.303 in Montana

For years I have hunted exclusively with milsurp rifles and for the last 10 with the .303 Brit round here in Montana.  The .303 is what some would call a pip squeak when compared to what many bean field hunters use to hunt quadrapeds here in Big Sky country.  .270 WSSMs, 7mm STWs, and .300 Ultras are considered minimums by many.  So imagine the ribbing I take when out comes my No.4T which one fella actually asked one year if it was a muzzle loader!  He was not joking, he had no idea other than it had a full stock like most muzzle loaders he has seen.  It would be nice to hunt with folks who have the same sorts of rifles but they seem few and far between.  When I was a kid in the early 70s we all had .303s or 8mm Mausers and the rich kids had .30/30s.  We are surely a bigger is better society now, I am amazed that I have not ran into a .50 BMG AR-50 out hunting yet!

It seems as though the old standards are a thing of the past.  The good way to look at it is, if nobody is buying the old stuff that keeps the price down for the rest of us.  I saw a box of 7mm Ultra Max the other night at Cabelas that was over $100!  Last deer season they had some super .308 Win that was $54!  I would like to know just out of curiosity where all those old rifles went or are they just relegated to the back of the closet because they are not the wizz bang super cool Lapua Mag.  Hoadie, is .303 stuff easier to find in Canada?

Head shot on a deer?  Or any critter.  That's a no-no!  A friend swore by head shots - until he jaw shot one.  Now he agrees with me.  Says he'll never head shoot something again.

When it comes to hunting, a gun is merely a tool that meets the requirement to put meat on the table. When I cut my meat before eating I use a regular steel knife and fork, not one made of titanium, or some space-aged material. I think you guys can see where I am going with this? The .303 is a brute at the proper ranges. I also see these ultra-whiz-bang high dollar rifles being used and I have had many snickers and jokes about the Lee Enfield .303 and I just tell 'em...this round has worked on small/large game since the early 1900's and why should it not work now? One fellow last fall on my deer hunt, a guy we invited into camp because he was asking if anyone had cigarettes commented on my Enfield sitting in its cradle on the ATV. He asked who the old fart was who owned it and I piped up that it was mine ( I'm 56). He had the nerve to say that I was born in the wrong era. We didn't get along at all for the 1/2 hour he was around our campfire. I told him before he left that my rifle has shot many many deer, moose and the fellow who owned it before me shot elk and caribou with it. This guy had a 300 win-mag for gosh sakes! FOR DEER!!! I shot back a comment just as he was mounting his ATV that a win-mag for deer hunting makes a hunter look to be a poor shot and a rifle such as that for deer was an excuse for being a poor shot. He took off in a huff.

The late John Arbuthnott brought a 300 Win mag to deer camp one time.(He always showed up with new gadgets).Said he wasn't going to shoot a deer..just scare 'em away.(He couldn't kill an animal). He let loose with that canon, & I swear they heard it in the next county!!
Hoadie

I have no room to talk.

My older brother hunts with a 444. I always know when he takes a shot. When I her the shot I always hit the dirt.

NICE!!!!