Wow, first the earth cooled... Anyway, after all you forty-pound head guys introduced all of your theories, data etc., I thought I'd post a few more comments on the "speed kills" side of things from a purely empirical perspective. I don't have the hunting experience of a few of you guys, but from personal experience and what I've gathered from speaking to various gents with lots of experience, I offer the following:
American PH Mark Sullivan, whom I have met several times and my friend Allen Day (RIP) hunted with him, in his opinion the most dramatic DRT kills on the big cats has been with super-high velocity cartridges. If some of you have watched any of his videos, there are quite a few cat kills and without question the quickest kills have been with the 30-378, 378 Weatherby (gasp) calibers. There are also quite a bit shot with the 416 Rigby, 458 Winchester Mag etc. If you get the chance to watch these, the difference speed makes is very obvious. Further, Ross Seyfried in his writings has also opined (and observed ) the most dramatic kills on Cape Buffalo have been with the 416 Weatherby @2700 fps. Lastly, I have personally spoken with Connie Brooks and both her and her husband when testing the TSX on Buffalo, also related Buffalo reacted more when shot with the 350 TSX than the 400. All of this is empirical of course, but I can tell you from personal experience, not a SINGLE deer I've ever shot wit the 257 Weatherby and 100gr Hornady Spire Points has EVER taken a step and that over fifty deer. And of course I still maintain that while shot placement is paramount, there are sensible minimums when dealing with dangerous game.
A good principle to guide me through life: “This is all I have come to expect, standard lackluster performance. Trust nothing, believe no one and realize it will only get worse…”
