We used to have a large prairie dog town leased, something on the order of several sections of continuous dog town.
After deer hunters were done with their primary task, a trip to the big dog town was often in order. Fellows shooting through 40 rounds of 300 Weatherby was not uncommon, yet when these same fellows switched to the supplied 223 their hit count invariably went up.
I got to the point where anyone who couldn't hit the broad side of a target board during initial sight in would immediately be brought to the big dog town and handed a 223. They would start out not hitting the broad side of a mound, but eventually hit some dogs.....the unhappy looks would turn to smiles, and we would go hunting with the 223. An ethically shot deer would be the outcome. I used this method twice personally. The guys who got to this level were 300 Mag shooters, but I've seen similar patterns with 7 Mag shooters, though generally not to the same level. Either way, when a client shows up shooting a Magnum, I strap on a sidearm, because there's a good chance something will need to be run down and finished off.
