Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Boddington got it right

Just read the latest Rifle Shooter. Craig has an article on "The mule deer rifle."
"- but for strictly deer hunting both the 270 and 280 are superior, because both have plenty of power for any deer that walks..."

Right on Craig.
No need for super mangleum magnums. Yes he goes on to make a point about his favorite fast 30s and the 264 win, but does not emphasize the need for magnums.

C. B. is to smart to be in Kahoots with Lee J...

Growing up in the 1950's, I used to think that anyting less than the 30-06 was not good for much. I used a 220 Swift for my woodchuck hunting and a 30-06 for everything else. New premium bullets (and some growing up on my part) now convinces me that the 270 uis good for all but the larger bears.

But then, I still use the 30-06 for anything larger than deer (use 308 Winchester on them).

You know, I have killed deer, bear, sheep, caribou and moose with the 270 Winchester. Never knew or heard that it was anything less than adequate, so just went ahead and did it.

Ted

Voice of experience!
Gets in the way of cartridge gack all the time,Ted.Shame on you for messing up a lot of good conversation

Next thing you know, someone'll show up and say a .25/06 is plenty of gun for deer, antelope, caribou, and (with good bullets) elk. That's just plain nuts!

Shootinurse, I think it's a lot like the old useless 30-30. Although I've seen many Whitetails killed by one, I'm guessing they just dropped over dead in amusement or shock that a hunter would use such a useless cartridge. I mean, everyone knows you can't take a Whitetail with a 30-30. Just pure craziness on the part of the hunter to even try it.

Welll, no less an authority than Elmer Keith though that a 375 H&H was the starting cartridge for deer. But then, the only premium bullet he had available was the Nosler Partition.

Like it has been said, as long as a 500gr bullet is in flight it will kill a buffalo!

Craig Boddington:
I've read and watched Craig, pretty much from day one.
He, like most of us, gained most of what he knows from his elders, the written page and experience.

We take those things - what we've heard, been told or read and experienced----and form opinions of "our own". Craig too.

I like Craig.
I like the way he talks to me, tv or written. He tells me what he's been told. He tells me what he's experienced while using that same information he's gained...and then he tells me what really happened, while using that same tool in the same way... in the field. If he "F"ed up... he writes it as simple as it is... a 250 Nosler .340 Weatherby bullet to paunch of a departing Kudu is..... a mistake. Period.

Craig, has learned the same things, all the rest of us have learned. That the bullet that kills, is the bullet that is properly placed.

Craig's thoughts and values on what makes a good deer/elk/kudu/ or whatever rifle will be ever evolving...yours and mine too.
The .270/.280 are easy to shoot...that makes it easier to place good bullets where they belong. Most of us don't have Craigs experience and are better off with something more civilized than a .300 magnum. I am.

I'd like to see Craig in camp.
I'd be a shadow at first. Just there to sit, listen and learn.
The latter half to buy him a couple of drinks and stir the pot and ask semi-pointed questions of a man I've grown to respect.

A well written post that reflects my feelings as well.

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You can say that again.

CB is an excellent writer who keeps his ego in check. He has willing set aside his preference for larger cartridges, courtesy of his daughter, and rediscovered that smaller cartridges are lethal. I like a writer who is terse and leaves out BS.

Bob Milek might say something like that, but alas, he is no longer with us.

I like Boddington a bit better now that he's worked through his "Hey, lookit me" phase. Always thought the USMCR part was a bit much, but if I'd become a Marine Corps Reserve officer, might've bitten me too? More power to him.

I've always been fonder of the self-effacing, yet truly gifted and it's a hard habit to shed.

I remember when he first used Colonel, USMCR. He wrote that was not his style, but was forced on him by the editor. My guess is that of every class of Second Lieutenants maybe one out of 80-100 reach Colonel and maybe one in 6 or 7 of those are promoted to Brigadier General. You can imagine that promotion through the next three grades gets rarer. I have no more trouble with using those titles than "Judge" or "Doctor". They are a result of hard and dedicated service thus well deserved.

Blacktail53,
While I respect your opinion re Craig Boddington, I also disagree. I've watched him on TV fire so many shots (miss)
at game I wasn't sure what the program was suppose to be about.
So much for his book, "The Perfect Shot" for North America!

travelr47,

No problem. Works for me.

He doesnt miss.He fires a fouler shot to alert the game and make it more interesting.