I live by this quote. "You should not use a rifle that will kill an animal when everything goes right; you should use one that will do the job when everything goes wrong."
I’ve never seen where a larger cartridge made up for poor shooting. I once saw an elk badly hit with the 338 WM run off only to be collected by someone with a 270. I’ve seen far more animals lost due to poor shooting with large cartridges than the reverse.
This.
The argument that you don't feel recoil when shooting at game, doesn't hold up to scrutiny. Mental aversion to recoil is developed in practice at the range, not while hunting. If a person gets beat up by their rifle while zeroing and practicing, subconscious fear takes root and bad shooting while hunting can result.
My brother is a whitetail outfitter in Texas. His hunters kill 150+ whitetail a year. They come from all over the country. He tells me about every group and where they are from, shooting skills, rifle used, etc. 95 % of the time it goes like this.
He gives them his .22-250, parks their .300 magnums, let's them shoot 5 times at a target after multiple misses at deer under 100 yards. They go how it this gonna work? He then says trust me. Then watches their mind get blown as they center punch a deer on the next shot and it it dead in 5 seconds. They go home and downsize their rifle.
Few lessons in this tale even related to elk...
PS - his .22-250 is on its 4th barrel, he's 30 years old, shoots 55 grain soft points of various makes. Can't shoot a paper target to save his life but will shoot a glowing set of eyes farther than most can see let alone what most will want to shoot. Best field shooter I've ever seen.
- Greg
Success is found at the intersection of planning, hard work, and stubbornness.
