Me, my relatives, my neighbors, etc. I am not sure if I knew a hunter growing up that didn't have (and use) a 30-30. Even today, if I am taking 40y shots in the woods from a tree stand it is the easy choice for whitetail and black bear. But if you are on the edge of a field where you may get a longer shot, the 30-06 (forbidden from this thread), .270 (not sure if allowed or not) and .243 (also a military derivative cartridge) are common choices.
Cool, at least you know some people who hunt with them...would be the very last rifle I pulled from a whole cabinet full, even if 40 yard whitetails from a tree was on the menu.
Taking a close-range deer is more harvesting than shooting. The nostalgia of the 30-30 makes the harvesting a little more fun for some of us. Hunting here is definitely different than hunting there - including the cultures around hunting.
I say that might be a good answer but I prefer the 280 Rem. Actually with the variety of game we have I don't think there's a right answer to this. I figure depending on the shooter's ability and willingness to work withing the limits of the cartridge, it could be anything! Old indian woman in Canada has the #2 grizzy bear in the world with a 22 long. What can I say. She knew exactly what she was doing and how to use the cartridge she used! And then there's probably someone else thinks the only cartridge worth hunting deer with is a 458 Win Mag just in case you run into a bear! Myself I like 6'5's and 7mm's but, I don't delude myself that they are the be all of cartridges! Shoot, didn't Bell kill a bunch of elephants with the 6.5? Oh yea but it was a European cartridge. Then again what difference would it make if those 6.5 bullet's came out of a European case or say a 260 case? I think the best of anything is always an assumption on the part of the person making the claim!
If the 30-30 was such a John Wayne classic...why did they make the John Wayne model 94 commemorative rifle in 32-40?
If that's your favorite you probably shoot it better than other's and that makes it a good choice!
We didn't have tree stands back in the day. But you are completely correct. It's that whole snap shooting mentality that comes with the "brush gun" idea.If you wound a deer shot at 40y from a tree stand it is not the cartridge's fault.
We have a 32-40 as well...I've actually shot a deer with it.
This could have been true 50 years ago, when talking wood lot whitetails. To be fair I did kill my first couple deer with a 30-30 and just like any caliber using a hunting bullet if you poke a hole in both lungs the animal will die quickly.
And wounded more too. It's been around for a long time and taken its share of game, but that doesn't necessarily make it the best.
Wounding is 95% on the hunter and 5% circumstances beyond the hunter's control (like an animal moving at the exact instance of the trigger pull). Cartridges don't wound animals. Hunters pick the bullets, hunters select the cartridge, hunters determine shot placement, hunters determine the acceptable distance of the shot, hunters are accountable for their shooting accuracy, hunters read the wind, etc.
Buy it!
