Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting What Is It About 300 Pound Deer?

Or porcupines...

Stray Dog: The father is a well heeled guy,with a good business,and I guess the kid was the type that just got to hang out in camps all hunting season,much to the father's chagrin...so the incident with the buck was just another of the kid's screw-ups that the father was a bit frustrated over...

The father was always on the watch for the kid to mess up.....something.....so this attitude added levity to the whole incident. I can picture it.

The conversation at the truck MUST have been priceless to hear...

I was told the buck was really making a fuss trying to shake the rifle;just pounding it to a froth and there was mud and dirt jammed through the barrel. Why it never went off I don't understand.


Scott: NEVER wrestle deer....they will flat kick your butt!

Biggest deer I've got to date was 225 field dressed but forgot how tough he was and used my bow. I shot a very lean 194# buck with the lowly 30-30. He went 100 yards but was still stone dead

Bob,

They're so damn big in these parts they make us use slugs!

Shudder to think what rifles are adequate...

Bow season is three months long so you have time to find a rack and bones.

Hawk: I have heard about those Ioway bucks;seen them on TV,too.

72 caliber seems about perfect...no?

It works. And we haven't banned lead because of it.

Would rather be a rifle state. You ever pay $10-14 for five rounds of your fav. deer cartridge? Can't even get Brennekes anymore.

I went mostly to the wheelgun (I know, underpowered as well) and my own cast loads; though most tags get filled in our group with slugs.

Eliminate the party hunting, collect a doe B4 buck and we'd be good to go. That and treating the out of state hunters better...

Lots of deer here, though most that need shot do not have horns. They eat fine (grins).

Venison is GOOD! Especially from your state!

BobinNH: There was a poster here for a while that advocated the use of a 340 Weatherby Magnum for Mule Deer Hunting "out west"!
AND to make THAT even worse he advocated shooting said Deer with said Rifle "through both shoulders"!
He was ridiculed and ostracized and lectured (often by ME!) til he must have lost interest in posting that crap here anymore!
Your point is valid!
I often cite my friends (a family of 5 women and 1 man) here in SW Montana who harvest 20+ Deer EVERY year with the "family 223"!
And some of these are large Buck Deer!
In fact we all went on a trip to eastern Montana a few years back where the 14 year old daughter in this family killed a 31" wide, VERY mature, Mule Deer Buck with one shot from her 223 Remington!
I know that Buck was 31" wide because I measured it myself!
That feat followed by just 2 years her harvesting a Mt. Goat (again with one shot!) with the same 223 Remington caliber Rifle!
That full body mounted Mt. Goat now adorns the wall of that families trophy room!
Bullet placement and bullet construction are two VERY important components of cleanly harvesting Deer size game.
No, "magnums" are NOT needed to harvest Deer.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

VG: I hear stories like that and I someimes wonder why I've spent so much time worrying about rilfes for big game. The experience of you and your family simply underscore that if you know what you're doing with a rifle,you can sometimes take a rifle out of its'class,and it'll work well if you know what I mean

I would not leave on a hunt for mule deer with a 223 myself,but anything from from a 257 Roberts up would make me happy;and a 270 looks better and better each year (actually it always looked pretty good to me!)

Bob, this one is for you!... I would, and have on many occasions left on a hunt for Mule Deer with a .223....but then again I have the luxury of living amongst them, and getting the extra time to pick and choose shots. But like VG intimated...I shoot about 2500 rounds of .223 per year at varmints. Figure if I can hit a gopher with it, I can hit a deer in the heart ( they are about the same size...)
Anyway, this one wasn't 300 pounds, but the single bullet that killed him was 53 grains!

Ingwe

Ingwe, that dudes got some mass to him.

Yeah, we think he was as big as he was ever gonna get, and on the downhill slide..
Ingwe

Quick bio I live in saskatchewan and guided for many years as well. When i guided the camp mins. were .277 + with a stout bullet in the tube. The main reason for suggesting a stout bullet were 2 fold: near every hunter wanted the glory shot a DRT - double pin aim point & the shots were typically 100 or less in the dense forest where I guided. I never guided a single .270 shooter, majority were 300 mags with 180-200gr pills. I agree status is the major reason for the big guns brought but as long as the client could shoot it then i was fine with it. I can add their were more then a few who didn't pass pre-hunt sight in and were asked to use the camp 3006 with 180gr nosler parts...lol!

I have killed my share of canadian bucks that tipped the scale at over 300lbs and know that shot placement is the key. My aim point is always the vitals with the least obstructions - aka ribs not shoulder. I have absolutely no problems taking the opposite shoulder on the way out as I know the damage that has been done is lethal and exiting isn't really a concern. Whether a 300lb deer or 1000lb + moose they can't live with deflated lungs...this i know to be fact. For deer i use NBT and love them, not what my camps would have consider an adequate bullet but again shot placement being key! I have used cartridges to take a deer ranging from a 2506rem to a 338wm - the only difference I've seen is the size of the hole and some case the damage the lighter faster ones can do. I think the 1/4 bore is a perfect antelope, deer and sheep choice. Another key element is choosing the right bullet for the task. Their is absolutely no need for a screaming 3600fps projectile when your shooting 300 or yards. Common sense goes a long way in life and hunting.

Its not the size of the tool but the operator that makes the difference...JMHO.

Ingwe: Good grief what a HOG! And a 223 no less!

I have no real complaints with guys using bigger guns for these outsize deer because a lot of folks in Canada and Montana use 300's or 338'etc for their elk an moose,too.

AA has an excellent post above and it's the traveling hunters that make me laugh because they feel such artillery is REQUIRED for these deer.

I have never seen a bit of difference between a 30/06,a 280,and a 270 on any of these animals (or a 7x57 or 7/08 for that matter).The type bullet used seems to be a bigger factor IME.

Bob, since this is a thread about weight and not antlers, I'll stick in another pic for you...this is probably the heaviest deer I've shot, though the horns aren't much...for point of reference I'm 6'4" and weighed out at 265 in this pic....

Had to use the "big gun" on this one...the 7x57
Ingwe

Ingwe-

That's a piggy-poo....

Yeah and that deer was a hog too!
Ingwe

Nice deer you have ingwe.

Mind if I ask you what your handle means?

Handle is Shona for "Leopard"...and yeah theres a story there...
Ingwe

Thanks, when you get time relay the story for us if you would.