an impact speed around 2300fps. The 7mag, over 3100fps. If anything the bullets were a little tough for what I planned on using them for.
Both bullets held together and expanded and penetrated deep. The .444 was a 240gr JSP, not a HP and went through something around 20" of spine coming to rest just under the skin at the end of the ribs. It almost fell out. The skin above the bullet was split just a little so I could squeeze the mushroomed bullet out with my fingers in the field before gutting it. It was simply too much power at too close a range for too small of an animal with nearly 4000lbs of energy being fully dumped into something that didn't weigh 100lbs on the hoof.
The 7mag I didn't retrieve the bullet but judging by the destruction path and the hole in the heart, it too fully expanded but didn't fragment much and punched through about 18" of muscles, bones and chest cavity filling.
