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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.
A more "powerful rifle" in itself guarantees nothing. Nor does practice it you never learn to hit the target. What does matter is bullet construction, impact velocity and placement. While there is nothing wrong with a .358 Win, smaller cartridges can and do perform admirably in the hands of shooters who know how to use them. For fast follow-up shots I would prefer a smaller cartridge in a semi-auto platform.
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I know a hunter will do better for this hunting shooting the most powerful rifle they can handle!
Hunters will do better shooting a rifle/cartridge combination they can shoot well. Often that means a low-recoil cartridge. My favorite and that of Daughter #1 is a .257 Roberts. If a hunter can't do it with a 120g A-Frame launched at 2947fps, chances are a .358 isn't going to help much.
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Those that use tiny cartridges for hunting are passing up shots and hurting our sport of hunting.
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Passing up shots hurts the sport? Damn, guess I'm going to have to get a new rifle because I've passed up shots with every rifle I've taken into the field - including .257 Roberts, 6.5-06AI, .280 Rem, 7mm RM, .30-30, .308W, .30-06, .300WM, .338WM, .44 Mag and .45-70.
Oh, wait, never mind. The reason for passing was because of angle, range, animal movement or other factors, not because of a problem with the cartridge being used.
I've seen lots of game put on the ground quickly with "tiny" cartridges and failures have been due to bullet construction and/or placement, not the cartridge itself. Of course, bullet construction and placement is never an issue with a cartridges starting at .358" ...
