Since I have been hunting deer and other game for a lifetime here is how and why I chose the rifle I use prefer.
Most of my game hunting has been in Vermont where I have had a cabin for most of my life. We have hunted from there since 1964.
Right now its ready and the heat is on!
The hunting there has required that it be a buck with antlers.
Very few hunters get anything there.
The success rate has been about 10%, ie: one in ten get a buck!
I determined that if I had a powerful rifle and practiced with it I would get more.
I chose my Savage 99 F in .358 Winchester.
We run running deer matches at our rifle club here. I participate in them and in others in the region.
I tested rifles chambered for various cartridges and learned about bush cartridges.
I know a hunter will do better for this hunting shooting the most powerful rifle they can handle!
Those that use tiny cartridges for hunting are passing up shots and hurting our sport of hunting.
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........................An interesting post.
I notice in your original subject heading or headline the word "my". Well that is where things should stay imo. Sure! The 358 Win is a good woods round. But it is not the only nor is it the best possible solution for that usage.
If using "tiny cartridges" as you put it, are causing passing up on shots, then I suggest to you that it isn't the fault of those tiny cartridges. Regardless of caliber, the shots need to be properly placed along with using a good and proper bullet.
Using the most powerful rifle a person can handle will somehow make a hunter do better??? Oh really???
Well I can easily handle a friends 460 Wby. So does that mean that a 460 Wby is my best choice to use in the woods???
Although I don't own a high powered 22 caliber rifle, I have seen what they can do on deer and on hogs. Quite efficient.
The content in your original post is an emotional opinion at best. And the few who agree with you also bear the same emotional opinion.
Maybe the next time I do some woods hunting for elk sized game and smaller, I should leave my 300 WSM at home and take my 375 Ruger Alaskan?......LOL
The 300 WSM may not be powerful enough,,,,and it may cause me to pass on a few shots too???....LOL....LOL
Feelings,,,,nothing more than feelings......LOL
