Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Bullet suggestion for extra large Canadian Whitetails?

Bob,

I first hunted deer in Alberta almost 20 years ago, on a hunt for both mule deer and whitetail. My rifle was a custom .280 Remington that I used more than any of my other rifles for a few years (which is how I know the .280 isn't any more magic than a .270).

The .280 turned out to be the smallest rifle in camp, out of 6-7 hunters. Most carried a 7mm or .300 magnum of some sort. My local guide had a .25-06, and was asking me why all the other hunters brought "cannons," since in several decades of hunting, he'd never had any problem killing Alberta bucks with his .25-06 and 120-grain factory Core-Lokts!

He must not look at the internet.

That was back before the Internet! Though I bet he's still killing deer with 120 Corelokt's from his .25-06....

I'll bet he has a tactical bolt handle then!

And a Picatinny rail!

I oughta talk... Just got my first M1 turret installed... At least its on a respectable rifle- a 30-06

Ive got dotz in a few scopes....

Hunted in Alberta for mule deer a couple-three years ago. This time I stepped down to a 7x57--which killed an even bigger buck than my first with the .280, at just about the same range (300 yards). But Eileen's .308 killed her buck (also big) quicker, at the same range. Apparently the .308 is superior to the 7x57!

What isn't???

well john we all know that!

I like the 165 HPBT Sierra in the -06. Good tough bullet, but not too spendy. Thats what I would do...

John I remember that hunt you had up in Alberta and IIRC it was part of an article you did for Rifle Magazine entitled "Rifles for Really Big Deer ",which is one of my favorites....I got a big kick out of the story and article because it mirrored what I have seen up there so many times.Those Canadian deer are really big but as you point out, they are still just deer.....

It seems it was along about 1990 or thereabouts (can't recall exactly) when I detected this "shift"in attitude toward deer rifles,down on the Paunsegaunt in Utah,on a mule deer hunt,and I had a 7 Rem Mag that Butch Searcy had built for me and I had hunted it a lot....it was the "smallest" rifle in camp that week.I killed a buck at about 400 yards(with a 4X scope and the California boys came to my room wanting to see the "little 7 mag" that had killed that buck at that distance......they were incredulous.I was pretty innocent and could not imagine why they were so surprised.

I suppose I should not poke fun at those shooting a 300 mag on those Canadian deer,because I have taken a 300 a few times myself,mostly because I had already hunted elk and mule deer earlier in the fall,and the 300 was loaded and ready to go, so I just dragged it along...

But I also have brought mostly 270's,or some type of 7 mag up there,and the results have been monotonously similar.....no matter the size of the deer,or the distance,they all wound up dead,and I could find no correlation between size of cartridge and distance traveled,or suddeness ofkill,or other such vague indication of effectiveness.....how far down the caliber ladder you go before that stuff starts to show up,I dunno...I do know that I would hunt deer anywhere they are found, continent wide, with a 270 or 280 without a second thought.

For me the one common denominator has been that most (not all) of those bucks over the years were on the receiving end of a Partition in various weights and calibers...and that got pretty monotonous, too.Which is why I recommend them if someone asks....not that other stuff does not work,but they seem to eliminate a lot of melodrama.You know what's going to happen when the hammer falls

Gun writers......sheesh.....


And if you see your freind Royce tell him.........


uhhhhhhh...


You know what to tell him for me....

Ingwe
Just to show you there is no malice in my heart, if you want that Burris scope I have for sale in the classifieds, you can have it for the special price of $145.

Fred

Even a super big deer from Canada is only a few inches thicker through the chest than its smaller, southern cousins

After dumping a small ark full of deer with a 7Mag, I decided that it was definitively overkill. I moved to a .243 and lived happily ever after. Later, I traded that .243 off because it didn't fit me well, and started using a .25-06 instead. Even the .25-06 is overkill

I would happily hunt any MD or WT deer of any size, anywhere, with a .243 and 80gr TTSX. Even a .223 would work fine with a 50gr TTSX, methinks, but it's not legal here, so I haven't tried it personally. I've seen enough pictures of dead deer online that I'd probably give it a try without second thought if I ever have the chance.

165 gr Interlock.

165 gr Nosler Partition over charge of IMR4350. Overkill but no drama.

As Jordan pointed out, a large northern buck is hardly any wider through the chest than his southern cousin. In my experience, the extra weight is in the northern deer's extra length and deeper (not wider) chest .

165 gr. Nosler Partition

Bob, I remember the first trip I made to Sask. and the outfitter suggested I bring a 300 mag or a 7 mag because that what was most of his clients brought up there. Not needing much of an excuse for a new rifle, I bought that Remington Custom Shop APR in 300 Win Mag and I bought along my 280 Ackley which got some snickers from the "regulars" in camp. I'm not sorry I bought the APR cause it is an incredibily accurate rifle and I like the looks and feel of it as well. Yeah, the bucks up there are quite a bit bigger body wise, but a 300 mag of any flavor is not needed. Anyway, I loaded 180 gr Nosler BT's and figured I was safe.