Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles My best woods rifle for big game.

If I had to worry about a couple of Fudds tagging a deer I shot because it ran 30 yards I'd take up golf. Yankees are truly wonderful people.

I would personally much rather hunt deer with a 300 WSM than a 223. The 300 will be 'too much gun' for most shots but I honestly don't give a [bleep].

Unless I was just gonna go out and shoot a doe or a dink and be picky about what shot I was gonna take. Then I'd take a 'stunt' shot with a 223.

Large buck running off +200 yards away and I'd pass on shooting a 223 but that's just me.


Dropped a 1000lb critter a couple weeks ago with one shot from a 243. DRT.....10 yard shot.

Yup,I would prefer something larger than a .223. For me at least a .243 or larger loaded with Nosler Partitions.

Funny, my kin has been killing PA deer for decades with 222 Rem's, 243's and a 22-250 in there.

I grew up in Potter County and have hunted deer in Pa. for over 50 years...all with a .243 or .260 Remington when I was rifle hunting. I've never had either caliber fail me on dozens of deer harvested including some very large ones. I am very careful about shot selection and shot placement though.

for me a Remmy 7600 in 35 Whelen 22 inch barrel quick handling If I am sitting in a stand than a scoped Savage 99 EG in 300 Savage

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.


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" ...

I've been hearing tales of 250 lb PA deer all my life. Next one I see will be my first.

The trick is to use a fast, explosive bullet that provide instant "lights out" performance regardless of angle or placement. Like the Berger VLDs.






(Just had to say that for all the hamBerger lovers...)

Plenty of lost deer here in NY shot with a 12 ga. so Im not buying what's being sold here
Shot placement is king and trumps all else

I have seen one that went 190# dressed. It was a good 4.5 year old, 150" typical. Won Crawford County that year...big ole boy...

I would think there must be 250 lb. deer {on the hoof} in Pa.. They are here in NY just across the Pa. border. I saw two taken here in Delaware county last season that dressed 205 and 215 respectively. I took one myself years ago that dressed 195. Any of those would have been at or near 250 on the hoof. They aren't common but they are around.

I've killed deer here over 230lbs dressed... And with a bow go figure

I was in high school nd remember a 300 pound buck killed locally in Pa. Big story in the news paper and on local news progrms

Great truth here.

Up in eastern Saskatchewan I listened eagerly to a guy sitting on a big buck rub line.Telephone pole sized trees torn to shreds.

To "up his odds" on monsters,he had lugged along a Rem 660(600?) in 350 Rem Mag....the ultimate brush whitetail rifle for those marginal opportunities to rake them and dump them where they stand.....he said.

He came in next to last day with a raggedy immature 6 point(biggest he had ever killed), that was shot to pieces...hit 5 or 6 times between nostrils and butt hole.

At that, it had to be tracked.

Saskatchewan causes that kind of enthusiasm.

Early in the season they are heavier. I killed one Dec. 6, 2010 that dressed 177. He would likely have been 200 or over in Oct.. 230 is a Hoss regardless.

Bucks are considerably heavier pre rut than post rut. So if 250 lb. bucks are being killed in PA I'd expect it to be in archery.

Depends on whether you estimate the weight where you shoot it or after you've dragged it a mile back to the truck!

I don't estimate I put them on a scale



This deer was 1 foot longer than any deer I've killed

I find it hard to believe that a cartridge capable of killing a 250lb man in full battle rattle is somehow incapable of killing a 250lb deer.

As someone used to say - critters can't read headstamps. Bullets matter followed by shot placement.