We're currently living in good days, as far as equipment goes, from rifles to bullets and optics. We can now do more with less, so to speak, and I doubt there's a deer or hog that I've ever killed that couldn't have been killed just as dead with a .243win shooting a little 80gr TTSX. Many deer hunters are shying away from the magnums and realizing the attraction of easy-shooting and accurate rifles in moderate chamberings like the 6.5CM, which I like to see because it promotes practice and making good shots. I'm much the same way, but my question is this: When weather conditions are bad, or cover is really thick, do you still find yourself leaning toward bigger calibers to carry into the deer woods?
I'm curious, because while I've killed quite a few animals with the 6.5's in the last decade (and nearly as many with 6mm/257 rifles), I've noticed that tracking jobs, on average, are not typically quite as easy as those involving hits with .30cal or larger bullets. Not that the 6.5's have been disappointing, or lack the ability for clean kills, but that recovery of animals has been somewhat more work when dealing with blood trails in wet pine thickets or muddy bayou bottoms. As good as the smaller chamberings are these days, I still find myself reaching for the insurance of a .308, .338, or maybe even a .358 cal rifle when I don't want extra work while trailing in sub-par conditions. Thoughts?
