Goals for a hunting load?

I've done a fair bit of hunting over my six decades on this earth. Birds & small game. Deer & other medium game. Elk and other big game. I've got some ideas about what I want from my hunting handloads.

1. Absolute reliability. The doggone cartridges simply must feed through the magazine, into the chamber and then fire.

2. Acceptable accuracy. This changes. If I'm loading my 204 to shoot itty-bitty sage rats at 300+ yards... I want serious accuracy, 1/2 MOA or better. If I'm loading to hunt elk in the timber, I'm fine with much less accuracy.

3. Enough penetration to reach the vitals from any reasonable shot. This too changes, depending on the game sought. Small deer are easy, big bull elk are considerably larger and more difficult to penetrate.

4. Consistent ability to damage the vitals enough for a quick kill. Destruction to drop the animal either in place, or within a few yards.

Those are my goals, be it for my 204 varmint rifle, my all-around 30-06 rifle, or my big game 375 rifle. First and foremost my ammo simply has to work. It's got to feed smoothly from magazine to chamber, then the brass must eject reliably and the bullet must accurately travel it's designated path. I don't waste time on getting that last 1/4" reduction in group size if I'm building an elk or bear load. At that point, I'm willing to settle for superb reliability and performance on target.

Black bear in 2010, a 306 yard, one-shot kill from my Ruger Number One in 375 H&H, with a 260 gr Nosler Accubond at about 2650 fps. Powerful enough. Accurate enough. Absolutely reliable in the single shot rifle:
https://i.imgur.com/3g7LHFYl.jpg

Big cow elk in 2016, a 338 yard one-shot kill from my Remington 700 CDL in 30-06, with a 165 gr Nosler Ballistic tip at over 2900 fps. Accurate, flat, and lethal. Perhaps my best all-around game load:
https://i.imgur.com/i3hvC7Ol.jpg

Antelope, a 160 yard one-shot kill from my Remington 700 CDL in 25-06, with a 115 gr Nosler Ballistic Tip at 3120 fps. A great load for deer-sized game.
https://i.imgur.com/Tl6y3Kwl.jpg

Mule deer at 355 yards with the same 25-06/115 gr load:
https://i.imgur.com/udxbhYdl.jpg


Put a good bullet where it belongs, and game is yours! Time to time a followup shot is required.

Load for success!

What are your goals when loading for the hunt?

Guy

I couldn't agree more. Great kills BTW.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

For an example of when "absolute reliability" was required - I look to my arctic grizzly hunt in the Brooks Range, 2017. I used my 30-06 rifle and handloads with 200 grain Nosler Partitions.

After a mile-long stalk, we found the bear at about 40 yards, perhaps a bit farther. Firing was fast and furious. I used all four of the cartridges in my rifle's magazine in less than a minute. At the end of the shooting, the bear was dead. Each round simply had to slip smoothly from magazine to chamber, fire accurately and with full power, and then eject, clearing the way for the next cartridge.

https://i.imgur.com/VtoSyttl.jpg

I'd loaded some cartridges that shot extremely well. However they were really long, seated to be close to the lands. Some were so long the bullet actually jammed into the rifling and then stayed there! The cartridge wouldn't smoothly eject if I didn't fire it. Backing off a bit with the length, was a good course of action.

Reliability mattered more to me in that case than the ultimate accuracy.

Regards, Guy

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by EUDE75

I couldn't agree more. Great kills BTW.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

---

Thanks, I truly love hunting mule deer, which are common near my home in central Washington, and have fallen hard for hunting antelope - for which I must travel.

Guy

Nice harvests


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

Couldn’t agree more and those are some beautiful animals my friend.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Guy where do you hunt antelope.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Wyoming

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Kamikaze007

Guy where do you hunt antelope.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Kamikaze007

Guy where do you hunt antelope.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

---

Yes. About every other year I make a trip from my home in Washington to go hunt Wyoming. I only started hunting antelope a few years ago and found out that I dearly loved hunting them, and that their meat is delicious! My wife isn't a real big fan of steaks of any kind, but when she got her first bite of antelope backstrap steak, her face lit up and she asked "did you cook more of this?" :) So, when I want to make a trip to Wyoming for antelope, she's all for it.

Regards, Guy

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Guy

Yes. About every other year I make a trip from my home in Washington to go hunt Wyoming. I only started hunting antelope a few years ago and found out that I dearly loved hunting them, and that their meat is delicious! My wife isn't a real big fan of steaks of any kind, but when she got her first bite of antelope backstrap steak, her face lit up and she asked "did you cook more of this?" :) So, when I want to make a trip to Wyoming for antelope, she's all for it.

Regards, Guy

---

Always awesome when you can get the bosses approval!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I want more of your hunting stories.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

Thanks! :)

The arctic grizzly story was published in Successful Hunter magazine:

https://i.imgur.com/EhZuvoxl.jpg

Nice....


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

3. Enough penetration to reach the vitals from any reasonable shot. This too changes, depending on the game sought. Small deer are easy, big bull elk are considerably larger and more difficult to penetrate.

4. Consistent ability to damage the vitals enough for a quick kill. Destruction to drop the animal either in place, or within a few yards.

If this happens all the time, life would be great! I prefer penetration over internal damage. I want the bullet to go through and leave a good blood trail. Elk can never from where they are shot to a better place when they die, but at least I can find them. I have gone to Barnes bullets I. The last 5 years. No failures, good penetration, and apparently good expansion. From 30 ft to 420 yards. I was concerned while butchering the 30 ft deer, but the bullet hit both scapulas and the exit hole was less than 3/4 inch. With other bullets I have seen baseball sized holes. The only Barnes bullets I have recovered were muzzleloader billets from bull elk, shot at 110 and 185 yards. Both weighed 100 percent with perfect mushrooms, and under the off side hide. One went 40 yards. The other did too, but it rolled downhill! Give them a try.




Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Ya, Barnes makes one heck of a bullet!

I have many hunting rifles. My expectations are for a MOA or better load, with a bullet designed for the task. I like to try different bullets, and see how they perform. I have some rifles that have never used the same bullet twice on game. I have some rifles that I’ve only ever used one bullet out of because I fell in love with that combination.


JTD

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JeffreyDeGraff

I have many hunting rifles. My expectations are for a MOA or better load, with a bullet designed for the task. I like to try different bullets, and see how they perform. I have some rifles that have never used the same bullet twice on game. I have some rifles that I’ve only ever used one bullet out of because I fell in love with that combination.

JTD

---

I understand! :) Went through a period when I was buying, trying, and selling various hunting rifles. Got me a lot of interesting experience and knowledge, but I sure seem to have settled down to just a few favorites in recent years.

Guy