Cartidges that have wounded the most game.

[dkhunt14]

If your going to have a list for most killed then I thing you need a list for most wounded. My old man used to say wouldn't get caught carrying a 30-30 to the mailbox. Matt

 

[ShootDots]

I would think that the worst offenders might be H-E-A-V-Y recoiling magnums shooting VERY controlled expanding bullets into thin skin game. Hard kicking rifles make hunters flinch, they don't often shoot them well and hit animals in the paunch where they run off to die a slow, painful death.. But what those heavy recoiling cartridges might be is anyones guess... I knew an Elk hunting guide, who guided on a private ranch. It was his opinion that a .280 Remington was ideal as he saw too many "magnum shooters" wound Elk because they were actually afraid of their rifles.

 

[Catfur]

If your going to have a list for most killed then I thing you need a list for most wounded. My old man used to say wouldn't get caught carrying a 30-30 to the mailbox. Matt

Given that the .30-30 has probably shot more deer and such, it's probably wounded more, just by sheer volume. Close contenders would probably be the .44-40, .30-06 and .308. Volume wins.

 

[MNFinn]

If your going to have a list for most killed then I thing you need a list for most wounded. My old man used to say wouldn't get caught carrying a 30-30 to the mailbox. Matt

Given that the .30-30 has probably shot more deer and such, it's probably wounded more, just by sheer volume. Close contenders would probably be the .44-40, .30-06 and .308. Volume wins.

Going to agree with this. The cartridges that have shot the most have wounded the most due to sheer volume

 

[Iowa Fox]

22 LR

 

[Patch700]

.... Rat traps?

 

[coonhunter70]

22 LR

For sure!

 

[Outrider27]

+1 on what Catfur and and Emn83 said. The ones that are used the most stand the best chance of wunding the most, just based on sheer volume. To accurately evaluate what wounds the most, it would have to be evaluated using a common denominator like wounded for thousand shot with each caliber.

 

[jonbearman]

I think that this is the silliest thread ever written. To say what has wounded what is pure conjecture. Maybe we should blame just plain old lousy shots by the so called experts who live in various areas who believe because they heard storys with no clear cut evidence. You cant prove any of this stuff. It is fiction without knowing stats. I would bet more deer have been wounded by cars than the 30-30 and I wouldn't get caught carrying one of those in the woods either. If you think the 30-30 doesn't have enough power to kill a whitetail deer then you need to stand out in a field and try it out on gelatin to prove that a bullet traveling 2300 fps wont kill anything. Take the 45-70 trapdoor and lets see how many people were wounded with that anemic round. I think that you are so hung up on high performance that it doesn't take much to kill a deer. Many have been poached with the poachers favorite cartridge , the 22 magnum with one shot to the head. I think more deer or animals get wounded by those of us that feel like shooting at animals on a dead run instead of waiting for a safe shot to prevent ricocheting bullets. When you here a guy emptying his gun on an animal you can be sure they missed or wounded that animal because they wont let one thing go by them without taking a pot shot at it. I will defend the 30-30 as a viable gun to shoot out to 150 yards and anyone pushing it beyond its limits is a lousy rifleman. Be serious and don't believe old wives tails. I actually heard that a .308 was a bad deer round when I was a kid. I sort of believed it as a kid until I started reading every hunting magazine and hunting books to learn the whole truth. We will never really know how many get wounded as I have met very few that would admit wounding an animal. I hunted for years on a really deer rich parcel. One year we spotted a piball doe with 2 fawns the same. The people in the area asked that no one shoot them on the land we hunted. Gun season opens and wouldn't you know it some dumb guy said" I thought I put a good hit on it,but it ran so I didn't track it" I told the land owner who this idiot was and where he shot at it. The farmer found the piball mom still alive with her intestines hanging out. The dec came and shot it. If I were to guess which round ever wounded the most , then it is shotguns period. I have met more guys that shoot at over 200 yds at animals and I just laugh as they couldn't hit a barn with a 12 gage smoothbore at 200 yds. My vote goes to shotguns and cars.LOL

 

[dkhunt14]

Well JON when I started hunting over 40 years ago a big percentage of hunters used the lever actions. They drove deer in gangs up to 25 people. They shoot at mostly running targets and slung lots of lead. Now most of those levers were 30-30's. The drives were in the cutoffs and in the mountains. The red brush and the Laurel was so thick that I don't even know how they shot. The point is I see almost no 30-30's in the woods. I see a lot of Remington pumps which don't come in 30-30 and REM and WIN bolts which don't come in 30-30. I see hardly any lever guns anymore and they were the 30-30. Now hunters sit in stands and wait for the shot. Hunting has really changed. Newer calibers, better bullets, better scopes, more custom guns and more archery and muzzleloading hunters. Matt

 

[LHSmith]

.223 w/ FMJ as used by the spray and pray crowd.......your local tacti-cool snipper wanabees.

 

[dan06]

If I were to guess I would say Shot gun and agree with Jon. Most slug gun shooters are scared of their set up and they are not super accurate. In my humble opinion buckshot is useless over 25 yards and I hear guys all the time talking about taking deer out to 75-100 yards with it. I have won quite a bit of money from guys that think they can consistantly put 4- 00buck on a paper plate at 60 yards with their set up.

 

[Barlow]

Wrong bullet for the job, rifles not sighted in properly, hunters that can't shoot, taking bad shots, unsure of the distance, are more guilty than a specific cartridge. Barlow

 

[mshelton]

22 LR

For sure!

+1

 

[Joe Salt]

And I for one don't think we should be talking about this at all, we get enough bad press without adding to it. Cars kill and maim more deer and people bar nun so lets leave it at that.

Joe Salt

 

[ReedG]

Calibers and cartridges don't wound anything. Poor shooters, bad decisions and incompetent trigger-pullers do.

 

[mr45man]

I,m with jonbearman, The shotgun/slug in shotgun only states.
I harvested a few with slugs in them from the previous year
And found the carcuses of more than a few after the season.
John H.

 

[TheOtherZilla]

The question should be" Hunters Who have wounded the most game". The rifle is only a tool. Caliber is mostly irrelevant.

#1 on my list is Dick Cheney.

 

[dkhunt14]

I guess the point that I was trying to make is Equipment and tactics gave really changed. Stuff is way more accurate and the list of available cartridges have really grown. The Short Mags, 7-08, The Ultra Mags, Creedmoor 6 Dasher,6 BR, and a bunch of other cartridges now used. The old stand buys are not near as prevalent as they were 20 or 30 years ago. I agree that cars and coyotes probably injure more deer then any thing. The hunters and conservation has really changed too. A long time ago it was reported you would walk 3 or more days just to find a track and maybe a week chasing it. Stories of guys sleeping in the woods and hollow logs just to hunt the deer. Look at it now at the amount of deer we have. Times have really changed. Matt

 

[Changeling]

Hi Jon, we seem to think a lot alike, that was very well said!

Short story: About 10 years or so ago I didn't have a place to hunt so I decided to go to a public hunting area in Thurmont Maryland. After parking and getting my rifle out and ready, two guys approached me and asked if I could give them a hand.
They had two lever action rifles and couldn't figure out how to get the cartridges in it !!!
I just said I have no idea! Put my rifle back in it's case and went back home!