#1. This is not my fight since you didn't single me out, but I have to make a reply to your post.
#2. The OP asked a very simple question, which you have complicated for some reason. He asked what would be a good rifle for deer/boar. He didn't ask what would be the best rifle to go on Safari in Africa with. He obviously is NEW to hunting, otherwise he would not have asked that kind of question. As such, he is unlikely to have budgeted $2000 for a rifle/scope combo, don't you think?
#3. A 300 mag is indeed OVERKILL for both deer, boar, and beginner. You have 20 yrs "experience", so it may work for you. The OP is a beginner, therefore my statement still stands. IN GEORGIA for 99% of hunted DEER and BOAR, a simple 270 or 30-06 is a very good choice IMO. Ammo, accessories, and general handling of a 300 mag is far MORE than with the other two calibers, which IMO is what a "beginner" needs.
I think you are confusing two different subjects here. The size of the scope does indeed correlate to it's ability to absorb light. You are arguing about cost and quality instead of light. A 50mm scope will indeed absorb MORE light than a 44mm the majority of the time REGARDLESS of cost. Which one will last longer or on top of a 300 mag???? That's another subject all together. But side-by-side, the 50 mm will usually absorb more light than a 44mm. The cost and quality is another subject all together. Again, I highly doubt the OP has the need for a $1200 scope for his first "deer" rifle. He's not a SWAT sniper, right?
Again, the OP DIDN'T ask what he needed to shoot out West nor the plains of Africa. Just how many grizzlies do you think he'll see sitting in a tree stand in Palmetto, GA????? None. Again, you are possibly correct in your statement, just the wrong thread.
True, but so does the 270, 30-06, and even the 308. They also do it for cheaper than the 300 mag.
You're splitting hairs here. No matter how much you want to deny it, IF you shoot a deer, boar, ANY animal in the right spot.....it's going down. Haven't you ever seen a pig be shot between the eyes with a .22 just before it's butchered? I have. They neither run nor live. They die. So it's not always a function of big bullets at ultra sonic speeds that magically transforms into a "kill". Bullet placement trumps all that 9 out of 10 times. Far too often, hunters......i.e. usually MEN.....i.e. we all have tender egos most of the time......want to blame the GUN on THEIR bad shot placement when they hit a deer and it runs for a long distance or even miss all together.
Yall got some deep pockets because the only places to be able to even shoot a Russian boar in North America are pretty hunting clubs in other states.
I'm not saying that weird things don't happen, but I'm sorry......I gotta call BS on your half brain still walking around like nothing is wrong boar story. IF half any animals brain is shot off, at the very least they'd bleed out, nevermind that the brain is where motor functions such as walking and breathing are controlled. Just doesn't make sense to me. Again, weird things can and do happen, but your story just doesn't sound plausibe at all. Maybe you should call Mythbusters to prove it and then Guiness to get in the books. Sorry, I don't buy it.
Umm, did you somehow KNOW it was gonna go to the heart AFTER it went through the shoulder? Because that's not where the heart on a deer is. The only way you would know that is IF you're shooting from high above at a very steep angle. IF that was your angle, then it's possible. But if you were on the ground or the deer was giving you the optimal full side profile, then you DIDN'T make a "perfectly placed heart shot" IF you shot it through the shoulder FIRST. That's an oxymoron.....perfectly placed HEART shot through the SHOULDER (unless you were high above it and planned on shooting the shoulder to get to the heart because that's the only profile the deer was showing you).
Which is exactly why the OP doesn't need a bazooka to kill what he WILL see if he ever encounters a wild boar in the GA woods.
Yes, there are "Hogzillas" out there, and they are in GA. No argument there. But you yourself said you won't ever see them, so why buy an expensive gun and scope for something you'll "never see"?
Look, I'm not trying to make this thread into some kind of pissing contest. I just know from experience that far too often people go out and buy the biggest baddest wolf of a gun just to support incorrect information. There are lots of variables in Hunting. If I were to go on a Safari in Africa to hunt Elephants, then dur dur, I wouldn't take my 30-06. But the fact is that I'm not hunting in Africa for Elephants.....I'm hunting in GA for Deer. Therefore, WHY would I take an Elephant gun to a Deer fight? To stroke my ego? To be louder than my hunting buddies?
I'll put it to you this way: The absolute BEST hunter that I personally know hunts 90% of the time in GEORGIA with a simple bolt action 270. He kills and fills every one of his deer and hog tags every single year. He hasn't bought meat at a grocery store in the almost 20+ yrs that I've known him. Matter of fact, I have some deer sausage and tenderloins in my freezer right now from him. Point is? If it's perfectly suitable and working for the BEST hunter that I know.......why would I go out and try to re-invent the wheel? Shot placement and bullet selection will play a bigger role in dropping a deer than will caliber, when all other things are held equal (in Georgia).
Anyway, that's my long

, but it is strictly my opinion.
