Who all is sitting in the woods with a rifle way to big for the critter they are after

[ChrisG]

2.5 year old smaller black bear. That is a Ruger Hawkeye African in .416 Ruger laying across him. I hit him with a 340 grain woodleigh weldcore loaded "down" to 2,550 fps. He didn't go anywhere. Softball sized exit.

The bear in my avatar was about 180 lbs on the paw and he was hit with a .375 H&H loaded with Hornady 300 grain interlocks at 2,550 fps. He also didn't go anywhere.

Surprisingly... both bullets were pass throughs.

 

[flat8]

I'll be hunting cow elk in AZ in less than 2 weeks. I plan on leaving at home all of my .30 cals in favor of hunting with my (new for me) .375H&H. But I'll still probably take along my .270 Winchester as backup.

 

[BRICKBURN]

I'll be hunting with my (new for me) .375H&H. But I'll still probably take along my .270 Winchester as backup.

Now, that is ass backwards to Africa. Hilarious.

 

[Hogpatrol]

Trollin', Trollin', Trollin on AH.COM

 

[Bas]

Sitting here in the North Carolina woods watching for deer it occurred to me that I may just be over gunned, or undersighted.

Across my lap is my beloved CZ 550 .416 Rigby. Nothing fancy, just factory stock, express sights, loaded with the old Hornady DGX 400 grain soft. I have passed up two bucks because they were far enough away that my front sight covered the whole body. I likewise passed on three more bucks and a couple of juicy does because I lost the light

Had I been using my .270 Weather by all of these deer could have been in the freezer.

Does anyone else suffer from my affliction?

Yes, I do as well. Killed 1 deer last week with my .375h&h and 1 with my .460 Weatherby. 200 gr. Sierra in 375 and 260 gr. CEB in the 460. Don't have far to walk to blind so not concerned about the weight. As far as "suffering" ,I haven't suffered and the deer suffered VERY briefly. It's a good affliction!

 

[Hillbilly Marine]

My spots are all walking distance from the house also. And I enjoy the affliction! I was thinking that maybe I need a .470 though because of all the squirrels!

 

[jacques smith]

Seems like a damn good way to practice

 

[700xcr]

Now, that is ass backwards to Africa. Hilarious.

We tend to do this in USA! I use a 375Ruger for elk and backup is a 300 H&H.

 

[The Engineer]

I enjoy hunting feral pigs by stalking with my Heym 470NE with a RMR sight. I handload hollow point 480 pistol bullets to a much higher velocity than you get in a revolver. As the feral pig are an ecological disaster that needs to be aggressively controlled, we do not hunt them for meat but for control. That being said, the pistol bulls provide impressive expansion/explosion depending on where the hit the pig.

 

[BeeMaa]

Have a friend who takes whitetail deer with his 375H&H because he doesn't like tracking them.
I personally haven't taken any game with anything bigger than a 30 caliber.

 

[Hogpatrol]

I confess to taking white tail deer with a .45 caliber smokeless muzzleloader shooting a 200 grain SST at 2750 fps. Overkill is an understatement. I gave up the 12 gauge slug gun when on the last deer, my butcher told me the front end was pretty much destroyed. I had to stop and think. Is a 437.5 grain slug really needed for a 100 pound deer? Nah, probably millions have been killed with a .22 rimfire.

 

[Bas]

My spots are all walking distance from the house also. And I enjoy the affliction! I was thinking that maybe I need a .470 though because of all the squirrels!

Fox or gray ? Softs or solids ? If fox squirrels weighed 1,000 lbs. you might be under gunned !

 

[Hillbilly Marine]

Had a couple of questionable grey squirrels come to close for comfort last December. Lucky for me I had a solid to sort things out! Another three feet and I would have had it in my lap!

 

[Shawn.54]

All this squirrel talk is making me nervous but let me tell you I was stuck in a tree stand with a pair of shrews running around underneath.
Lucky for me I had retired my 35 Whelen and was carrying my 375 Ruger for the first time.
I was able to go undetected and did not have to face a charge.
Shawn

 

[BeeMaa]

Lucky for me I had a solid to sort things out! Another three feet and I would have had it in my lap!

Lucky for me I had retired my 35 Whelen and was carrying my 375 Ruger for the first time.
I was able to go undetected and did not have to face a charge.
Shawn

Wheew...close ones.
Really would have preferred to have at least a 450 or 470 for situations like this.
Glad to hear you guys are OK.
Still having night terrors?

 

[Shawn.54]

Wheew...close ones.
Really would have preferred to have at least a 450 or 470 for situations like this.
Glad to hear you guys are OK.
Still having night terrors?

That experience is the motivation for my current 404 Jeffery project.
In all seriousness 20 or so years ago I got I got the 35 Whelen out of curiosity with the cartridge and loved it. It is now in my oldest son’s gun safe the 375 Ruger came to be as I kept reading about it and it seemed to be more of a good thing the 404 was due to AH peer pressure. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
If I’m going to have the rifles might as well use them.
Shawn

 

[nztimb]

I guess that taking my 404 on a goat hunt would qualify for slightly overgunned but it was fun when we got onto a mob of them and between the 404 and a 7x57 we accounted for 21 goats

 

[Shawn.54]

I also want to add that while sitting in the woods with a rifle way to big for the critters I was hunting and reading this thread on 3 separate occasions deer tried to sneak past I cought them but no shooters.
Over gunned and loving it!!
Shawn

 

[Shawn.54]

I guess that taking my 404 on a goat hunt would qualify for slightly overgunned but it was fun when we got onto a mob of them and between the 404 and a 7x57 we accounted for 21 goats

I would love to get into a cull situation like that but we have no evasive species. Almost had a pig problem when a high fence about 20 miles away had several Russian Boar tunnel out.
The local hunters were able to kill them all before they got far or reproduced.
Shawn

 

[Bas]

Had a couple of questionable grey squirrels come to close for comfort last December. Lucky for me I had a solid to sort things out! Another three feet and I would have had it in my lap!

Hope I don't have night sweats after reading your and Shawn's stories!
Gives me the shivers! May have to go to 600 Nitro.....at 3 feet you wouldn't have time for the second barrel!
Joking aside, it's not OUR fault those dangerous game critters live on the wrong continent......