How do you know which caliber to use for hunting? After all, there are a ton of different calibers and a ton of different animals to use those calibers on.
I struggled to figure out which calibers I should use to hunt various types of animals, so I created this graphic to help you on your hunting journey. Anytime you need to figure out which caliber to use on your hunt, come back here!
Every hunter has a gun that they use all the time. They use it at deer camp or whatever hunt they go on. But what caliber should mine be in? Today I will help you answer that question.
What will you be hunting?
The first question to ask is what are you hunting? Most people in the midwest, south and east of the US will be hunting deer, hogs, and maybe bear. However, if you live in the west and northwest you may find yourself hunting bear, deer, pronghorn, elk, caribou, and moose. First I will narrow it down to 3 groups: small game, medium game, and big game.
Small game.
Small game will consist of rabbits, squirrels, and birds like doves animals from 0-5 pounds. You need good shot placement to hit the vitals on small game.
Medium game.
These are animals like deer, hogs, pronghorn, and black bears. between 50- 300 pound animals.
Big game.
These are the biggest animals of North America animals like grizzly bears, moose, elk, and caribou.
These animals require good shot placement and a big gun. These calibers should have good kinetic energy to kill big game but make sure they fit the ranges you will be hunting.
varmit.
Animals like opossum, skunk, raccoon, coyote, and prairie dogs are considered varmints and can be shot year-round in most states. check your state rules before hunting any animals.
The chart
| Animal | Recommended Calibers | Game type |
| Deer, hogs, pronghorn, and black bear. | 30-06, .6.5 Creedmoor, 7mm-08, .308. 6.5 PRC, 270 WSM, 25-06, 257 Weatherby. | Medium game |
| Elk, moose, bison, caribou, and grizzly bear. | .300 Winchester mag, .300 Weatherby, .30-06, and 7mm mag 300PRC, 300 H and H, 300 RUM. | Big game |
| Rabbit, squirrel, dove, coyote, opossum, raccoon, groundhog, prairie dogs, | .177 and .22 pellet guns, .22lr, .22 mag, .17 HMR: small game and small varmints .223 Remington, .22-250, .243: big varmints | Small game and varmint |
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