Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Which calibers have wounded in your camps?

I am just curious as to what the members have seen over their accumulated years from your camps regarding wounded game and the calibers involved.

From trips to Colorado, I have helped look for two deer wounded with one of my favorite calibers, .270 Winchester.

In Alberta one of the guys in camp, and his guide spent 2 1/2 days looking for a trophy moose that he wounded with a .375 H&H.

In Texas, I have looked for a deer wounded with a Colt AR .223.

I have heard stories that a couple of calibers have bad reputations, .243 Win. and 7mm Rem mag. but I have never ever been in a camp where there was a wounded deer from using either!

Ive seen 12 gauge slugs wound deer at point blank range.......but in all reality you cant blame the gun, 99.9% of the time its the shooter.

I agree with that fact, I am curious though what members have seen or been around vs. reputations.

I openly admit I have wounded a few (with a gun).........and it was ALL my fault!
Theres a few with my bow I cant explain.
About 4 deer in my lifetime I can think of too.

And no I'm not proud of it.....in fact I think I learned from it.

you aint alone tom & we know what you mean.

i've lost two white tail in the same season, caliber happened to be a .308. I don't know what happened. before that I had never lost a deer.

I've chased others & got them eventually, 30-06.

Lost a cow elk once, 30-06, that one really bugged me.

Chased a big cow once for several hours after making what i thought was a no brainer dead in her tracks kill shot with a 450 marlin. got her eventually too.



It happens, things go wrong with the shots sometimes.

Over the years out camp has lost two. One with the 300 sav and one with the 30-06.

Valuable lessons about how to set up the crew when a deer isnt DRT where learned.

The only guys I know who have lost deer are just poor shots. But they were shooting belted magnums.

243......sorry, but that is what we have to chase most.....

I've seen some nice deer lost with the .243 as well.

Have yet to lose a deer nor have I been around any friends when one was lost.

Do all these people that never wound an animal ever miss?

Just curious.

I've missed before but made up for it with the second shot. Never said me/friends have never lost a critter, just that we've never lost a deer.

Dirty ot six

Ive seen two deer lost, both times it was a .257 Bob. Both times I would have bet my next paycheck on the shot. ( was watching the impact of both through binocs...)
My wifes favorite is the Bob, and she does very well indeed with it,so its not the caliber...
Ingwe

What calibres have wounded in Deer Camp? All of them. At one time or another, bad things happen no matter what calibre you shoot. Nearly always it's the fault of the shooter, or the bullet construction, not the calibre nor rifle.

Damn near any rifle/shotgun that the guy we call "Buford" holds in his hands. It's gotten to the point where we've discussed putting dummy rounds in his pockets.

Wasted a lot of time tracking blood after finding out who shot.

I know a guy like that, only with a bow.......cant stand the guy, wont take any advice.

I understand the intent of this thread, and don't want to sound like too much of a smarta$$, but like many have said. Calibers don't wound, the shooter does.

Every deer I have ever seen that was lost was due to operator error. Proper placement of an accurate shot, will kill every time, with any of the calibers discussed herein.

Really is that simple.

Most guys here seem like hard core shooters, so this observation probably applies to very few on this site. The number one reason I see for bad shot placement is a shooter who doesn't practice enough to know his weapon, his caliber, and how it performs under the unpredictable conditions found while hunting.

Only been hunting a few years, haven't lost one of mine yet, hopefully never do, use a 30-06 and this year a .308.
My buddy and I chased one that he shot around 10 a.m. one year with a 7 mag. We found her limping on 3 legs about 4 hours later long after losing a blood trail, 1 more shot put her down. It was a bad shot and was very instrumental in my hunting education.
He shot from a rest, prone, about 225 yds., but seemed unsure of the shot, took about 3 minutes to pull the trigger.
I learned if I am not 100% on my ability to make the shot a perfect one, I WON'T take it.
Those 4 hours were some of the worst of my life, hope it never happens again.