stillbeeman,
In my experience the entire theory that locals pass up less than ideal shots because they can go hunting again next week is pretty much BS.
This is because I live in Montana. I hear the same thing about Montana elk hunters, especially from non-resident hunters who usually arrive with much bigger rifles than the residents normally carry.
Here's the truth: The non-resident usually shows up for at least a week, and often 10 days, whether outfitted or not. If outfitted the non-resident is usually hunting in better country than the typical Forest Service public land accessible on foot to local hunters.
Most local hunters usually hunt on weekends, when everybody else is out too. Often they only hunt one day a weekend, because the other day is taken up with other obligations. If a resident hunted EVERY day of every weekend in the season, he would hunt 7 days, because opening day is a Sunday. (Or has been, anyway, for many years.) They take any halfway reasonable shot they can get, and almost never pass one up.
So the average local hunter isn't hunting any more days than the average non-resident, and usually in country with less elk. Yet somehow many residents manage to put an elk in the freezer every year with .270's, 7mm Remington Magnums and .30-06's (and yes, even 6.5x55's and 7mm-08's) while the non-residents rarely bring anything smaller than a .300 magnum, and often feel the need to buy a new .338.
Are these bigger rifles more effective? One of my favorite stories is about an outfitter I know who operates in the Bob Marshall Wilderness. He carries a .375 H&H as his back-up. I asked him is this was because of grizzlies, and he said no, it was to finish off the elk his clients gut-shoot with their brand-new .338's.
