South Dakota hunt

[Big20Pointer]

Got a rifle hunt in South Dakota this fall. My question to yall is what caliber would yall use out there? I will be hunting whitetails and mule deer. A 300 yard shot is not uncommon. IDK if I want to go the magnum route or not

 

[GOODWIN]

Whatever you're already comfortable shooting. 300 yds will be easy to master with some range time.

 

[GOODWIN]

However, I always like a reason to get a new gun!

 

[JimFromTN]

300 win mag seems like the proper caliber for such a hunt.

 

[Hardwoodmaterials]

A 7mm Rem mag is a nice caliber for that distance without all the recoil of the 30cal magnums. Honestly out to 400-500 yds I would just take my .270 Win. Its what I'm comfortable with and 300 yds isn't really that far.

 

[Sniper]

What do you have now? I know for us we would rather have someone shooting a 308 with confidence and accuracy than a 300 Win Mag flinching and shooting all over the place.

 

[DaveB]

Go the 280 route. Its a 7 Mag with no Mag. Danged thing is accurate and recoil is 30/06-ish which is near nothing.

280 with 140's is plenty of poison.

Thing is the Wind, which I hear tell is rough in the Dakota plains. However, 300 Mag won't be of any help in a 20MPH cross wind at much over 150 yards.

 

[JimFromTN]

I went out to the vortex site and ran their ballistics calculator and found that a 180 gr 300 win mag has less drift than a 140 gr 280 and slightly less drift than a 150 gr 7mm rem mag.

Only women, children, and lesser men flinch from the recoil of a 300 win mag.

 

[mr.big]

260 loaded with 142 Nosler Long Range Accubonds,,

 

[MUP]

:lol: @ JimfromTn.

 

[TNRifleman]

25-06, 257 WBY, .260. .270, .280, 7MM, 7MM-08, .308, 30-06, 300 wm.......and many more

Any of these will do for what your needs are. You likely already have the right gun if you hunt whitetails in TN.

 

[vonb]

25-06, 257 WBY, .260. .270, .280, 7MM, 7MM-08, .308, 30-06, 300 wm.......and many more

Any of these will do for what your needs are. You likely already have the right gun if you hunt whitetails in TN.

This above. We were prairie dog hunting in SD with .223s in 36 mph winds. Our longest successful shot b/t the three of us was 686 yards by my buddy. Several successful shots made by me in the 550 yard range. This was with 55 gr bullets. The point is know your gun and practice with it. No amount of a bigger caliber will make you a better shot without practice. The distances we hunt here in TN is truly a chip shot when to out West.

If a reloader, find a good load and go practice. If not, test several factory loads. 300 yards is easy enough with knowing your setup with any factory load in the calibers TNRifleman mentioned above.

 

[LanceS4803]

I'm just finishing this build for my new "all around" rifle:
Tikka T3 Lite in .270
Leupold VX-6, 2-12x42 w/ CDS
Game Reaper mount

Capable of taking any big game in the continental US and a HECK of a lot lighter than my 300WM.