If you want to knock any deer over with one shot, I'll tell you how to do it. I'm not going out on a limb with that statement because it's not about the cartridge. You can do it with a .243. You can do it with the .300 magnum.
Re-read those last two sentences. What's common in both of them? That's right — every word except the caliber. "You can do it." Yes, if you know where to put the bullet AND YOU CAN PUT THE BULLET THERE, you can do it every time. (The great majority of times anyway, because there are no guarantees in deer hunting.)
Deer are tough, but they can't overcome physics (the energy the bullet clobbers them with, and its attendant terminal ballistics). And they can't overcome biology (every deer is built the same way, and no deer is superdeer).
If you want to drop every deer you shoot in his tracks, or you want to know why you're dropping deer in their tracks, read my December 16 column in the Jamestown Gazette, "The 'Best' Deer Cartridge is about Physics and Biology." It's not magic, but through the magic of the Internet you can Click Here to read what drops every deer in its tracks, in the Jamestown Gazette.
To read other blog posts at "MISSION: HUNTER," CLICK HERE to go to www.EverydayHunter.com.
Photo by Steve Sorensen: The author shot this buck a few years ago with a 7mm-08. The 139 grain bullet hit the deer high in the shoulder, applying physics to biology.