I know most deer don't run this big,but still they exist over a pretty wide range of whitetail and mule deer country. What's curious is that these are the one's that seem to cause so much concern for some folks when it comes to rifles and cartridges...judging from some posts here,and from many conversations with other hunters,they seem to be concerned that these animals are really "tough".....

I get in these conversations with some traveling hunters headed "out West",and especially Central Canada who think things like 300 RUM's etc are absolutely essential for deer in this weight class.Up there,I've had guys armed with 338 RUM's look at me seriously and tell me that using anything smaller than a 180 gr bullet at 3100 on these 300 pound deer,and you might as well be using a fly-swatter.

Can anyone explain this? Even a 300 pound deer is not a particularly large animal.....is this the threshhold in weight for moving to a big belted 30 for some guys?

Does it take more killing power to put down a 300 lb deer than a 800 pound elk? 300 lb is not that big as big game standards go; maybe it is just a reason (and who really needs one!) to justify purchasing a new rig in a higher power cartridge than the hunter already owns? For 300 lb deer I would probably choose a .270 WIN, but that is because it is already my favorite. On the other hand I know my .338 WIN MAG would be "enough gun" to get the job done as well. Maybe hunting loonies are a lot like rifle loonies and just like tinkering with different stuff.

Deer, like many other animals, have become armor plated, haven't you realized that yet? But seriously, I think a lot can be attributed to some writers (are you listening Lee Hoots?). I've read articles that lead you to believe that if you hunt deer with less then a 300 magnum of some sort, you're undergunned. There's other reasons no doubt, but more and more I see articles implying you need something that large with a premium bullet. I've always been of the stance that when using good cartridges, a C & C is tough to beat. I've been using them as long as I've been hunting. It's all I've ever needed and never had a deer I've hit where I've wanted run more than a few steps and I've shot some pretty big deer.

Bob - I don't expect to ever shoot a 300 lb. deer, but just in case, I always hunt deer with my elk rifle, a .270 winchester.

Have an acquaintance that goes to Saskatchewan/Alberta for whitetails. After the first trip he came back and ordered a .300 Jarrett. When asked why, he said many in his camp thought a .300WM is minimum for the big deer you may come across up that way. No way you could convince him of anything other. I think it becomes a going with the herd mentality.

That rifle with a muzzle brake is the most obnoxious rifle I have ever been around.

There is rampant obesity in america's deer herd. Just as with children they spend too much time on the XBox and eating junk food.

I don't know about other folks, but I would take the possibility of a 300 pound deer seriously. I'd go so far as considering 165 grain bullets instead of the usual 150 for my 300 Savage.

battue: Glad I'm not the only one that runs into that "mind set"; ......I wonder sometimes where this mentality came from?

The first time I hunted deer in Canada was in Alberta. Of the six hunters in camp I brought the smallest rifle, a .280 Remington and handloads with 150-grain Nosler Partitions. The other guys all had various 7mm and .300 magnums, including one who brought a wildcat .300 that just about duplicated the .300 Weatherby.

I killed my buck (a 300-pound mule deer) with one shot at 300 yards. The guy who brought the .300 wildcat didn't get a deer, because he couldn't shoot straight. (His guide, by the way, used a .25-06 on those 300-pound deer and wonder why the guy had brought a .300 magnum. "Are we hunting elephants?" he asked me.)

The odd thing is that today 1/2" accuracy is also required to kill those 300-pound deer. Somehow as they get bigger they get harder to hit!

Seen it lots myself..It always tends to be the more expensive the hunt, the bigger the gun is.