Well, okay...Steve, I have hunted for some time and had shot animals for more than just meat. Wild dogs that have gotten in the horse pasture had to be taken out so the horses would not get injured. Woodchuck that tunnel under big trees had to be taken out as the tree will fall after they are done. Anyway, we hunt for food primarily. It is not too often we eat cow. In general we eat what we hunt, so we place our shots. I am sure your impression of shooting the small deer seemed to leave you with the idea it was blown to pieces, it was just an impression left on you by your father's comment.
Should you decide to do a hunt, please do not hesitate to ask me about it.
Ron, yes moose are large and are considered a big game hunt. I have seen more than one in the wild. I have not hunt for moose...yet. I have to take the hunts within my means. The same is with Gerry, we have been invited to hunt Roosevelt Elk. It is our intention to do that hunt this year.
If I am in the woods and not close to people's houses or buildings, then we, I, "feed the criters" as we say. That means we leave the "gut pile". If not, we bag it and stuff it in the kill until we can dump the bag.
Steve, we size the rifle to the hunt. If we are going to be doing some distance shooting, we like to use hand made ammunition with a hand made rifle. If we are protecting the house, we like a shotgun with a 8.25" barrel and #4 shot, unless we are tight in the house, we change to #6 ( it is all in how the shotgun is loaded ). Anyway, we size the rifle to the hunt.
I hope this fills in the gaps.
