Small Calibers for Big Game Hunting

[Colorado Cowboy]

I read other forums and some of the stuff going on is just crazy (IMO). Lots of big game hunters are saying they are going to .22/.24 caliber for big game. They tout low recoil and new bullet design as the reason. I just don't get it. If recoil bothers them, what's wrong with a muzzle break, I use one on my .300 Wby.

Does anyone use a small caliber on elk or moose? I have used my 25-06 for over 60 years for my go to caliber for antelope & deer and my 30-06 & .300 Wby for elk and moose. I shoot a .220 AI for varmints and I just can't see using it for deer or antelope. The 53 gr bullet just doesn't pack enough power to be a steady game killer on bigger animals.

 

[JimP]

Quite a number of states have no caliber restriction on big game rifles, except it has to be a center fire round. But you also need to figure that when most of these rules were written there were very few animals larger than deer east of the Mississippi River except for moose up north.

But I used a 223 and my 22-250 on a number of deer in Utah where there is no caliber restriction. One year here in Colorado I thought about having a friend pack my #1 in 22-250 on a late season cow hunt. I knew it's capabilities and hitting a cow elk at a extended range in the brain would not be a hard feat. If we were checked we were going to tell the officer that he was hunting rabbits. But we never followed through with the plan.

 

[Gr8bawana]

Just because you can doesn't mean you should.
Miss the brain by just a little and you have an elk with its lower jaw shot off, with any caliber.

 

[tim]

some one has been reading rokslide.

 

[Maxhunter]

Yep Rokslide guys are posting like crazy on it. If recoil bothers them maybe they should take up fishing or golf

 

[Ikeepitcold]

I’m on the fence. For me it’s always been .270 or bigger.
We used to hunt with .243 as a kid for Whitetails and they did just fine but all shots were 100 yards or less.
Shots at longer ranges is where I would not go with all the new small calibers IMO. Maybe Antelope at 3-400? Not sure.

 

[dan maule]

I was worried about my daughter using a 7mm-08 on elk but it did just fine. Stepping down to a .22 is in my opinion irresponsible. Eventually if you hunt enough, you will make a poor shot and these small calibers do not create a large enough exit hole to produce a good blood trail. In my opinion the animal deserves better than that. But, everybody has their opinions.

 

[tim]

A tikka in 223 is the holy grail over there.
I must be a fudd. I replaced my 338 with a suppressed 338.