Every rifle I have now or have had in the past has one and no more than two basic, highly accurate loads for it, that usually get checked out yearly. I also keep a box loaded standing right next to the rifles barrel in the rack, plus a magazing full in the rifle.
But I'm an experimenter/builder first and foremost and can't sit still, I HAVE to try almost every new bullet that come on the market, plus continuously fiddle with weird and odd things like turning my own bullets from brass and copper and continuously changing bullet designs. Some work well and some make me laugh.
People continually ask "WHAT IS THE BEST BULLET FOR...." or just "WHAT is the BEST...." There is NO SUCH ANIMAL anywhere on this planet...there is just the CONCEPT of a "BEST" in our minds.
I prefer to think in terms of "better than...maybe" and fit the bullet to the game, caliber, conditions and specific hunting style.
We've all been brainwashed with that picture of a "perfectly mushroomed bullet" and now that ugly old and mangled cup and core bullet that has been taking game all over the world for how long is anathema to us.
The price of progress is skepticism, suspicion, uncertainty and mistrust. We no longer believe what our eyes and experiences teach us.
But maybe that's a good thing, because without having those thoughts all those excellent "premium" bullets wouldn't have happened.
I haven't shot anything much larger than a sagerat or the odd 'yote in the wrong place for many years and don't expect to for the balance of my years, I am surrounded by game animals most of the year and study them all the time.
Venison and Antelope are OK but hardly tastes different than a nice tender young goat once you slather on the BBQ sauce. I don't know HOW many times someone will come up to me and say "you shore can Q venison/antelope" or "give me that sauce recipe, this venison/elk/antelope is excellent" while they are munching on a hunk of goatmeat someone brought along to add to the flavor. I have a hard time trying to separate one from another once the meat starts walking all around the Q and I loose track of which is what. It don't matter to me...it's ALL good.
I am EXTREMELY fond of Elk, and famous for showing up just when the meat packages show up from the butcher or AFTER all the butchering is done, angling for a handout, but Elk to me is no different than grass fed beef butchered right off the range. In many cases the beef is MUCH cheaper considering the cost of an Elk hunt for most folks. I can't eat horns, so I only take headless when I hunted. I would rather leave the "monarch of the forest" to continue breeding fine stock than be killed for nothing more than a trophy to hang on a wall to say "lookee here what I did".
A rancher DOESN'T kill his prize bull just to hang it's balls on the wall and say what a fine bull he WAS and how many excellent calves or breed stock he made, while he munches on a steak. WHY do we do the same with our game animals??
Besides in many areas now, there is WAY too little game being hunted by WAY too many CRAZY, mindless hunters....I stay the HE** away from the woods during hunting season, just to be on the safe side. Playing in rush hour traffic is MUCH safer.
Enjoy what you do and do what you enjoy, but don't get stuck in a rut...trying new things like bullets and rifles is much more fun.
Hahahahahahah
