Tag: đặt h

The performance gap between compound bows and new crossbows seems to be widening exponentially. In last year’s Crossbow Test, for example, we reviewed two bows—the Ravin R500 and TenPoint Nitro 505—that shot speeds faster than 500 fps, which was impossible to imagine just a few years ago. For reference, the fastest compound bow in the 2022 Bow Test—the Bowtech SR350—generated a speed of 288 fps with a 67-pound draw weight, 29-inch draw length, firing a 450-grain arrow. That difference of 200 fps is so substantial that many bowhunters still argue that crossbows don’t belong in regular archery seasons. Many of us also wonder when crossbow advancements might begin to plateau or when game agencies might crack down on crossbow performance.

But there’s one critical metric where crossbows and compound bows are much closer than most bowhunters realize: accuracy. We shot the field of new crossbows and compound bows at Lancaster Archery and Supply’s 50-yard range. Crossbows were scoped up, dialed in, and shot from a lead sled. Compound bows were paper tuned and shot without any stabilizers. Our test team included four shooters with varying degrees of experience. The results? The average three-shot crossbow group for the field was 3.45 inches. The average three-shot compound bow group for the field was 3.20 inches. Yep, at 50 yards, the compound bows were more accurate, on average.

Digging Into Crossbow vs. Compound Bow Accuracy Data

What we were really testing here was field accuracy: how accurately a regular archer can actually shoot the bow or crossbow in the real world. If we’d have shot the bows out of a mechanical shooting device, like a Hooter Shooter, we’d likely get different results. But for bowhunters, the thing that matters most is the question: “How well can I shoot the bow?” So that’s what we measured.

We didn’t stack the deck in favor of compound bows with professional shooters, either. The compound bow testers were myself and P.J. Reilly of Lancaster Archery. Reilly is an expert shooter and veteran bowhunter. In other words, if you put him on a random public archery range he’d likely be the best shooter on the line, but he’s not winning national 3D tournaments. As for me, I’m a workaday archer. I’ve been bowhunting since I was 14, and I shoot diligently every summer so that I’m ready to be a lethal hunter in the fall. I don’t compete, I hang my bow up for the winter, and I’ve never had formal coaching. In other words, I’m probably just like you. Here’s how we shot.

We also both shot the underrated Darton Spectra E exceptionally well (2.17 inches for Reilly and 2.5 inches for me). This was our best-shooting bow at 50 yards, and it was as or more accurate, than the most accurate crossbow in the test.

Senior deputy editor Natalie Krebs and gear editor Scott Einsmann tested the crossbows under ideal conditions: from a lead sled resting on a heavy picnic table, in minimal wind. The most accurate crossbow from the field of nine was the Ravin R500 with an average group size of 2.48 inches. (Read the full review of the best crossbows of 2023 here).

If we parse out the data, and look at each shooter with each bow individually, some more interesting points arise:

• Best overall compound group: Mathews V3X, .75 inches
• Best overall crossbow group: Ravin R500, 1.06 inches
• Best overall 3-group average, compound: Hoyt RX7, 1.62 inches
• Best overall 3-group average, crossbow: Ravin R500, 2.06 inches
• Worst overall compound group: Bear Refine Eko, 6 inches
• Worst overall crossbow group: Killer Instinct Swat X1, 5.7 inches
• Worst overall 3-group average, compound: Bear Refine Eko, 5.67
• Worst overall 3-group average, crossbow: Excalibur Twin Strike X1, 4.27 inches

The takeaway? The most accurate compound bows beat the most accurate crossbows. But the least accurate crossbows beat the least accurate compound bows. Below, you can see our average three-shot groups with each bow and crossbow. —A.R.

Why Modern Compound Bows Are So Accurate

One of the biggest innovators in compound bows is Rex Darlington, who helped shaped compound bows into the tack drivers we know today. He also designed the most accurate bow we shot at the Outdoor Life Bow Test, the Darton Spectra E. You’ll find Darlington’s patents used in just about every flagship bow, especially his synchronized cam system.

“That cam system takes away a lot of the issues the shooter creates,” Darlington says. “It contributes a lot to the consistency and accuracy of the bow.”

One way it makes bows accurate is by eliminating nock-travel issues. Anyone who shot an early cam ½ system can appreciate the headaches the synchronized cam alleviates.

You might think that an arrow shooting from full draw travels in a straight line, but in some bow designs the nock end would move at an angle. In the worst designs, it would travel at an inconsistent angle. To solve the inconsistency issue, many archers timed their cams for a little downward nock travel to give the arrow a consistent direction. Another issue was that with each draw length adjustment, the nock travel changed, which made tuning bows a headache. Basically the synchronized cam system makes bows really easy to tune.

According to Darlington, one thing contributing to Darton’s accuracy is that their manufacturing process and specifications make each bow very consistent and easy to tune.

“That bow should shoot a bullet hole just by lining things up, and there shouldn’t be any more tuning than that to the bow,” he says.

Beyond the synchronized cam system found in almost every bow, many of the top bows had a wide limb stance.

“The limbs have gotten wider because it helps distribute stress and makes them less prone to fatigue. They hold up better,” Darlington says. “It also takes more effort to twist them, which makes the bow more stable.”

Bows used to have comfortable, but torque-prone, grips. These days more bows have a square, flat grip that promotes even and consistent grip pressure. There’s a reason target archers prefer a grip of that style, and bowhunters reap the same benefits. Another X factor is that there’s more archery information available. You can go to YouTube right now and get shooting advice from great coaches like John Dudley or George Rylas IV, and many bowhunters have. So you have fewer trigger slappers out there and more people shooting solid form. —S.E.

Why Modern Crossbows Aren’t More Accurate

While Darlington is known for his compound bow designs, Darton makes crossbows, too. Darlington provided insight into what’s holding back crossbow accuracy.

“The thing about crossbows is, if you take the arrow weight and you figure the amount of stored energy, it’s like shooting an under-spined arrow out of a compound bow,” he said. “So, you’ll encounter arrow flight issues you wouldn’t accept out of a compound bow.”

The issue isn’t the crossbow. It’s that the bolts they shoot aren’t optimized for their 300-pound draw weights. The result is the same as shooting a poorly-tuned compound bow. Another pitfall is some crossbow package bolts lack straightness and spine consistency. So, how do you get the most out of your crossbow? Tamp down the speed by shooting a heavier bolt or a crossbow with a lower draw weight.

“Mathews [Mission Crossbows] has pretty much dominated crossbow tournaments, but they’re not shooting very fast speeds out of their crossbows,” Darlington said. “Their weights are under 200 pounds and that’s one of the things that contributes to their accuracy.” —S.E.

Long-Range Accuracy

If we had stretched the range of our test to 70 yards or 100 yards, you’d see crossbow accuracy start to pull ahead of compound bow accuracy. Most average compound shooters would have a hard time turning in 6-inch or even 8-inch groups at 100 yards. Shooting from a supported position, with a scope, is too great of an advantage for all but the best compound shooters to overcome. But even with today’s, ultra-fast crossbows, 100 yards should not be considered a reasonable archery range. The bolt would be in flight for about three quarters of a second (more than enough time for the animal to move). Plus, at that range, wind can severely change a bolt’s point of impact. (I don’t know any average-joe crossbow hunters who have practiced enough with their setup to acquire accurate windage adjustments for 100-yard shots).

So while it’s true that crossbows are speeding ahead with innovations and incredible performance, when it comes to reasonable archery ranges, compound bows are just as accurate—and in the right hands, even more accurate. —A.R.

Crossbow Accuracy vs Compound Bow Accuracy Q&A

Are compound bows more accurate?

Yes, compound bows are more accurate than traditional bows and crossbows at moderate hunting ranges. That’s not to say that every compound bow is more accurate than every other type of bow. Only that the top-end compound bows are still more accurate on average (or at least easier to shoot accurately). And remember, the archer (not the bow) is always the most important factor in the accuracy equation.

What are the disadvantages of a crossbow?

Crossbows are loud and a bit unwieldily compared to compound bows. Plus, they can be difficult to cock while in a tree stand. However crossbows do have plenty of advantages over compound bows (see below).

Are crossbows easier to aim than bows?

Yes, crossbows are easier to aim because they have scopes and hold themselves at full draw. However shooting a crossbow offhand can be challenging. The best crossbow accuracy comes by placing the bow on a shooting rest, sticks, or the rail of a stand.

What are the advantages of a crossbow?

Modern crossbows are ultra-fast and relatively easy to use. Anyone familiar with shooting a gun can pick up a crossbow and shoot effectively at moderate ranges. Plus, crossbows remain cocked, so the archer doesn’t have to draw while the critter is in range.

When I was a kid, I was a compulsive lure-changer. It was so bad that it actually became a detriment to my fishing. Even though I was disproportionately obsessed with fishing, I was often out fished by my peers—simply because I was too busy swapping lures and trying to get dialed in.

“You can’t catch anything without a hook in the water,” my dad would tell me.

I knew it, too. I just couldn’t help myself. And it wasn’t much different for hunting. I spent way too much time hyper-analyzing every aspect that I had means to manipulate with my meager hunting gear, thinking that it would make or break my success.

In general, hunters are a community of chronic over-thinkers. I can say this for two reasons. One, sometimes I am among the worst. Two, I look at social media every day. Although I sometimes find myself relapsing, I have slowly improved over the years. If I can save others some of the unnecessary time, effort, money, and angst that I have expended over the years, it’s worth doing.

Understanding that we hunters are often complicating straightforward situations can help us not only hunt more effectively, but to have more fun while we’re at it. (The same goes for fishing.) Hunting certainly requires careful thought and attention to detail, and I’m not suggesting you write things off like zeroing your rifle. But there is a balance between wanton lack of planning and excess scrutiny. Overthinking can cause just as many issues as under-thinking. Here are two areas where I’ve learned to cool it on the overkill.

Overthinking Gear

The easiest thing for hunters to overthink is probably gear. Gear is important. And there is a spectrum on which certain gear can be more or less important as a factor of your success. Then there is an entire class of gear-related queries which absolutely do not matter.

It’s common to waffle over specifics on bullets or broadheads, or which bits of clothing might suit your needs on a particular hunt. On a backpack hunt, I might weigh the likely weather conditions against what sleeping bag I might need to buy for a trip, or if I should bring an extra can of fuel. On a late-season bowhunt, I might try to find a pair of mittens that allow me to wear my shooting tab underneath them. There are lots of things for each of us to figure out, but we should also be asking ourselves, How much does this matter?

I’ve seen forum questions about putting tape over the reflective portions of their headlamp strap to avoid spooking game. Or the common question, “What camo pattern is best?” These things aren’t bad to consider, and everyone starts somewhere, but our time and attention would be better spent evaluating more relevant factors, like the battery life or dependability of a given headlamp. And when it comes to clothing, think about how a certain article might suit your needs. Forget that the camo pattern doesn’t match the rest of your gear. At times, I have spent countless hours on load development and fine-tuning a rifle to shoot out to 400 yards, only to take a 100-yard shot that I could have made with iron sights.

You could pick nearly any aspect of your hunting equipment and find a way to painfully overthink it. Careful analysis and forethought of your gear can help keep you more comfortable, efficient, and effective, sure. But it’s important to seek a balance between optimization and burning mental calories—and real money—on things that aren’t going to make much difference.

Overthinking Strategy

When I was a young sheep hunter, I was fairly aggressive when it came to sheep-stalking strategy. If I thought there was a way to possibly get within range, I was going for it. If anything, I wasn’t careful enough, and over the years, learned some hard lessons and expended a tremendous amount of effort only to have the hunt blow up in my face.

These days, I sometimes struggle to find a balance between overthinking a given hunting situation and striking while the iron is hot. With more years of experience, I know the calories and effort that any plan is going to take, and I know the disappointment of returning to square one due to my own impatience. This has made me more patient, and patience can pay off. But occasionally I find myself crippled by indecisiveness.

Read Next: Sometimes the Best Hunting Happens When You Don’t Know What’s in Store

Hunting success is never a sure thing, and it can depend on playing our cards right. But the key is that you still have to play those cards. An analytical hunter wants to have answers to all possible scenarios worked out ahead of time, but at a certain point, this is a futile exercise. Hunting is dynamic, and we must make decisions. Not making moves because you’re worried about making a mistake isn’t going to help.

Besides, if we knew that our decisions would always result in success, hunting wouldn’t be nearly as much fun. It’s good for us to seek information and possible answers for unknown variables. But it’s also okay to make mistakes and learn, too.

If you’re a gearhead at heart, use that tendency to put together the most optimal seat of gear for you, and avoid the time and excess money spent on the gear that won’t help. If you’re an endless strategist, work on avoiding getting sucked into the specifics of one particular scenario and focus on improving your hunting strategy across the board. We could all benefit from trying to prevent our own overthinking, and in the right spirit, we can help others grow into better hunters in the same way.

“I’ve shot almost everything with that rifle and caliber,” Swingle tells Outdoor Life. “I still do, because if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

He’s carried that rifle all over North America, chasing elk in Colorado and big-bodied whitetails in the Midwest. He’s also hunted moose in Newfoundland, caribou in Quebec, Dall sheep in the Yukon, and mountain goats in British Columbia. Earlier this year, he and Mancuso went on a deer hunting trip in Missouri for the 10^th year in a row. But even for a well-traveled sportsman like Swingle, it’s hard to beat hunting close to home.

“Most of my deer have been on or near the place I’ve owned and worked as a dairy farmer,” says Swingle, whose farm is in Union Dale not far from where he grew up.

Although he’s had to switch to a crossbow recently due to shoulder troubles, Swingle was a dedicated bowhunter for decades. He’s twice pulled off the “triple crown” of Pennsylvania bowhunting—killing a deer, a bear, and a wild turkey with a bow all in the same year.

“When Ray was bowhunting, he took a deer every year with a bow for 30 years,” says Mancuso, who lives on the same farm as Ray but in a different house. “This year he only saw small bucks while hunting [with his crossbow], so he didn’t get one until rifle season opened.”

Swingle was happy with the 8-point buck he harvested last week. But he says his proudest hunting achievement was the doe he shot in Pennsylvania in 1938.

“That was my first deer, which I legally shot at age 15 with a single shot .22 rifle,” Swingle recalls. “Back then it was lawful to hunt with a .22, and that doe really got my love for hunting going.”

Swingle soon realized the .22 wasn’t enough gun for deer. The following year, he bought himself a .30-30 Winchester and a box of shells for $30.

Read Next: Mildred Bryant, a 90-Year-Old Mule Deer Hunter, Is the Grandma America Needs

The hunter celebrated his 100^th birthday in October. These days, Swingle usually hunts alone in deer stands that be builds himself, but Mancuso says he considers himself lucky anytime Swingle asks him or his 21-year-old son to come along.

“Ray will be after turkeys this spring again with his crossbow,” says Mancuso. “He’s amazing. He works on the farm daily, and hunts whenever the season is open for whatever game is available.”

Gerrish set a cage trap in the area near where Nikki was last seen, using raw chicken as bait. Gerrish set the trap so the wind would carry the scent in the general direction he believed the dog was living. He also hung a trail camera nearby to monitor the trap and surrounding woods. Knowing that Nikki had been trained with German commands, Gerrish also played a loud video of German dog commands on his phone before departing in hopes of catching her attention.

Within a half an hour of Gerrish leaving the spot, the camera captured Nikki eating the raw chicken. The trap worked and secured the Malinois, who was unharmed from her weeks in the woods and the trap. Gerrish and Port St. Lucie Animal Control returned to the site and collected the trap.

“I was over the moon excited. My heart was pumping,” Gerrish told WPBF of hearing the news. “It’s a feeling I could never describe to anybody, to know that we might have her safe tonight.”

Gerrish returned to Malak’s home with Nikki in tow.

After returning Nikki to Malak, Gerrish went the extra mile and patched the hole in Malak’s fence to avoid any future issues, although he wouldn’t accept any money, Malak told WPBF.

“I have to find some way to thank him,” he said.

Read Next: Loyal Dog Stayed Beside Missing Hiker’s Body for 7 Weeks in San Juan National Forest

But Gerrish seemed rewarded enough by witnessing Nikki and Malak back together again..

“I don’t think I’ve ever experienced anything like that prior in my life,” Gerrish said. “To see that reunion, it was amazing.”

After carefully climbing down from the tree, I headed home to grab a small folding stool. I called up a couple hunting buddies on the drive, and we debated whether I should stalk the buck and attempt a shot, or if I should just set up on the field edge and wait for him to make the first move. We decided the second option would be the smarter decision, as I didn’t want to get too close and risk bumping him.

I made it back to the cornfield and crawled more than 200 yards toward where I thought the deer was bedded. I carried my crossbow, my pack, and the small folding stool. By 12:30 p.m., I was in position and roughly 50 yards downwind of his bed. Now all I had to do was wait and hope my plan would pay off.

Two hours later, I watched the buck saunter down the middle of the washout. He was headed my way and closing fast. When the buck got to 30 yards, I eased into a half crouch and raised my crossbow to prepare for a shot, but then he turned and faced directly at me. It seemed he hadn’t busted me because he came even closer through the cornstalks.

Ready to touch off the arrow, I watched the buck through my scope. He looked my way again and this time, he saw me. I aimed for the center of his chest, but then his back legs shifted as he prepared to run. As soon as he spun away, I released my arrow. I heard the thud of the broadhead as he ran off to my left and tore through the corn.

I texted the buddies I’d called earlier, and they could tell I was anxious. I was even more uncertain when I walked to where I’d seen the deer last and found no trace of a hit. No blood or hair was visible, and I couldn’t find my arrow. So, I slowly backed out and returned home to wait for reinforcements.

Some friends and family and I returned to the spot that afternoon. We recovered the buck roughly 120 yards from where I’d hit him. The arrow had entered right behind the shoulder and passed through both lungs.

On top of being the biggest buck I’ve ever killed, the typical 12-point could be a new Ohio record. It has a 22 ½-inch inside spread, 26- and 29-inch mainbeams, and tines pushing 14 inches. Scorers with Buckmasters Whitetail Trophy Records gave it a green score of 208 5/8, which makes it the new No. 1 in Buckmasters’ Perfect category for all weapons. A panel of Boone and Crockett scorers plan on measuring the buck in late December after the 60 day drying period, and if that score holds, it would be a new state record, according to B&C. It would also go down as the No. 3 all-time typical whitetail in the B&C record book.

Over its more than 125-year lifetime, the lever-action .30-30 rifle has arguably killed more whitetail deer than any other single cartridge. And with the cartridge’s popularity still quite high, it’s doubtful it will be unseated in that category any time soon.

Released in 1895, just a year after the popular Model 1894 Winchester lever gun was introduced, the .30-30 Winchester was the first sporting cartridge loaded exclusively with smokeless powder. The original .30-30 Winchester load had a 160-grain round-nosed bullet leaving the muzzle at 1,970 feet per second, a substantial step up from other popular cartridges of the time like the .32-40 Win. (165-grain bullet at 1,450 fps) and .38-55 Win. (255-grain bullet at 1,320 fps).

The cartridge’s speed and power, combined with the lever-action’s capacity and quickness, made it an instant hit as a deer cartridge. Before long, it became a go-to choice for deer hunters.

As major ammunition companies caught on to the .30-30’s popularity, they began manufacturing loads specifically for lever guns—the two most popular were topped with 150-grain and 170-grain round-nosed slugs. The reason for the round nose was obvious—since the gun’s tube magazine held ammunition stacked tip-to-primer, a pointed-nosed bullet denting a primer could lead to an accidental discharge in the magazine. Ironically, that round-tipped ammo led to the cartridge’s fall from grace when longer-range cartridges with pointed tips and superior ballistics hit the market years later.

Yet despite competition from the .308, .30-06, and .270—all fine deer cartridges in their own right—the .30-30 has continued to be popular with many hunters over several generations.

The Best .30-30 Ammo

The early 150-grain and 170-grain loads, which were fairly slow by today’s standards, remained popular for the cartridge’s first 100 years or so. Eighteen years ago, I bought my oldest son, Josh, a Marlin 336 in .30-30 when he was 11. At the time, we weren’t hunting much open country and opted for the 170-grain round points offered by Remington.

Leaving the muzzle at about 2,100 fps, the big bullet turned out to be devastating. The deer he shot with it didn’t just drop, they dropped stone-cold dead in a mystifying manner. One small buck fell so hard it killed a small rodent that apparently had been scurrying down the same trail. When we went to look at the buck and turned it over, the little rodent was smashed flat, still warm.

Why I ever wanted to change ammo with that kind of performance is perplexing to me now. But then Hornady introduced its new LEVERevolution ammo, and I just had to put it to the test. The new cartridge uses an elastomer flex tip on a spitzer bullet, making it safe for use in the gun’s tubular magazine. The design is ballistically superior to its round-nosed predecessors.

When Hornady introduced the LEVERevolution ammo, it was just the shot in the arm the .30-30 needed. The Evolution bullets delivered a substantially higher ballistic coefficient and retained more downrange energy than the old stuff.

The new loads also featured new powders that delivered higher muzzle velocities. The result turned a 100-yard rifle into a 250-yard-plus rifle just by improving the ammunition.

Thirteen years later, today’s LEVERevolution ammo for the ubiquitous .30-30 is better than ever. The 160-grain, flex-tipped projectile leaves the muzzle at about 2,400 fps, yielding 2,046 ft-lbs of muzzle energy. Velocity remains high—2,150 fps at 100 yards, 1,916 fps at 200 yards, and 1,619 fps at 300 yards—and so does the energy downrange. The bullet delivers 1,304 ft-lbs of energy at 200 yards. And at 300 yards, it still has 1,025 ft-lbs—plenty to kill any deer.

The trajectory is much improved over older loads, too. The old 170-grain loads, when zeroed at 150 yards, were nearly 5 inches low at 200 yards, 12.5 inches low at 250, and 24 inches low at 300. In comparison, the newest LEVERevolution load, zeroed at 200 yards, shoots 3 inches high at 100 and only 12 inches low at 300. With such ballistics, the old .30-30 is a legitimate medium-range cartridge for accurate shooters.

Since Hornady’s breakthrough, other manufacturers have added pliable-tipped .30-30 ammunition to their lineups, too. Winchester’s Deer Season XP line of ammunition features a polymer tip on a 150-grain bullet for safety in tube magazines and greatly improves ballistic performance over previous ammo. The bullet has an alloyed lead core, a contoured copper jacket, and a large diameter polymer tip to accelerate the bullet’s expansion on impact. It leaves the muzzle at 2,390 fps with a muzzle energy of 1,902 ft-lbs.

Federal now also makes ammunition specifically for lever-action rifles. Their lever-action line, called HammerDown is of course loaded in .30-30 and has a modified chamfered case (which is also nickel plated) for easier loading. The 150-grain HammerDown bullet has a advertised muzzle velocity of 2,390 fps (same as Hornady’s). The HammerDown line was designed in partnership with Henry Repeating Arms.

Winchester also has the Super-X .30-30 load topped with a 150-grain Winchester Silver Tip. That bullet leaves the muzzle at 2,390 fps carrying 1,902 ft-lbs of energy—identical to the Deer Season XP load.

Better Rifles

Lever-action rifles may not be considered the most accurate long-range rifles, but they have plenty of other factors working in their favor. Made famous by western movies and television shows, they were carried by many of our childhood heroes. The quickness of the lever-action for back-up shots is better than that of a bolt-action, as shooters can keep their eyes up to the scope or sights when levering in another round. Rifles chambered in .30-30 also tend to be lighter than many other deer rifles, making them easier to carry and shoulder than their typically longer-range counterparts. They also are on the lower end of recoil for deer rifles, making them a good choice for beginners.

Generally, .30-30 rifles and ammo tends to be less expensive than most bolt-action hunting rifles. An average box of .30-30 ammo will run at least a couple of dollars cheaper than .308, .270, or .30-06 cartridges. And what’s not to love about a quick, light, low-recoiling rifle that can be bought and shot on a budget.

As for accuracy, much of the .30-30 lever gun’s perceived fault in this category was due to factors other than the cartridge’s actual accuracy. The big, round-nosed bullets of yesteryear weren’t very accurate to begin with when compared to their newer, pointed brethren, regardless of what gun fired them.

The fact that many .30-30s wore only iron sights led to additional criticism of the .30-30’s accuracy, as precise shooting at longer ranges is difficult with open sights. That’s not a factor anymore, unless you simply prefer iron sights. Quality optics now make it a no-brainer to put a good, low-power scope on your .30-30 for better shooting.

Additionally, with the higher-quality, more-consistent manufacturing practices used over the past three or four decades, nearly all rifles are more accurate than they used to be. In a nutshell, out to 200-250 yards—and most deer in the East are shot at closer ranges than that—if you can do your job, a good .30-30 rifle with quality ammo will do its job, too.

Winchester Model 1894

Many lever-action .30-30 models are still being produced today, nearly a century and a quarter after the original. One of those is the original .30-30—the Winchester ’94. That model, which many consider to be the “true” .30-30, is shorter than some competing models, but that’s not necessarily a disadvantage. And at 6.5 pounds without ammo and scope, the new iteration is a nice, light package to tote around the woods.

Marlin 336

First introduced in 1948, the Marlin 336, has been produced on a continuous basis since then and has somewhat of a cult following. The newest 336, a 38.7-inch rifle weighing in at 7 pounds, sports a 20-inch barrel. Often priced much less than the Winchester, it doesn’t give up much in the quality department.

Marlin XLR

The Marlin XLR is another fine .30-30 lever-action rifle with a less traditional look. Featuring a laminate stock and stainless-steel components, this gun will take on all weather conditions. And its 24-inch barrel will let hunters get the most out of high-performance .30-30 loads that have become so popular. It doesn’t look like John Wayne’s rifle, but the XLR will get the job done quite well.

Henry All Weather

The All Weather also has a more modern look than the Winchester and Marlin 336, and has been getting love from lever-gun fans. It features a wood stock and forearm with a weather-resistant, moisture-protected coating, along with a hard-chromed exterior finish on all surfaces except the stainless barrel, sights, and springs. It’s a nicely balanced rifle with a heavier, dark wood stock.

Mossberg 464SPX

For an even more modern take on the lever gun, look no further than Mossberg’s 464SPX. This unique .30-30, with its modular-looking design and plastic furniture, might not be the gun you are seeking for your upcoming deer hunting adventures. But for a home defense gun, you could do a lot worse than 5+1 rounds of .30-30 from a short-barreled, lever-action rifle.

Read Next: How to Make Your Lever-Action Rifle More Accurate

Final Thoughts on the .30-30 Winchester

If you are going to argue about the merits—or lack thereof—of lever-action .30-30 rifles, you must take into account the many hundreds of thousands of deer that have fallen to this cartridge over the last 125 years. As in the past, one thing is still true today: A deer shot in the right spot by a hunter with a .30-30 rifle is going to be just as dead as a deer shot in the same place by a hunter using a .308, .30-06 or .270.

If you like lever guns and the .30-30 cartridge, take heart because right now, both are better than ever.

Outdoor Life is dedicated to covering safe and responsible gun ownership for hunting, recreation, and personal protection. We participate in affiliate advertising programs only with trusted online retailers in the firearms space. If you purchase a firearm using the links in this story, we may earn commission

On Dec. 28, 10 bowhunters in northeastern Louisiana were caught using pods while on a deer hunt in East Carroll Parish. The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries confiscated the pods and all hunters were cited for alleged possession. They also confiscated one antlerless deer that a hunter had killed with a broadhead bearing a pod.

If you have no clue what a pod is, you’re in good company. Illegal in 49 states (Mississippi is the exception), they aren’t the most popular bowhunting accessory. “Pods” refer to rubber bands or balloon necks wrapped around broadheads that house extremely potent muscle relaxers. Upon contact with an animal, those muscle relaxers work into the bloodstream, causing near-immediate paralysis. The idea is that even if you made a marginal or non-fatal shot, you would be able to recover the animal.

In other words, they’re poisoned arrows that don’t taint the meat of an animal. They’ve caused a stir in the bowhunting world for a long time. According to an article in Peterson’s Bowhunting, bowhunters started using chemicals like succinylcholine chloride in the 1960s. But they didn’t have the chance to get popular before state wildlife agencies started banning them. That certainly hasn’t stopped poachers from using them, however. In 2013, four hunters from South Carolina were cited for using pods while chasing deer, elk, and bears in Colorado. During the bust, one of the four hunters told authorities he’d been using pods to hunt big game in Colorado for 20 years.

Was Fred Bear a Proponent of Pods?

Tracing the history of hunting with pods is difficult to do, because they’ve been illegal for so long. There’s no shortage of online forums that debate the practice and its origins. One name that frequents the history of poison-tipped arrows also happens to be one of the most famous names in modern bowhunting: Fred Bear.

“It is the word poison. It’s a bad word and conjures up visions of skull and crossbones. Of elephants stuck in the belly by pygmies who follow the victim for days before he succumbs to the venom,” Bear wrote. “The type I am speaking of kills quickly and…is not fatal to humans.”

Even if that last statement is technically true, it might misrepresent the havoc the chemical compound can wreak. Succinylcholine chloride is a prescription muscle relaxer. Surgeons typically use it in conjunction with anesthesia. If it somehow ended up in a bowhunter’s system after an accident, the consequences could be severe.

A Question of Ethics

As far as its usefulness goes, some hunters thought the drug could make a good shot even deadlier. But others saw it as an excuse for poor shot placement. Bear experimented with what kind of shot placement would be deadly using succinylcholine chloride.

“In May of 1990 Glenn St. Charles told me of witnessing Fred shoot a mule deer with a ‘poison pod’ during a Canadian bowhunt they shared,” James recalls. (St. Charles was a founder of P&Y.) “Fred intentionally arrowed the animal in the rump, according to Glenn, just to see how effective the drug would be with such shot placement. ‘It was one of the worst things I’ve ever seen,’ Glenn said. ‘It took 20 lingering minutes for that deer to die. Fred later tried to get me to use the stuff, but I didn’t want any part of it.’”

If you’re a Fred Bear fan, this might come as a surprise. He was the “Papa Bear” of bowhunting, an innovative businessman, and a proponent for ethical practices. The first patch you received as a member of the Fred Bear Sports Club read “Hunters Respect Wildlife.” Considering these details, the poison pod might not seem to fit his ethos. On the other hand, all of Bear’s inventions and designs were meant to improve the lethality and efficiency of the traditional bow. The poison pod was seemingly just another Bear product that would help bow hunters be more effective, even if it didn’t age as well as the bow-mounted quiver or the shooting glove.

“… if we don’t do something to clean up our ranks the time will most surely come when we will be unmasked, the impotency of our weapons revealed, and we will stand there with bowed heads faintly mumbling, yes, you are right,” Bear wrote to the P&Y officers. “…no archer, no matter how good he is, except under certain circumstances, can be sure of hitting an animal where he wants to hit him at bow shot distances. What is wrong with Killing what you Hit?”

Let’s not forget that centuries of bowhunters and archers from around the world predated Bear in their use of poisoned arrows, whether it was to harvest game or defeat enemies in battle. In that sense, Bear simply carried an ancient strategy forward with his patents. As far as he was concerned, the future of bowhunting required improving the lethality of a traditional bow.

Pods in Bowhunting Today

Possession of pods in Louisiana is good for a $500 fine and up to 90 days in jail. All 10 of the recently-busted hunters could face this punishment. Samuel Spurgeon, the one hunter who illegally shot a deer, could pay an additional civil restitution of $1,624 in replacement value. It is unclear when the hunters will be sentenced.

Organizations like the Pope & Young club denounce the practice today. They consider pods a departure from ethical tactics and principles, and have made their stance known in their Rules of Fair Chase.

“The Pope and Young Club at our very core is all about Ethics and Fair Chase Bowhunting,” P&Y executive director Jason Rounsaville tells Outdoor Life. “The use of tranquilizers or poisons is not allowed under the rules of fair chase. We do not condone or approve these methods and do not allow animals taken with these methods into our records program.”

Succinylcholine chloride isn’t the only product that was designed to make arrows more lethal. Explosive and barbed arrows have been developed and then commonly banned in various state hunting laws. The Bow-Mag by Rac-Em-Bac, which made some waves in 2013, is a head fixed with a .38 or .357 round. The bullet fires upon contact with the target, delivering the hefty blow of such a cartridge with a bow. Some touted the innovation as the ultimate projectile for hog hunting, but others pointed out two rather obvious problems. First, plenty of states had already made bowhunting with explosive tips illegal; Second, if hunters wanted to shoot bullets instead of broadheads, they’d simply shoot guns.

Thankfully, none of these products have gained much traction in the bowhunting world. But they serve as a reminder that not all bowhunting innovations are good ones.

We just might be in the golden era of rifle accuracy. New rifles, optics, and ammo have never been better. Nowadays we’re capable of accuracy (at very long distances) that was all-but-unattainable in decades past. These tools, plus more folks getting into long-range shooting sports have undoubtedly allowed many more shooters to maximize their potential when it comes to putting a bullet on-target. But is that really what good marksmanship is all about? Many would say no.

There are still many folks who look upon our modern shooting tools and see them as crutches. Whether it’s a bipod, tripod, or carrying a lightweight shooting bag in the field, using these aids is still scoffed at by some who seem to believe that the offhand shot is the true measure of a rifleman. These folks often contend that more traditional skills like shooting offhand or hitting running game are being forgotten. They’ll talk about the good ol’ days, or claim that their animals are too spooky to bother with all of these new gizmos—they’ll be gone before you’re ready to shoot.

I don’t think that these folks are entirely wrong, but I do think that they’re missing the point of what true marksmanship means to us in a hunting situation.

Any increase in ability to hit what you’re aiming at, regardless of position or the gear you’re using, is a good thing. I also believe that the average hunter’s offhand shooting is not as good as it should be (including mine). Many hunters used to regularly shoot offhand, including the great Jack O’Connor. They killed stuff, and were likely better offhand shooters than most of us today. But they also missed a lot—and wounded a lot of game. It was a different time, and as we’ve grown as a hunting community, we have recognized the shortcomings of depending on such an unreliable shooting position. If the assertion that the offhand position is unreliable offends you, ask anyone who has stood at the 200-yard line with a service rifle. Even with a rigid shooting jacket, heavy rifle, and perfectly still target, it’s an extremely difficult (and perishable) skill to master—few ever do.

Although competent offhand shooting is a great skill to develop (and some hunting applications do absolutely require it), we’ve learned that when it comes to shooting at live animals, we owe it to them to take advantage of the most stable shooting position we can get in a given situation.

No one is required to use a bipod, tripod, squeeze bag, or any other stability aid when hunting. But let’s not be so rigid that we won’t even consider the value that some of these tools can bring to hunting. Because that’s not promoting marksmanship, only hubris.

Read Next: Watch: Grizzly Bear Chases Feral Horses Through Alberta Wilderness

“This 109 [pound] carp won’t be causing any more problems for native fish and mussels!” the organization wrote in a Facebook post on June 16.

Responding to a comment on its post, the IRBS explained that bighead carp are one of several Asian carp species that were introduced to U.S. waters during the 1970s to control aquatic vegetation and limit algae growth. Some of these fish escaped into the Mississippi, where they’ve expanded to the point of overwhelming native fish populations and even posing a safety hazard for boaters.

“[These] high-profile invaders, the Asian carps (i.e., silver carp, bighead carp, black carp, and grass carp) have had a profound effect on Illinois and the Mississippi River Basin’s economic and ecological resources,” the organization writes on its website.

Read Next: Bass Angler Catches Potential Record Carp in Illinois

“That is by far the largest bighead carp we’ve caught,” IRBS fisheries biologist Jason DeBoer told reporters. (DeBoer was on board that day monitoring the crew and photographed Gilpin with the fish.) He explained that the massive female carp was turned into liquid fertilizer, which ensures that it won’t ever spawn in the Illinois River again.

“From the fish’s point of view, the larger you can be for a female like that, the more eggs you can grow every year and the greater your chances of successfully passing on your genes,” DeBoer said. “The reason a fish that big is a problem for us is that it’s an invasive carp that makes a million or 2 million babies every year.”

For generations of gun writers, an occasional article on knockdown power has been money in the bank, as readers are ever-ready for yet another round, and then another, of this inexhaustible topic.

Personally, I’ve been content to leave the topic to others. Not because I have no opinion on the subject, but because I have dozens. However, most theories and explanations of what happens when a bullet hits an animal always strike me as having too many holes (no pun intended).

The reason I’m now willing to enter the fray is because at last there seems to be documented evidence, based on scientifically controlled research, as to why certain calibers demonstrate miraculous “knockdown power” while others don’t. The answer, I promise, isn’t what you’d expect, and you may not agree, but it’s worth hearing because it’s going to add lots of fuel to the debate. Even the way I came upon the information is a story worth telling, but first let’s make sure we have some understanding of what knockdown power is and how it is generally recognized.

To begin with, the term “knockdown power” is a misnomer, unless you’re referring to a giant cannonball, or perhaps a motor vehicle crashing into a deer on some midnight highway. Knockdown power, as it refers to sporting-rifle bullets, is an animal’s physical reaction to the bullet’s impact and entry. More specifically, if the animal falls immediately as if the earth has been jerked from under it, the bullet is said to have delivered knockdown power and the happy hunter congratulates himself for the wisdom of using a great cartridge.

On the other hand, if the animal doesn’t fall immediately, wanders about or dashes off, even after being hit with a well-placed shot, the cartridge or bullet may be condemned as having poor or nonexistent knockdown power, its maker roasted in campfire effigies and lurid rumors spread.

The Lights-Out Method

Technically speaking, near-absolute knockdown effect can be achieved with about any caliber cartridge by what we can call the “lights-out” method, which is either a brain shot or a shot that shatters the neck vertebrae and spinal cord. The old-time deer hunters I grew up with were great believers in the neck shot because it minimized meat loss and, more important, usually dropped the animal in its tracks.

READ NEXT: Don’t Aim for a Deer’s Head

Those were the days when calibers such as the .30/30 and .35 Remington ruled the woods, still-hunting was practiced by almost everyone, 50 yards was a long shot and open sights were the norm. Today, with much-changed hunting techniques and equipment, we don’t hear nearly as much about hunters favoring neck or brain shots. This is just as well, because aiming at the smaller parts of an animal’s anatomy is, literally, a hit-or-miss proposition.

Taylor’s Theory

Another approach to knockdown power is simply to overwhelm the animal with bullet size–the “bulldozer effect” I suppose it might be called.

Historically, there have been many proponents of big heavy bullets, and none more so than John Taylor, a gun and ballistic disciple of considerable African experience. Believing that the formula for calculating bullet energy is skewed too heavily in favor of velocity (I tend to agree with him on this, by the way), Taylor concocted a system for calculating what he called the Knock-Out Value of various calibers.

Since he was mainly interested in ivory hunting, Taylor was concerned about the concussion effect of various cartridges on head-shot elephants when the brain itself was missed. According to his tables, a pachyderm would be unconscious for about half an hour when knocked out by a 900-grain slug from a .600 Nitro Express, whereas the beast would remain unconscious only about 20 minutes when hit by the 720-grain bullet from a .577 Nitro–a difference that no doubt has altered the course of history.

While logic and observation make it clear that big calibers can have an overwhelming effect on game–e.g., whitetails shot with a .375 H&H–the strength of the evidence begins to wane when we factor in the unmentionable sin of declining marksmanship. Some (dare I say many?) hunters are not comfortable with hard-kicking rifles and are liable to flinch and jerk when they touch one off, which of course results in poor shot placement.

Weatherby’s Theory

On the other side of the aisle are those who argue that game animals are more likely to be instantly poleaxed by high-velocity bullets that transmit a shockwave through the nervous system. The leading apostle of this gospel was none other than Roy Weatherby, who preached long and hard on the velocity theme and won many converts. The term usually applied to the circuit-breaking effect of high-velocity impact is “hydrostatic shock,” but I think hydrodynamic shock is more apt.

Of course, we can rightly figure that by combining the opposing elements of the debate and firing big, heavy bullets at sizzling velocities we get a double dose of knockdown power. But anyone who fires, say, a .460 Weatherby Magnum (about 85 foot-pounds of recoil) instantly realizes that this sword cuts both ways.

Regardless of which side of the debate you cheer for, there remain many examples of game well-hit with any caliber and cartridge you wish to name that wasn’t knocked off its feet in an instant.

A Better Theory

A couple of years back I was passing a pleasant afternoon in a bird-watching blind in the wilds of Namibia. A previous guest had obligingly left a few copies of a South African outdoor magazine and as I idly leafed through the pages my attention was arrested by an article on knockdown effect. It was not the same tired old stuff about ballistics and penetration, but the result of a controlled study carried out by professional veterinarians engaged in a buffalo culling operation.

Whereas virtually all of our opinions about knockdown power are based on isolated examples, the data gathered during the culling operation was taken from a number of animals. Even more important, the animals were then examined and dissected in a scientific manner by professionals.

Predictably, some of the buffalo dropped where they were shot and some didn’t, even though all received near-identical hits in the vital heart-lung area. When the brains of all the buffalo were removed, the researchers discovered that those that had been knocked down instantly had suffered massive rupturing of blood vessels in the brain. The brains of animals that hadn’t fallen instantly showed no such damage. So what is the connection?

Their conclusion was that the bullets that killed instantly had struck just at the moment of the animal’s heartbeat! The arteries to the brain, already carrying a full surge of blood pressure, received a mega-dose of additional pressure from the bullet’s impact, thus creating a blood pressure overload and rupturing the vessels.

If this is the key to the “knockdown” mystery, it has answered a lot of previously unanswered questions. It’s certainly the best explanation of knockdown I’ve heard yet, but it also poses a new quandary. How do we time a shot to hit on the beat?

Anecdotes from the Field

I like the “heartbeat theory” because I’ve spent a lot of time in the hunting fields and seen some strange examples of knockdown power and lack thereof. Moose have a reputation for being tough critters, and it’s not uncommon for them to walk off after being hit. I planned to use this to my advantage one miserable day years ago when I came across a nice bull standing brisket-deep in the freezing cold water of a high valley bog. My gun was a .44 Magnum revolver and the way I had it planned was to shoot him where he stood, which I assumed would put him on the move. Then, when he came out of the water, I’d finish him off with another shot or two. Very clever, I thought.

Now, I’ve shot several moose with a variety of calibers, including heavy hitters like the .338 Win. Mag. and 8mm Rem. Mag., but I have never had one drop as fast as that big boy did. (Next time you’re feeling like a rugged sportsman, try gutting a moose while sloshing about waist-deep in freezing water during a snowstorm.) But that’s only half the story.

READ NEXT: The Top Moose Cartridges and Bullets

Later on in the hunt an elk I shot with the same revolver and ammo was only mildly impressed. I had to track that bull down and finish the job with a rifle. The distance at which I shot the elk was about the same as the moose, and both were side-on chest shots. If either of these two instances had occurred without the other I would have arrived at two entirely different conclusions about the knockdown power of my .44 Mag. and handloads.

And then there was the time when late in the day my Blackfoot guide Leo and I were riding back to our elk camp in the high country south of Yellowstone Park. I was slumped in the saddle with my thoughts focused on the toddy awaiting me at camp when Leo wheeled his horse and came charging back down the trail, pointing back over his shoulder. The cause of Leo’s excitement was a truly grand mule deer taking his ease in a meadow that sloped up from the trail. The distance wasn’t all that great, and after I’d crawled behind a tree that provided cover and a solid rest for my rifle, I took my time and aimed carefully.

Judging by the way the big deer acted when I fired, I thought I’d missed. He tossed his head back, as if reacting only to the sound of my shot, jigged a bit like he was deciding which way to run, then settled down peacefully. He was turned to the opposite side when my second shot hit, and for another long, unbelieving moment I thought I’d missed again. Then he gently went down. Both bullets had hit dead on target, and when Leo and I opened him up the entire chest cavity was mush. Yet he hadn’t been “knocked down” the way we like to see.

It is often claimed that when an animal is spooked and running adrenalin, he’s harder to knock down. I’ve seen this happen enough to be convinced it’s true, but the mule deer in the episode just described didn’t seem to have a care in the world. My rifle, by the way, was a .338 Win. Mag. loaded with 250-grain Nosler Partition handloads. But in that instance it didn’t pass the “knockdown” test.

The Cape Buffalo Test

Several years later I was chasing giant eland in Africa and using the identical .338 Win. Mag. load I’d bagged the above deer with. We’d been hunting on foot all day, it was hot and desert-dry and my PH and I were hunkered down under some shade taking a rest before the long trek back to camp. As we sat there, gurgling water down our chins from a hemp water bag, what should appear but two big Cape buffalo bulls. And when I say big, I mean one was enormous, a once-in-a-lifetime record-book keeper.

Usually the preferred calibers for dangerous African game like Cape buffalo begin with at least a .375 H&H, or better yet, something on the order of the .458 Win. Mag. or its even huskier brethren. But the .338 was all I had, and I wasn’t about to let a trophy that good pass, even if I’d been armed with a peashooter.

Normally, the plan of attack when hunting buffalo with a heavy-caliber rifle is to hit them forward in the shoulder so as to bust some bones and break the animal down so he can’t get at you. Even if it doesn’t prove to be a killing shot, it’s safer, since a wounded buffalo on the ground is rather more reasonable to deal with than one on his feet. But with my relatively puny .338 and expanding nose bullets, this didn’t seem like such a good idea. A shot in the forward superstructure might fail. Instead, I decided to go behind the shoulder and slip the expanding Nosler into the heart-lung area. This probably wouldn’t kill the bull instantly, so I resolved to pump in more bullets as fast as I could work the bolt.

As it turned out, the bull was dead and down before I could get the crosshairs back on target–one of the most astonishing demonstrations of knockdown effect I’ve ever seen.

A year or two later my longtime hunting pal, the legendary outfitter Jack Atcheson Sr., and I were messing around in northern Zimbabwe with another legendary professional hunter, Mike Rowbotham. We were hunting nothing in particular when we came across a herd of about 200 buffalo. Apparently they had had a lot of hunting pressure and were plenty wild. When they caught on to what we were up to they broke out in a bellowing stampede. Jack and I were both carrying .338s, mine loaded with my favorite .250-grain Nosler Partition handload. One pretty good bull got separated from the main body of the herd and came galloping by at a reasonable distance so I swung the crosshairs ahead of him, hit the trigger and followed through rather prettily. The bull went down on his nose and was dead before he stopped sliding.

After those two experiences I was fairly well convinced that the .338 was about the perfect medicine for Cape buffalo, but now I’ve changed my thinking. I believe that what happened on those two instances, and on the moose, was a physiological phenomenon (the “heartbeat theory”) often observed by other hunters but never–until now–understood. —Jim Carmichel

Understanding Terminal Ballistics

Bullet mass, velocity, and kinetic energy don’t hammer game like a meteor from heaven. They kill by breaking down vital organs that supply blood to the brain. This can take from several seconds to several minutes, during which time game can, and often does, run.

Bullet energy really matters only when it’s insufficient to penetrate enough to reach those vital organs. As many a bowhunter will testify, that energy level doesn’t need to be high. Plenty of deer, elk, and even moose have been poached with .22 long rifles.

Many hunters think that bullet energy will flatten game if the bullet stays inside the animal and dumps all of its energy there. Sorry—that doesn’t always work either, as I’ve learned firsthand many times. Two years ago, I put such a bullet quartering from behind into a running whitetail’s chest at 30 yards. It kept running. I put another shot in at 50 yards. The buck ran over a hill. I followed, spotted the animal lying in short grass, and punched one more round through its chest. A few seconds later, it expired. None of these bullets knocked the deer over. None exited. All were 150-grain bullets launched from a .300 Win. Mag. at 3,100 fps.

Does this mean a .300 Winchester Magnum is too puny for whitetails? Consider a 300-grain slug from a .375 H&H Magnum. My wife used one to shoot an African common reedbuck about the size of a Carolina whitetail doe. That buck took the hit and dashed forward a good 80 yards before wobbling and falling over.

At the other extreme, I once fired a 60-grain bullet via a .22/250 Rem. to a whitetail buck standing 100 yards away. It passed through the deer and expended its remaining energy in the dirt. That buck dropped as if unplugged.

The truth is, there is no sure-fire guarantee, no silver bullet, no magic cartridge that can anchor a deer or even a coyote every time. Hit the central nervous system and bullet energy hardly matters. Down it goes. Punch through the lungs, heart, or liver, and sometimes an animal collapses instantly. But more often it stands, walks, or runs for as many as 10 seconds before falling blood pressure makes it faint. This is what you see when a heart-shot buck runs, starts wobbling, falls, tries to rise, falls again, and expires.

Shot Placement and Bullet Selection are Critical

What the best hunters can do, in addition to parking their bullets in the right place, is use bullets that maximize vital tissue destruction. Sometimes these are frangible projectiles that break up inside, spread out, and cause massive hemorrhaging. Sometimes these are lead bullets that expand from 1.5 to 2 times their original diameter and lodge against the hide on the far side. Sometimes they are monolithic bullets with petals that open wide to tear tissue and exit the off side, leaving a hole for blood trailing. —Ron Spomer