Quote:
Originally Posted by obsessed1
Hunting elk / moose in thick timber... bigger calibers anchor them faster so they dont die in thicker timber. For one. I have seen bulls of both species killed with most traditional calibers. Bigger heavier bullets always perform better for shorter tracking jobs provided the hunter can hit vitals/ shoulders. Bigger heavier bullets often produce better blood trails, they often penetrate more as well....but like I said its totally hunting style/ area specific. Guys who hunt open timber/ mixed farm land there is no real advantage..unless your shooting game way out there....
Personally I have shot elk/moose with .243, 30-30, .308, 30-06, 300wm and 45-70. Have witnessed 7-08, 7mm RM,300wsm, 35 whelan, 338 wm.. as well as several others... guess which ones produced the best blood trails and most visual effect ( knock down power) on them... the 338wm, 35 whelan, and 45-70 at ranges inside 200 yds and 300 wm (200 gr bullet) and 338wm 300+.
The biggest issue I find with guys shooting 7mm is they often choose lighter for caliber bullets...also frontal diameter is a real thing in terms of terminal ballistics and has a quantifiable effect on game in terms of wound channel as well as energy impact.
This is based on my experience hunting both thick heavy bush as well as mixed timber and farm land.
IME at bow range in thick timber big heavy slow moving lead is king. Bullets with a big wide meplate with tones of mass do very well at anchoring and leaving heavy blood trails.
Lighter faster smaller diameter bullets tend to kill but often result in sparse blood trails and longer distances wounded game can travel. I would say this is a huge advantage for a guy who has to pack kills out on his back. This is just my opinion based on experience yours might vary.
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The frontal area definitely effects the size of the wound channel, but it's the frontal area of the expanding bullet that counts, not the size of the unfired bullet. All of my elk but one, and most of my moose were killed with higher velocity cartridges than any you have listed. That velocity, combined with a bullet that typically expands to more than twice the unfired diameter, produces wound channels that have put both elk and moose down with little to no tracking required. In fact the longest tracking job that I have had, was on a moose that ran 75 yards or so, after being struck with the largest caliber that I have used, my 338x8mmremag, with the heaviest bullet that I have used, a 210gr Partition. My own 7mm , a 7mmstw, has no problems putting elk and moose down without tracking jobs, when using the 140-150 gr TTSX. The high velocity produces rapid expansion, and a large frontal area, which combined with the velocity, and very high weight retention, produces a large wound channel, and penetration comparable to much heavier bullets. Now if you use a much lower velocity cartridge , the wound channel colume will be smaller, and you may have to do some tracking.