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What cartridge has accounted for more deer kills than any other?

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  • orchidmanorchidman Posts: 8,436 Senior Member
    Linefinder wrote: »
    Alec,

    Having a .270 and not taking it hunting is like having a sister and not taking her to the prom.

    Mike

    :spittingcoffee: :rotflmao:
    Still enjoying the trip of a lifetime and making the best of what I have.....
  • RazorbackerRazorbacker Posts: 4,646 Senior Member
    Linefinder wrote: »
    Well......I guess the .30-06 beats the .270 after all. I might have to get one. Hmmm........are they hard to find? I hope so, 'cause I don't want to be seen carrying anything boring......:jester:


    Mike

    If being non boring is important then I'd suggest borrowing buffy's Model 88 in .243. THAT is an interesting rifle.
    Teach your children to love guns, they'll never be able to afford drugs
  • ZeeZee Posts: 28,386 Senior Member
    If being non boring is important then I'd suggest borrowing buffy's Model 88 in .243. THAT is an interesting rifle.

    Boring cartridge.
    "To Hell with efficiency, it's performance we want!" - Elmer Keith
  • RazorbackerRazorbacker Posts: 4,646 Senior Member
    Zee wrote: »
    Boring cartridge.

    It's only boring if it sits in your safe because you're too scared to try to sneak it past your wife.
    Besides, SOMEBODY needs to blood that rifle.
    Teach your children to love guns, they'll never be able to afford drugs
  • LinefinderLinefinder Posts: 7,856 Senior Member
    There's one a lot closer to me than Buffys. JerryBobCo uses that exact rig when we antelope hunt. I've seen him put the hurt on several with that rifle.

    But......it's a lever gun. I've nothing against lever guns, but I'm old and feeble and there's just too many thingys moving around at one time. Currently, I'm hung on boltguns. Figure my next step will be breakopen single shots. Or prune juice and tapioca pudding. Depends.

    Mike
    "Walking away seems to be a lost art form."
    N454casull
  • ZeeZee Posts: 28,386 Senior Member
    You'll NEED Depends after that.
    "To Hell with efficiency, it's performance we want!" - Elmer Keith
  • LinefinderLinefinder Posts: 7,856 Senior Member
    :wink:

    I'm in a playful mood and easily amused tonight.

    Mike
    "Walking away seems to be a lost art form."
    N454casull
  • BigslugBigslug Posts: 9,859 Senior Member
    .30-06. The .30-30 had about only 30 years in the sun before all the WWI doughboys got a dose of bolt action rifles that had real reach and real power. Another dose came along in the 1940's that got treated to cheap surplus Springfields and 1917's to sporterize. Then there was the High Velocity Weatherby Kool Aid that got into the water supply in the 1950's - you could still hold your head up with a military bolt action sporter in ANY of the major WWI/WWII rounds, but the .30-30 was perceived as downright POKEY.

    Then there's the deer population going up at the same time interest in the .30-30 was going down.

    Maybe it's a Western thing, but the only guy I've ever seen hunting with a lever gun out here was my dad. . .with a .45-70.
    WWJMBD?

    "Nothing is safe from stupid." - Zee
  • jbohiojbohio Posts: 5,618 Senior Member
    Out this way, you can't swing a dead cat at a gun show without hitting a 30-30. They're everywhere.
    30-06, not so much.
  • beartrackerbeartracker Posts: 3,116 Senior Member
    jbohio wrote: »
    Out this way, you can't swing a dead cat at a gun show without hitting a 30-30. They're everywhere.
    30-06, not so much.

    Yeah, they keep their 06's and get ride of the 30-30's:jester:
  • FreezerFreezer Posts: 2,752 Senior Member
    Wait one minute Bigslug! I hunt out west with a lever gun and I'm not your daddy! I didn't have any ugly kids that I know of:uhm:

    I hunt thick woods in Californiastan with a Savage 99 in 308. It's a good deer/bear/pig combo and I won't hesitate to take a 300 yard shot on a deer.

    You could learn something from your elders, which, I might be:jester:
    I like Elmer Keith; I married his daughter :wink:
  • BigDanSBigDanS Posts: 6,992 Senior Member
    jbohio wrote: »
    Out this way, you can't swing a dead cat at a gun show without hitting a 30-30. They're everywhere.
    30-06, not so much.

    That's because you aren't allowed to hunt with a rifle in Ohio...

    D
    "A patriot is mocked, scorned and hated; yet when his cause succeeds, all men will join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot." Mark Twain
    Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.... now who's bringing the hot wings? :jester:
  • RiflemannRiflemann Posts: 269 Member
    30-30 followed by 30-06
  • gatorgator Posts: 1,746 Senior Member
    I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say the old patched round ball has taken more deer than anything else.
    However since it says CARTRIDGE in the title of this thread I'll have to go with the 30-30
    USMC 80-84
    -96 lbs
  • snake284-1snake284-1 Posts: 2,500 Senior Member
    JerryBobCo wrote: »
    My guess is the 22RF. There's no telling how many deer have been poached by people shooting a 22.

    What is your guess?

    Shhhhh! BE quiet, Be vewy Vewy Quiet!!! You know dat's Illegal in most states, :roll2::roll2::roll2:

    But seriously not considering the 22 (Which may be the champ), of the legal for deer cartridges it used to be the 30-30 Win. Now I got a sneeky suspicion the 30-06 may have surpassed it's glory. But I'd say the 30-30, if not first, is surely second. I'd say the .270 Win. and the .308 are numbers 3 and 4.
    I'm Just a Radical Right Wing Nutt Job, Trying to Help Save My Country!
  • JerryBobCoJerryBobCo Posts: 8,227 Senior Member
    jbohio wrote: »
    Out this way, you can't swing a dead cat at a gun show without hitting a 30-30. They're everywhere.
    30-06, not so much.

    I tried swinging a dead cat once. Rigor had already set in and it was as stiff as a hammer. In fact, I think I could have held it by the tail and driven nails with its head.

    But, I digress.

    Carry on.
    Jerry

    Gun control laws make about as much sense as taking ex-lax to cure a cough.
  • farm boyfarm boy Posts: 1,001 Senior Member
    JerryBobCo wrote: »
    I tried swinging a dead cat once. Rigor had already set in and it was as stiff as a hammer. In fact, I think I could have held it by the tail and driven nails with its head.

    But, I digress.

    Carry on.

    A hammer works better. A live cat is more interesting. I can see a dead cat getting the job done though.
    I am afraid we forget sometime that the basic and simple things brings us the most pleasure.
    Dad 5-31-13
  • JKPJKP Posts: 2,771 Senior Member
    I would say shotgun. If a rifle cartridge is the limiting rule, then .22 rim fire would be my bet.
  • 41magnut41magnut Posts: 1,306 Senior Member
    My first thought or vote is the 30-30 (still an outstanding choice IMHO) but as time as passed I not so sure that 2 or possibly 3 cartridges may have surpassed the ole stalwart.

    30-06

    270W

    243W - This one might not be as prevalent nationwide, but it is popular in my neck of the woods, but then numerous folks swear by the 22-250 also.
    "The .30-06 is never a mistake." Townsend Whelen :iwo:
  • snake284-1snake284-1 Posts: 2,500 Senior Member
    farm boy wrote: »
    A hammer works better. A live cat is more interesting. I can see a dead cat getting the job done though.

    May I say one thing here? You guys are seriously SICK!!!

    In the words of my favorite Cajun dredgeboat buddy, Leroy, "Don't Break it, Get a Bigger Hammer!!!" :roll2::roll2::roll2:
    I'm Just a Radical Right Wing Nutt Job, Trying to Help Save My Country!
  • snake284-1snake284-1 Posts: 2,500 Senior Member
    Teach wrote: »
    Ford F-150!
    :tooth:
    Jerry

    I would agree Jerry, but I think the Dodge Ram is hard on its heels....:roll2::rotflmao::jester:
    I'm Just a Radical Right Wing Nutt Job, Trying to Help Save My Country!
  • CowmashCowmash Posts: 2 New Member
    I would say 30-06, over the last 40 years. Deer population is better now too, so I think 30-06 has accounted for more kills.
  • CowmashCowmash Posts: 2 New Member
    Tried to reply to another post, but messed up. New here...
  • NNNN Posts: 25,235 Senior Member
    Cowmash wrote: »
    Tried to reply to another post, but messed up. New here...
    Welcome aboard
  • VarmintmistVarmintmist Posts: 8,305 Senior Member
    Your poachers must be a lot more discreet than ours. Its major cartridges all the way around here, I don't think the 22lr holds any serious standing in the poacher ranks. I know my grandfather used to do it, my mom told me of holding the light, I have the 222R, not 22lr that was used.

    Thing with the 30-30, is it was never a favorite, but it still is a staple. It may not be a go to for someone who has a stable, but there is normally one there even if the guy only has 2.

    When the surplus was at American Auto, a lot of guys favored the Krag not the 06, because at that time the deer were not dressed in reactive armor. Those that had 30-30's didn't give them away when they got the surplus rifle, they handed it down.
    It's boring, and your lack of creativity knows no bounds.
  • Ericb622Ericb622 Posts: 31 Member
    worldwide the .303 has accounted for more game than all other cartridges combined due to the size of the colonial British empire.

    I would speculate that here in CONUS, the 30-30 is #1 followed by the '06. Lever guns were considerable cheaper than even surplus bolt guns in the 20th century. Oddly, the .30 wcf was not a hugely popular cartridge in the western states like Montana and Wyoming. Most old cowboys and ranchers preferred the 25-35 due to its flatter trajectory or the .32 wcf or 38-55 for elk and bear. The 30-30 was a tweener that had a bigger following east of the MS . Most gun shops in Montana are full of old 25-35 94s
  • shootershooter Posts: 1,186 Senior Member
    Ericb622 wrote: »
    worldwide the .303 has accounted for more game than all other cartridges combined due to the size of the colonial British empire.

    I would speculate that here in CONUS, the 30-30 is #1 followed by the '06. Lever guns were considerable cheaper than even surplus bolt guns in the 20th century. Oddly, the .30 wcf was not a hugely popular cartridge in the western states like Montana and Wyoming. Most old cowboys and ranchers preferred the 25-35 due to its flatter trajectory or the .32 wcf or 38-55 for elk and bear. The 30-30 was a tweener that had a bigger following east of the MS . Most gun shops in Montana are full of old 25-35 94s

    I need to find some of those! Are you sure?
    There's no such thing as having too much ammo, unless you're on fire or trying to swim!
  • Ericb622Ericb622 Posts: 31 Member
    positive

    both rifles and saddle carbines. Call Dave at Capital Sports in Helena, MT. He will fix you right up. I bet he has at least 6 94s in 25-35 on the shelf right now. Major pucker factor though, good ones start at $900
  • Ranch13Ranch13 Posts: 820 Senior Member
    I don't know but over 60 years I only know of about 2 maybe 3 25-35's, 2 32 specials and one of those spent it's life in Minnesota, and about the only 38-55's are of more modern venue. But I'm pretty hard pressed to think of any farm/ranch that doesn't or didn't have at least 1 30-30.
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