What calibre do you use for stalking?

njc110381

Well-Known Member
Hey guys. I'm really interested to know what you all use as your regular stalking calibre? Also, what made you choose it? If you have more than one, what calibre/quarry combination do you like? There are so many choices out there and I'd really like to know the pros and cons to each calibre.

If you could take a moment to let me know what you shoot and why I'd be really grateful. The more answers I get the better really!

Thanks!
 
.243

I was advised when I applied for my FAC that Strathclyde police would resit any applications for anythig above .243. At the time I didnt have much stalking and didnt want to rock the boat so went withe the flow, so to speak.
 
Haven't done any stalking with it yet, but I chose a .308 - I've used a .30-06 estate rifle before and was comfortable with the larger calibre.

I wanted a big calibre as I expected to be stalking deer from muntys to reds and felt that a .243 wouldn't be enough for a big red. I chose the .308 over the .30-06 purely on ammo pricing, as I don't believe there's much between the two rounds for deer stalking.

I got the old 'teeth sucking' sound from local shooters who said I wouldn't get an FAC or a .308, not just because this would be my first full-bore, but because not uch land here is cleared for .308. I got the FAC approved on the basis that I would be using it for bought days and invitational culls on ground throughout the country.

Pippa
 
I use a 25.06 for everything! Very fast & flat trajectory and hard hitting. Zero at 150m and never more than about 1" out up to 200m so no need to compensate for bullet drop at realistic ranges.
I have shot both sexes of all six species with it in UK, and turned many a fox inside-out too! I also use 100 grain Nostler BT's for everything. They can be a bit fierce if placed badly but i would rather a meat damaged dead deer than a lightly damaged one that has run away! ;)
 
njc,
many will argue that shot placement is more important than caliber, all well and good but fact is that many miss and many others wound. We all know a bad shot on a rabbit with a 22lr and the rabbit runs, same placement with a 223 (same bullet weight and caliber) and the rabbit is down. Similar is with deer shooting to a small degree. Even if the shotplacement is maybe off by an inch or two we hope the blood loss or shock will still hopefully lead to a quick death.
Game, cartridge, speed, bullet choice and shotplacement should be chosen to work together. We should aim to get a big part of the energy of our bullet into the animal. Not on the surface but where it counts.
One of my favourite examples is the use of very tough heavy bullets in the slowish 6.5 swede which was resposible for many a runner here, why? For example a 156 lapua mega (they sell that a lot around here) running very slow out of a 22" sporter can penetrate at least 20" of flesh which means a side on shot sika hind or roe might only receive somewhere around 500ftlb energy. One would be way better off using a 223 and getting 1000ftlb energy into the animal. In this case the main problem is not the cartridge but the bullet choice.
For some it does not matter if a deer runs a bit after the shot, we sometime shoot places where we prefer to get them down with less running. If one is close to roads, close to a forest that one does not have permission to go into or when we shoot on the borders of a farm.
Especially when the neighbour is some tree hugger.

Since a few years I'm happy to use a 308 with 165SST's for stags, running at about 2700fps and 155gr a-max at the same speed for hinds and calfs. I avoid shoulder shots. Overall meat damage is not too bad.
Tomorrow morning I'll use a 243 because my 308 is getting new mounts, not really happy but mainly after a spike.
My friends use 25-06, 270, 270wsm, 3006, the 6.5 and 22-250.
Maybe the best compromise for our deer would be the 7-08, almost too sensible.

edi
 
Rifle Calibre

Using a 6.5/55 with 120grain Norma Btips, i find it a lovely round to shoot and with a T4 there is very little recoil also waiting on a licence for a Sako
75 Finnlight in .308, will be using Sako 123grain.

Most of the lads i shoot with use the .243 and the 6.5
 
Good post ejg.
There is never an ideal choice or we would never have such discussions!
Imparting all of the bullets energy into the animal is always deemed to be best - but is it? As stated - I use Ballistic Tips which do just that normally. However, it can lead to no exit wound which can mean no blood trail of any use! :eek: So is it better to use something like a partition round which expands to an extent but always exits. The animal may run on a bit but will leave a good blood trail from the large exit wound. I have dabbled with both just recently and settled with the BT's as I find them to be more accurate. I can't afford to have runners on much of my ground as there are too many main roads nearby. Ballistic tips tend to drop them 'on-the-spot' if placed right! We all have different circumstances, ideas and calibres and always will!
 
.243

mainly because at the time I was wanting a dual pupose deer/fox rifle and I was a first time FAC applicant. Got the FAC no problems and with no DSC1 or mentoring requirements.

Now I am spreading my wings a bit and occasionally stalk the larger species I am considering either a: swapping the .243 for a 6.5, or b: getting a second rifle in .308 or 7.08.
 
Got a .308 and .243 the .308 is the one that comes out 9/10 times.

Use them all on Fallow, Red, Roe and Muntjac.

All work effectively the 30 cal seams to drop them on the spot although bullet placement plays an important role in how they drop. you can still get a runner with every calibre of rifle.

What I will say about .243 is that some of the factory rounds can be a little bit on the hard side and I think don't necessarily open up on deer unless you hit a good piece of bone so I reload and find 100grn Speer SP really well out of my .243 and to date I've had very few runners with the bullet opening up every time (large exit and wound channel).

.308 a nice range of bulet weight and range of bullet heads, not to fast chugger of a round which is highly effective on Deer and accurate. Also balistically simular to .243.
 
My main rifle is a Steyr Mannlicher .243 that I use for everything up to red hinds but I also have a .270 for rutting fallow, red stags and boar mainly because I was told that a .243 would not be allowed on most red deer stalks. I've since found that many are perfectly happy with a .243 and it is the choice of quite a few stalkers.

I pick up the .243 most times, even for the larger animals, as it is spot on accurate and I've had no problem dropping all shapes and sizes of deer with it. I think that confidence has a lot to do with it and I'm totally confident with my .243

What I do find ridiculous and worrying are the comments regarding "land being cleared for .308" or "only a .243 because I'm a first time stalker". There is no practical difference in terms of ground clearance by the police and public safety issues between any of the centre fire calibres legal for deer and I find this sort of comment from the police a complete farce and a bit of a worry. There is also no requirement for any FAC applicant to have DSC. I can appreciate the desire not to rock the boat but we whould not let the police chip away at the rules and their interpretation.
 
I use a Mannlicher Classic Half Stock in 6.5x55 & despite all that's been written disparaging this calibre it knocks Roe down for me no problem, hope to try it on Fallow shortly.:D

I also have a Tikka T3 Hunter in .22-250 that's used for Muntjac & foxing, a fine calibre imo.

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Chris
 
T3 Lite in .243 Stainless Synthetic, using Nosler 100gr pushed out with 36gr of H380, T3 Tactical in .308 using 150gr Gamekings pushed out with 44gr if Vhit 140.

I chose these calibers as these are what I grew up using, when using my Dads rifles, I feel they offer the best compramise "IF" you are going to have 2 rifles, the .243 will load down to 55gr and the .308 upto 220gr (Although I never would). For my needs, the .308 will and has stopped Reds with and would obviously stop the smaller species likewise my .243 has shot all species (that's why I load with 100gr heads, to avoid not having suitable legal requirments). I will be loading some lighter loads, but these will be specific for foxing with the lamp for longer shooting.

If I was to have a single caliber/cartridge for my needs.........Who knows what choice I would have made, maby a 25-06 or 30-06, both of these seem to be very versatile and load capable, but then there is the .270....7mm08, 300msm......The list is endless, I'm sure everyone who posts on here has their favs.

I'm happy with my choices, the FLO for my first ticket was happy and I didn't have DSC qualification and he was not bothered if I got it..

TJ

PS. What caliber should I go for now? Do I need another caliber? Just 'cos I can........Ummmmm :rolleyes:
 
There are a lot of .243 users on here, that's interesting. Not a great range of calibres though which surprises me. I guess most stalkers go for rounds that are easy to get hold of?

I shoot with a 6.5x55 myself and find it works pretty well. I think the comment about shooting over engineered bullets from it is a very valid point, as the 6.5 can shoot a very heavy for calibre bullet I think it pays to use a bullet that can open up a bit and do that quickly too.

A mate of mine shoots 160grn RN SP out of his and I've always wondered if they may be a little on the hard side for what we do. In all fairness to him he does shoot mainly Fallow and Reds so maybe they're ok for the bigger animals?

I use 130grn Barnes TSX in my rifle. Mainly shooting Roe and some Muntjac. I do now and again venture to Devon though and need the same bullet to work on Red Hinds which is why I went for something a little on the tough side. I'm relatively new to this so I just watched a lot of ballistic videos on youtube etc to see what looked good. The TSX stood out to me because it opens out quite quickly (good for smaller animals) yet retains 100% of its weight so will also penetrate quite deeply for the bigger quarry. Exit wounds appear to be very tidy, about 2" round. Inside though it really does mash things up!

Now I have a .300 Win Mag I've considered using a lighter bullet in the 6.5. I'm not sure what yet, but I may try Hornady A-Max. I use the gun for Fox and Rabbits a lot and the TSX are expensive! Well worth it for the Deer, but a £1 reload on bunnies is a little steep!
 
I have used a 270win exclusively for about ten years now. The older and more confident/experienced I get, the more I think a bit less will do. When you are younger you want all the horse power you can get. I have also got to the point where I don't much want to shoot an unmoderated rifle if I can help it.

I am about (touch wood) to take delivery of a 260rem built on a Sako action. The idea is that this rifle with 120-130gr bullets will give near 270 performance with about a 20% less powder burn. Rifle will be stainless and synthetic with a nice can, so little noise, and next to no recoil or muzzle flip, all condusive to better shooting. I expect this one rifle to cover all UK and Irish stalking. I will keep the 270 as a travelling gun for pigs etc, maybe change it to a heavier calibre.
 
If you can talk your force into it the .375H&H would make a lovely pig gun. As would a .444 Marlin if they wont allow the .375!

I had a .375 for a while. Shot Deer in Canada with it and I have to say it didn't recoil anything like what people say it does. Anyone who tells you it kicks hard either has a badly fitting gun or is talking bull and has never fired one! It gives a good shove, but not a sharp painful slap like the faster small bores give you. I loved mine, if it wasn't for my local force hating the thing I'd still have it!

I've heard good things about the .260. I think it suits lighter bullets better than the 6.5x55 due to the short case neck, but then a 6.5x55 often doesn't take to light bullets because they're so far off the lands! It really does depend what weight you want to shoot! Don't forget if you do go bigger for pig shooting avoid the .308/.30-06 etc. Some countries don't allow military or ex military calibres (sorry if that's obvious but I thought I'd point it out!).
 
I have a Sako 85 stainless synthetic in .243 for which I reload 95gr Nosler ballistic tips and 100gr Speer Grand Slam soft points . I have used this on both Roe and Fallow, they have all dropped on the spot, its rather usefull on foxes also, I don,t have a dedicated round for fox they get one of the above. :lol: I also have a Sako 85 Bavarian in .308 which uses 125 & 150 gr Nosler ballistic tips and Speer Grand slam 150gr .
 
njc110381 said:
If you can talk your force into it the .375H&H would make a lovely pig gun. As would a .444 Marlin if they wont allow the .375!

They have told me in principle I can have a 9.3x62. This seems like a great match with the 270 barrel in a Sauer 202. Combine this with a short case for a go anywhere, do anything, travelling rifle.

In reality, when I have my sensible head on, I am thinking off swapping the 270 barrel for a 30/06. Likely a 30/06 will do anything I ever need to get done.
 
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