More on the 44 Dream

Thanks for all your input. I posted this on a few places, and got surprisingly similar replies. Allow me to address a few issues:

1) No, I don’t need my medication changed. Thanks for asking, but Doc says I’m doing fine on the dosage I’m on. The good news is this: as a practicing shaman, I can file for unemployment benefits if I ever stop dreaming.

2) As they say, “Individual results may vary.” I can’t say why my family seems to be having such a problem with the 30-30. Really, that’s what this is all about. If my deer were cooperating and falling over like nice dead cervids, none of this would be impinging on my sleep. If it was a shot placement thing, I’d know how to fix that. These are boiler room shots that let the deer walk off as if nothing happened. That’s spooky. Hornady makes their Interlock RN’s tough, but I’m seeing appropriate exit wounds. When I recover bullets, I’m seeing normal expansion.

3) This isn’t a big-bore hound trying to scratch his itch. I’m your normal run-of-the-mill cervid serial killer who’s looking to improve his time going from shot to meatpole. I’m tired of putting three into them and still have them standing there, laughing at me.

4) I think the 308 180-grain option sounds great. Has anyone tried bigger than 170 grain bullets in a 30-30?

5) 405 WIN. Now there’s an idea! Bully, I say! Bully! However, isn’t it odd that we’re now talking about a round that old TR used for Rhino as deer medicine? Ditto for 444 Marlin and 45-70. I’m pinching myself and wondering when I’m going to wake up.

6) To me in the broadest stroke, the ’06, the .308, the 12 GA slug, and the .54 cal smokepole are all pretty much the same in the way they get deer to react. Inside 75 yards, there’s a noticeable impact, the animal gets knocked over or staggered. They may run a little or just thrash around, but you know they ain’t goin’ anywhere special. That’s what I was expecting with the 30-30, and that’s what I would expect out of any deer round.

7) My vision quest is the search for the best deer gun for me. That’s all it is. I’ll know it when I see it. So far the 1100 slug gun and the Savage 99 (a 308 loaded down to 300 Savage levels) are my top choices, and my 30-06 bolt gun does me fine out past 150 yards.

This conversation all goes back to a basic question. Granted, it’s shot placement that kills deer. However, what comes next? Okay, shot placement. Okay, what besides shot placement? Sectional Density? Velocity? If that’s true, maybe I’m dreaming the wrong dream here. Maybe the 180 grain or 200 grain loads delivered by something with a .308 bore will do a better job that anything except from a MUCH larger .40-something bore.

As always, I'm just asking here.