Hunting with a 338 Lapua

[ML_Hunter]

So i ahve a friend of mine who is getting up in age and i noticed that he hunts with a 338 Lapua for white tail. I thought that was a little over kill but he told me the reason he liked it, before i even said anything is that it drops them where you hit them so he doent have to track em through the brush. Whats your thoughts?

 

[MUP]

I have a friend who was hunting with a 300 ultra mag years ago. I asked him why so much gun when my 06 would kill them just as well. He said, it's like a rabbit that I run over with my Nissan truck, but the rabbit that gets run over by a semi is deader.

 

[DeerCamp]

I've seen a few deer shot with the .338

The wound channel was massive, but honestly didn't affect the meat at all with a shot a few inches behind the shoulder.

Expensive round though

 

[Snake]

So i ahve a friend of mine who is getting up in age and i noticed that he hunts with a 338 Lapua for white tail. I thought that was a little over kill but he told me the reason he liked it, before i even said anything is that it drops them where you hit them so he doent have to track em through the brush. Whats your thoughts?

No such thing as overkill , dead is dead no matter how you look at it . I hunted many years with a 45-70 .

 

[RobDooley]

My Weatherby 7mm wby mag is really expensive to shoot. But it will drop em like a used condom.

 

[timberjack86]

I clean all my deer, I just need em dead not obliterated

 

[Ahuntin1]

I shot a deer once with a 416 Barret. Just like MUP said, it was a little deader. There's no need to hunting whitetail with anything over 300 win mag, and that's only needed at stupid long distance, but why not

 

[TheLBLman]

Better to have a little too much than a little not enough.

Sure, it's way more than needed, but using a .338 possibly makes more sense than a .243 or .223?

Many the same shooter's questioning the sanity of using a .338 for deer, use a .50 caliber muzzleloader?

Think of it this way:

.338 Lapua 200 gr bullet x 3,300 fps
- - - - - - - vs. - - - - - - -
.50 Cal 300 gr bullet x 2,000 fps
_________________________________________
Delivered Energy is Comparable

 

[Pilchard]

I hunt with a lot of lighter calibers and the deer don't seem to notice but someone once asked me this question and it has always stuck with me: "If you were a deer, what would you want to be shot with?"

 

[Bass1090]

I've seen a few deer shot with the .338

The wound channel was massive, but honestly didn't affect the meat at all with a shot a few inches behind the shoulder.

Expensive round though

I agree with this. I bought a .338 Win Mag a few years ago off a member on here for an elk hunt in September. I didn't have any luck so I thought I would carry it for TN rifle season. I was fortunate enough to kill a hand full with it and really didn't notice much difference in meat damage on good shot placements. I did notice the extra weight and cost lol. I haven't used it since but may rotate it back in next year and give the .270 a break.

 

[TnKen]

35 whelen with 225 gr sierra game kings will drop them, and with a lot less punishment to the shooter.

 

[Sako]

Depending on where you hunt it can be very important to drop them where they stand.... I hunted for about 20 years in Georgia on a 10k acre track of planted pines... at times and in some places you could get into the "thick stuff" and literally not see 2-3 feet in any direction. I hunted with a 7mag and a 338mag most of the time for that very reason... If it was a decent buck I always shot for the front shoulders.

 

[Hduke86]

Plenty of land to track if need be I'll use a 243. Now if I need them to drop like a sack of taters so I don't have to rappel off a bluff up on here the mountain. The 300wm gets the nod for a shoulder shot or the 35rem with 200gr.

 

[Swampster]

Depending on where you hunt it can be very important to drop them where they stand....

Becomes more important as you age. I have passed on deer because I didn't want to go retrieve them where they were.

 

[DeerCamp]

I agree with this. I bought a .338 Win Mag a few years ago off a member on here for an elk hunt in September. I didn't have any luck so I thought I would carry it for TN rifle season. I was fortunate enough to kill a hand full with it and really didn't notice much difference in meat damage on good shot placements. I did notice the extra weight and cost lol. I haven't used it since but may rotate it back in next year and give the .270 a break.

What I've seen is a lot of those bigger bullets are bonded so well, they are designed for deep penetration on big animals.

I don't think they really expand that much sometimes on a whitetail.

Lots of that energy exiting out the other side of the deer. Deer still very dead.

 

[ML_Hunter]

My Weatherby 7mm wby mag is really expensive to shoot. But it will drop em like a used condom.

This is what I hunt with currently (7mm wby mag) but since I almost lost my last buck because it did not drop him at 230 yards im reathinking my choice in calibers.

 

[ML_Hunter]

I hunt with a lot of lighter calibers and the deer don't seem to notice but someone once asked me this question and it has always stuck with me: "If you were a deer, what would you want to be shot with?"

I would go for cruise missile, go big or go home?

 

[younggun308]

What I've seen is a lot of those bigger bullets are bonded so well, they are designed for deep penetration on big animals.

I don't think they really expand that much sometimes on a whitetail.

Lots of that energy exiting out the other side of the deer. Deer still very dead.

Yeah, the exit wound from a non-bonded soft point bullet at 7mm Rem Mag velocities can be a thing to behold. Really it's the hydrostatic shock that kills them under 100 yards.

 

[rifle02]

Well not to put anyone down but the response I get, well I have in the past anyway is that a bigger more powerful gun will make up for my lack of marksmanship! I've heard that at least twice!

 

[RUGER]

Blood trailing is for bowhunting.
Broadside shoulder shot .300 win mag.