For many years, I hunted the forested country of of the Middle Fork of the John Day River in Eastern Oregon. Given the area the longest possible shot I would ever have was maybe 250 yards. So I hunted deer with my .338-'06 loaded with 200-grain Winchester Power Points at a muzzle velocity of 2,500 feet per second.
The load worked superbly and I killed maybe 30 deer with it, and perhaps ten of them were downright excellent 4-5 year old mule deer bucks.
I also killed two bear with the load; incidental kills during deer season. One of those was a monster, a 26 year old black bear that squared an honest seven feet.
I hunted elk in the same area, but always stepped up the velocity to 2,700 fps with the same bullet. I probably killed 20 elk with that load over the years, some bulls some cows. Never had to shoot an elk twice and never missed one.
Yeah, your .338 Federal is simply a common-sense round. I pray that you enjoy many years of wonderful hunting with it.
kd
