Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting What Is It About 300 Pound Deer?

Not sure... I didn't make eye contact and got out of there

B: I've used the 300's up in Canada myself with 165's,shot several bucks with them, and they work really well,if you can shoot them.But you and I both know that lots of milder stuff works equally well,and they really are not "needed".

The folks I'm refering to seem to think they are essential,that you're handicapped with anything less;rush out blindly to get one without the slightest notion of what to do with them past 150 yards, and preach they are "necessary",if in fact they don't tell me breathlessly that something "bigger" is appropriate.

Or, they may harbor great concerns(if they've never shot one)that a 300 pound whitetail or mule deer requires more rifle than a good 25,6.5, 270 or 7mm of some sort.

Mike: Nice buck!

I've taken a few deer that were larger than 250 lbs. My biggest went 290, and I've seen the carcasses of 300 pounders. All of them have been taken with stuff in the 30-06/308 WIN range. All of them died fairly quickly. However, there is a strong visceral feeling you get when you face a super-sized animal on the hoof, and another profound feeling (I won't pun here, because I'm serious) when you have to dress one of them for the first time. Cleaning out something that is as big as you are does something to you.

The logical side of my mind tells me my 30-30 WIN will put one of these guys down. The empirical side of my head tells me that 165gr bullets driven at 2600-2700 fps is overkill. On the other hand, my last deer rifle was a Rem 7600 in 35 Whelen, and I'm considering a 45-70 for my next one. Something in my head just says "Quint, We're gonna need a bigger boat."

Yeah I know they exist, I hunt one currently, so far he evades me, guess that's why he's so damn big. he's very good at getting old.

My biggest whitetail was 242 lbs dressed and I used (gasp) a 45/70 with 300 grain Hornaday's Did I do it wrong?

He's so big...I see a .30-378 WBY in Camp Chickebuck's future.

You know you want one Dave.

I actually want a .460 WBY, but I guess i can start with a 30-378.

baby steps.

Same here JB. I used my 280 with a 140gr Speer on my first Saskatchewan hunt. The 300 boomer crowd all snickered. Low and behold, it still managed to pierce the armor of a large whitetail. Interestingly enough, the 2 in camp that wounded deer were a 340 Weatherby and 300 Win Mag.

Here's a 300# (dressed) piggy poo that I harvested in Canada a couple years back with a "less than boomer" as well.

Thanks Bob.
Spent about 3 weeks last Nov chasing him down.He'd zig I'd zag was how it was going.Finally one evening he made his move at last light and I was at the right place and time.One 150gr Nosler Part from the STW ended it.

Mike-
That IS a porker. Congrats!

Yes, lots of stuff works and works well. But the 300 rum/165 AB combo I mentioned drops them more immediately IME with non CNS hits. Is this an advantage? IN some circumstances, yes. But not enough to make the difference between filling your tag or not.
And your also right, alot of guys cant shoot magnums. Taking a trip to the local range in my neighborhood also confirms that guys cant shoot 30-30's and -06's.. Really, shooting a magnum is mostly a mental game and with some practice they can be mastered.

Scott: Man, that buck is huge! Guess you didn't realize you were supposed to use a 300 on the deer


Mike: So you'd seen that buck before? Neat that you got him...

LMAO.....

SKane,

That's a beast.

At our camp/lease we have a 300 mag crowd. But a 200 pound buck is pretty darn big for our area. In 2005 I killed one that went a few pounds over 190, and I used a 150 grain Interlock launched at about 2700 fps from a 308. So ballistically it was a 300, a 300 Savage.

m

Good Gawd Scott, that's a pig. With that hole in the shoulder, he would have died with a sling shot. You go and shoot deer with holes already in them....jeezzzshh.

Nice buck SKane.After checking out your buck think my fatso has gotta be very close body wise.

Bob the only time I laid eyes on that buck was in the scope when I shot.I had been cutting his tracks often and knew he was around..Was just a matter of time before we met.

.....Good Lord Skane.......what a buck!

I take FIRST DIBS to hunt with Scott and Mike

And when I'm done with those whitetails, I'm taking first DIBS with JG,too!

These boys kill some BUCKS!

My best buck weighed just over 170# field dressed. No snow that year and it was a hard pull. We got smarter as we aged and now use an ATV to do most of our dragging