Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting Best caliber for hunting long range whitetails .

Honestly, I would use any caliber from 243 to 30 cal shooting a berger bullet. Preferably a lighter caliber so that hits can be seen through the scope. A gentleman in wyoming that runs greybull precision lends out a 243 that is loaded with 105 bergers for elk. If you want proof go to the website, there is a pic of a teenage gal who shot a bull elk through the shoulder with that rifle and load. He has shot many elk with this and the proof is in the pudding. Whitetail are not herculean...

I would also opt for the high shoulder shot to down them on the spot. A behind the shoulder shot at that distance will result in the animal leaving the area...

My furthest experience was on a whitetail at just under 500 with a 300 weatherby shooting 168 ttsx's. Behind the shoulder shot in a wide open field. She ran 70 yards or so and then stopped to figure out what the hell happened, and wobbled over onto her side dead. Maybe a 1/2 inch or under entry with a 2 inch wound channel and exit wound through the lungs.

Friend I have shot a big 6 pt bull in the middle of the left shoulder with a 300 RUM using a 180 gr. Nosler Accubond from 80 yards distance. Bull goes down! Dave slides back down the ridge and leaves his rifle there as he waits until we show up to help him get the bull out. We go back up the ridge....bull is on his feet looking around! We watch him for five minutes before he goes down for the count! Bullet did not suffer fragmentation at impact!

For hunting next month I have 2 whitetail doe tags, one any deer tag, and two antelope tags.

I have been working on (5) rifles in the shop full time for 2 weeks and need to leave for long range target practice with the rifles in 3 weeks:
1) expensive rifle Win M70 25-06
2) cheap rifle [$80 so far] Arisaka 99 308
3) lite rifle [6.5 # so far] Rem700 6mmBR
4) heavy rifle Rem700 7mmRemMag
5) original factory barrel Browning B78 25-06

I have the headspace right on the 4 barrels I worked on.
The 7mm is waiting for bottom metal to arrive before bedding. The other 4 are pillared and bedded.

Last year I built 3 rifles for 3 tags, but after target practice I gave up on one of them and only used the 6.5-06 and 300WM to fill the tags.

Freak circumstance. Obviously nothing immediately vital was destroyed by the shot. Lack of fragmentation was not to blame. I've killed piles of animals by bullets that did not fragment.

It certainly not a requirement for an elk bullet.

600 yards is a 'gimme shot'!!

Anything 243 through 6.5 credemore, Swede, or 260. Anything bigger IMO will be less effective due to recoil or shot placement. I've seen magnimitus cause a twitchy finger on more folks than not. Even if a Magnum has a break on it barrels heat up in a hurry and IME shooting most rifles with a glowing barrel is more than counter productive.

When considering hunting long-range 500-600yds there is zero substitute for range time. If you can consistently put a group into 6" or less at 600 yds cold bore on any given day I say go for it. If not then practice, practice, and more practice! A 243 Winchester through the small 6.5s will get you there more consistently everytime.

As for the 7mm I'd consider a 7MM-08 but not the larger 7s based solely on powder charge and again barrel heat, shots down range etc. IMO there's a very noticeable difference in a case that holds 40ish grains of powder VS one that holds as much as 60 grains when one is trying to get more shots fired downrange without fighting a heated barrel.

Over the years I've hunted with a good many long range hunters that shoot farther than I'm willing to shoot. I've also seen a hell of a lot of missing going on. In considering my own shooting accomplishments I regularly accomplish 2ish" 500 yd groups from a number of rifles. This year with continued practice I intend to stretch my hunting range to 600 ish yds but that's it. Why, I've been practicing this long range stuff for only 9 years now and with more than 10,000 rounds downrange I feel I've gathered enouph data to conclude that even at 600 ish yds I might see a miss on occasion. Most long range shooters have missed more than once at those ranges and most would never admit it on a public forum.





Shod