Changing rifles because of excess recoil.

[Happy Myles]

If you do not shoot a rifle well because of recoil get a lighter caliber or a different rifle. More training practice can help mind and body learn to deal with recoil. I have found being in top physical shape and having good shoes are as important for elk hunting as caliber selection. I have taken 35 bull elk, five points are better, with a half dozen different cartridges from 25-06 up to 338 Win Mag. They all worked fine. Some just worked better than others. My favorite is a 300 Win Mag because it delivers a 180 or 200 grain bullet with authority. I am not a long range aficionado but will confess to having taken a couple at 300 yards and a couple even farther. If I could not handle the recoil I would be a happy camper with an 06 or 270 type cartridge. Just for the record I love to hunt elk in tough, beautiful country From Canada throughout our Rocky Mountains, plus Nevada and Oregon. Long range is not my thing. When hunting Alaska I usually took a 338 in bear country. I have hunted Africa pretty much annually for fifty plus years and being a gun nut have tried many calibers so am familiar with all kinds of recoil. I am 82 and last year was probably my last hunt. One thing I have commonly seen is most rifle issues hunters have are caused by lack of, or infrequent practice with their firearms. i know little of all of these new shooting aids, so ignore these comments if they do not apply. I have been enjoying all your comments. Kindest Regards.

 

[Happy Myles]

Really nothing to do with recoil but the subject jogged my memory. I have taken most of the worlds wild sheep and all but two taken between 80 and 150 yards . A Marco Polo at 304 yards and an Argali in Mongolia at 306 yards. We often think of sheep hunting at long range. Maybe i was just lucky

 

[CubSlayer]

Happy Myles, my experience is much unlike yours. I have a lot less of it, and only short range woods hunting. However, I couldn't agree with you more about the lack of practice.

My "thing" is shooting black bears over bait at short distance in the woods. To you western elk/sheep hunters, it probably seems like shooting fish in a barrel. Besides hunting my own land, I go to bear camp in Maine every fall. In spite of having a 100-400 lb black blob at distances rarely exceeding 50 yards, there is someone at camp, every year, who misses. I don't just mean wounding shots, I mean a clean miss on a black bear. In some years multiple hunters miss.

I can't even be so generous as to blame neglected equipment, because this problem is so pervasive that most bear camps require everybody to zero their rifle when they arrive. Invariably, the hunter admits that he hasn't shot this rifle in X months. One year, two young men borrowed AR-10s that they had never shot. Both missed bears. One guy had a shotgun that simply wouldn't zero, even in the hands of competent shooters, yet he insisted on using it. No bear for him either.

 

[Gunner46]

I made the jump from the 7RM to the 7/08 when I was 45 (65 now). Yeah, I talked myself into 'Needing' the 7RM when I was in AZ (age 30), but it was less than a practical hunting firearm when I moved back to NC. Never looked back. To date, that 'Kids Rifle' has been the only rifle I have ever owned that has a 100% 1'st shot kill record.

 

[CubSlayer]

I've always felt that even for the big animals, the only reason to go "magnum" was for range. It's interesting that Alaska F&G's recommended brown bear cartridge is .30-'06.

 

[ponderosa11]

I'm 33, and I switched from a 30-06 to a 6.5 CM as my primary rifle for two reasons. First, I shoot better with less recoil. Second, the 6.5 CM does everything that I needed the 30-06 to do. It helps that I'm from Western Colorado, where most of my friends used 270's, and a lot of them used 243's and 25-06's. No magnum fever there.

The 30-06 recoil was not unbearable, not even excessive. But it was more than I needed to put up with to accomplish my hunting goals. Still a great cartridge.

 

[CubSlayer]

I'm 33, and I switched from a 30-06 to a 6.5 CM as my primary rifle for two reasons. First, I shoot better with less recoil. Second, the 6.5 CM does everything that I needed the 30-06 to do. It helps that I'm from Western Colorado, where most of my friends used 270's, and a lot of them used 243's and 25-06's. No magnum fever there.

The 30-06 recoil was not unbearable, not even excessive. But it was more than I needed to put up with to accomplish my hunting goals. Still a great cartridge.

What do you hunt with your 6.5?

 

[ponderosa11]

What do you hunt with your 6.5?

Deer and elk. Mostly cow elk. I keep shots under 300 yards or so. If I ever get the longing to go further, I'll go bigger in terms of caliber.

 

[Durango Mike]

If you do not shoot a rifle well because of recoil get a lighter caliber or a different rifle. More training practice can help mind and body learn to deal with recoil. I have found being in top physical shape and having good shoes are as important for elk hunting as caliber selection. I have taken 35 bull elk, five points are better, with a half dozen different cartridges from 25-06 up to 338 Win Mag. They all worked fine. Some just worked better than others. My favorite is a 300 Win Mag because it delivers a 180 or 200 grain bullet with authority. I am not a long range aficionado but will confess to having taken a couple at 300 yards and a couple even farther. If I could not handle the recoil I would be a happy camper with an 06 or 270 type cartridge. Just for the record I love to hunt elk in tough, beautiful country From Canada throughout our Rocky Mountains, plus Nevada and Oregon. Long range is not my thing. When hunting Alaska I usually took a 338 in bear country. I have hunted Africa pretty much annually for fifty plus years and being a gun nut have tried many calibers so am familiar with all kinds of recoil. I am 82 and last year was probably my last hunt. One thing I have commonly seen is most rifle issues hunters have are caused by lack of, or infrequent practice with their firearms. i know little of all of these new shooting aids, so ignore these comments if they do not apply. I have been enjoying all your comments. Kindest Regards.

Always think you have one more hunt in you no matter what! Thinking about all the wonderful experiences come back every time I look at a trophy on the wall, My wife laughs when someone asks where I shot something and I can tell them who/what/where/ the weather and what I had for breakfast the day I shot X. I often can't remember what I opened the fridge door for or when we are supposed to go for dinner. In one sense I like the fact that digital photography was not available for most of my hunts, just the memories and a trophy to spark them!