Forrest Halley
AH legend
So thanks to the hearty enablers here in the forum I have increased my power level from .300 Winchester Magnum to first .375 Holland and Holland and then .458 Lott.
My question is: Once you get comfortable with that higher level of power, how do you rationalize dropping back down to something normal for a whitetail?
I know I can kill a deer with a 9×19 fired from a 4" barrel. I also know I can kill a deer with a .30-06. Having recently killed a deer with a .458 Lott has caused me a lot of doubt in going back down. The intial sighting occurred at about 60 yards and I had the uncommon ability to select what I wanted to use. I shied away from the suppressed 300 BLK subsonics for lack of expanding projectiles. I almost took the shot with a .243 loaded with 100 grain A-MAX, but was concerned about the anchoring ability. So in a moment of complete "More Power!" I selected the .458 which was loaded with a 400 grain bullet because that's what I could find in the moment. By the time I had gotten myself together the nature of the shot had changing substantially. In retrospect these three setups would all have done the job. Just have to be able to flip the switch and commit I suppose.
My question is: Once you get comfortable with that higher level of power, how do you rationalize dropping back down to something normal for a whitetail?
I know I can kill a deer with a 9×19 fired from a 4" barrel. I also know I can kill a deer with a .30-06. Having recently killed a deer with a .458 Lott has caused me a lot of doubt in going back down. The intial sighting occurred at about 60 yards and I had the uncommon ability to select what I wanted to use. I shied away from the suppressed 300 BLK subsonics for lack of expanding projectiles. I almost took the shot with a .243 loaded with 100 grain A-MAX, but was concerned about the anchoring ability. So in a moment of complete "More Power!" I selected the .458 which was loaded with a 400 grain bullet because that's what I could find in the moment. By the time I had gotten myself together the nature of the shot had changing substantially. In retrospect these three setups would all have done the job. Just have to be able to flip the switch and commit I suppose.