What guns can you hunt with?

Answer 1

That depends on a few things.

1. What are you hunting for?
2. What is legal in your area to hunt that species?
3. What can you afford?
4. What can you responsibly shoot?

Let's start with a quick introduction to calibers...

Caliber is the diameter of the bullet (the projectile) expressed in 100ths of an inch. A .25 caliber bullet will measure slightly over 0.250" in diameter or 1/4". In Europe ann especially in the UK and it's commonwealths, the actual overall diameter is commonly used in designating a caliber. In the US, we typically round off to the second decimal place.

Okay, let's look at what species you're hunting for.

Small Game

Rabbit, Fox, Squirrel, etc etc... any animal that has an average maximum size of less than 100lb. These animals can be hunted with shotguns, small caliber rifles, muzzleloading firearms and handguns depending on what is legal in your area.

For small game, anything from .17 caliber up through 6mm are common. There are folks who use medium sized calibers (.30 caliber or more) for long distance shooting of these animals. Most use what is readily available and economical to shoot. .22LR, .223 Remington are a couple of examples.

Medium sized game

Deer, black bear, antelope and similarly sized animals that run up to 350-400lb are commonly taken with calibers ranging from 6mm (.243) through .35. .243 Winchester, .30-06 Springfield, .300 Winchester Magnum, .35 Whelen are all fine examples.

Large game

Moose, Elk, Brown and Polar bears are all examples of animals that classify as large game. Animals weighing over 400lb on average will fall into this category. Here's where the caliber scheme varies... moose and elk are well suited for fairly modern .270 and 7mm cartridges up through the .35 caliber range. Most hunters for those animals will fall into the 7mm, .30 or .338 calibers. That covers a lot of different cartridges. For potentially dangerous game such as large or aggressive bears, .338 is often considered the minimum; Especially for close-in situations.

African game follows much the same lines, though for thick skinned game such as hippo, cape buffalo and elephant, .375 is considered to be the bare minimum, with 'big bore' calibers being favored into the .400 range and higher.

What is legal in your area?

You need to look up the regulations and rules for your own area. What can you use for a specific game animal species? Are there firearms restrictions in your area? Etc etc. get a copy of your local rules & regulations (usually put out by the state) and read it.

What can I responsibly shoot?

This is a big one. What can you handle in terms of recoil and still be safe? If the recoil of the gun makes you cringe before shooting, you need to hit the range and practice, consider modifications to the gun or get a lighter caliber because YOU ARE DANGEROUS. To other hunters and bystanders, not to mention possibly making a bad shot which wounds instead of providing a quick kill.

Thanks for asking. Do your homework, and spend some serious time at the range.