Thanks .303! Much appreciated!
Shootall, you are right in my opinion. There ARE more limitations with the one than the other. I agree with that 100%! Have you ever wondered why some guys seem to get the job done (and done well) with a lighter/smaller caliber and some other guy has a hard enough time getting it done with cartridges you KNOW are up to the job? The way I look at it, there's capability of the cartridge and then there's the ability of the shooter himself. When I say ability of the shooter, I'm not just referring to his marksmanship. He could be the greatest shot in the history of the world but if he's using a cartridge that's NOT capable of clean kills with a given shot placement and he doesn't have the good sense to know it OR the disclipline to pass on the shot, he's going to have problems.
If a guy takes any ole shot that comes his way, his bullets are very likely to land any ole place (stomach, leg, jaw, maybe in the vitals occasionally) and this (slob) hunter is going to get bad results. He's likely to even leave wounded game to die a long agonizing death and it really won't matter much what cartridge he's using either. He'll have problems with a .300 Weatherby if HE is lousy enough! From a pure discussion standpoint, if you were to actually match him up with a cartridge that COULD cleanly take deer with his lousy choice of placement, you might find yourself looking at something like a 20 mm cannon HE (high explosive) shell---something the DNR might take a dim view of!;0)) Still, in the hands of some, a .300 is marginal because they themselves are mediocre in their ability to use it.
The other scenario is a guy who uses a mediocre capibility cartridge and insists on using it for shots that only capable cartridge can handle. An extreme example is the poacher's favorite, the .22 short. If the poacher sticks within the capabilities of his cartridge (close range easy entry brain shots between the eye and the ear) the animal drops every time. If, on the other hand, the guy is a hunter of deer and takes a typical chest shot, he's going to lose the vast majority of his deer. Incapable for the chest shots most deer hunters take, it truly IS an incapable cartridge for the deer hunting most legal hunters do.
Everything I wrote so far has been deliberately in the extreme to make points but what about the .223 or .243 deer hunter or the guy who takes coyotes with a .22 Magnum? In the cases of the .223 for deer and the .22 Magnum for coyotes, you really ARE standing on the line of capability (margin). Nevertheless, when these cartridges are used PROPERLY within their narrow range of capabilities, they work sufficiently and oftentimes they work well. In the case of the .243, the hunter might need to be even more judicious/knowledgeable in his choice of loads and shot placement than say he would with a .30-06 BUT if he is, he has success. So the .243(a capable cartridge for deer)in the hands of a hunter who can handle it wisely IS sufficient for deer. The '06 is MORE than sufficient but even it has limits. Push the range far enough and even a double lung shot deer won't be cleanly killed.
Know what your load, gun and YOU can do in the field and act only within those parameters. ---Mike
