Thread: Calibre for over a Deer Dog

Originally Posted by OWS

I came close to converting a Tikka .223 into a suppressed 300 BLK to hunt over my dog in bush hunting situations. I think this is a good option if you're shooting a lot of deer or have a particularly sensitive dog. Being able to switch between subs and supers, and the short barrel options make the 300 BLK pretty cool. But if you're like me and can only get out 5-10 times a year and want to make the most of every opportunity (e.g., deer out past 200m) and your dog is pretty robust then makes less sense, given the limited range.

I have ended up getting a suppressed Remington Model 7 in .260. (Have been hunting over my dog with a suppressed .308 for several years, and she's always much more focused on the deer than the bang so I think we'll be fine.)

That’s what I ended up doing rebarreled a Tikka T3 223rem into a 12” 300 blackout and spend between 80 and 100 days a year deer stalking with the hound, he lives for it more than me and so seriously focused on the stalk. With nearly 4000 rounds through the blackout I wouldn’t want to shoot a large caliber rifle over him he would be deaf like me, only 25% and 35% hearing in my ears now.
The shot placement and the projectile for the job is important than how many feet pre second with any given common caliber just look at the old cullers using 222. Years ago i was happy dropping deer with a 223 and a 7.62x39 but guys would say there pea shooters so I got a magnum, it didn’t make a difference except I could drop two deer with one bullet and have a bad shot and shoot them in the guts they still run away.
There’s two mates and myself that use a subsonic 300 blackout for deer hunting and home kill farm work deer, beef, sheep as well as pest control goats, bunnies, coons, wild cats. The 10/22 doesn’t get used much theses days of the high caliber guns.