Cartridges By Species

It wasn’t so long ago that black bears were considered America’s premier wild table fare. Bear steaks are delicious, bear grease is useful (and delicious), and bear hunting is challenging and rewarding. For new and aspiring hunters, however, bears can seem invincible. Even though they’re generally...

Here’s the truth about these "best of" articles: the only honest answer is, "It depends." Are these cartridges really the best deer-killing cartridges in existence? It depends. It depends on where you’re hunting, your experience with firearms, what rifles you already own, how much money you can...

The apocalypse is nigh. As you gather your loved ones and sprint out the front door, you have just enough time to grab a hunting rifle. For some reason only partially explained via flashback montage (the writers on this show suck), you know you’ll need this rifle to hunt every legal big game animal...

Elk are the largest animals most American hunters will ever have a chance to harvest. For that reason, once a hunter is ready to step up from whitetail deer to elk, the first question they ask is: do I have enough gun to get the job done? We’re here to help you answer that question. The MeatEater...

Nothing is more discouraging to a new hunter than a loud and intimidating rifle. If you’re hoping your kid will be confident and accurate from the deer blind, throwing them to the wolves with a .300 Winchester Magnum isn’t the way to go. It might make for a funny story when they’re older, but it’s a...

Almost every traditional shotgun-only state now allows hunters to shoot straight-wall rifles, but slug guns remain popular among deer hunters across the Midwest and East. Slugs became mandated as a safety measure in populated areas because they cannot travel as far and are slower than necked...

Name an invasive species besides feral hogs that causes over $1.5 billion a year in damage in the U.S. and still has festivals held in its honor. I’ll wait. It’s safe to say that wild hogs are a contradiction. On one hand, they’re a pest. On the other hand, they’re a beloved game animal, and they...

One of the great things about whitetail hunting is that it isn’t hard to find a suitable cartridge. Whitetail are America’s most popular big game animal, and ammo makers have developed dozens of options for that specific pursuit. Plus, as a Class 2 critter (according to Chuck Hawk’s categorization...

A gun store employee surprised me recently when he said he’s noticed an uptick in requests for rifles chambered in .35-caliber cartridges. And he wasn’t just talking about the .357 Magnum or the .350 Legend. Requests for the .35 Whelen and .35 Remington are also on the rise, he said, but he couldn’t...

Introducing Ask the Eagle, where I’ll be answering your questions about everything from hunting to butchering to marriage. This week, an Instagram follower wants to know what rifle caliber I’d recommend to hunt all big game with. Have a question of your own? You can write to me asktheeagle...

Named for their large, mule-like ears, mule deer are the second most widely distributed deer species in the United States. However, since they’re best adapted to arid, rocky environments, they can only be found west of the Missouri River and especially in the Rocky Mountain region. This western...

I once knew a rancher in Waco who told me he’d killed hundreds of coyotes with the pump-action .22 Long Rifle that lived on the front rack of his ATV. He didn’t know how old the rifle was and I didn’t catch the make, but I believed him. The guy seemed like he’d killed a coyote or two. The .22 LR...

Hunters usually define “long range” as about 500 yards. MeatEater’s Janis Putelis told me that he doesn’t pull the trigger on anything past 400 yards, and new hunters should probably stay within 300 yards. But if you’ve practiced extensively, are shooting from a solid rest, and aren’t shaking from...

Any kid who's ever had a pellet gun and an unsupervised Saturday knows that air rifles can take down small game. But what about whitetails? These days, companies offer .35, .45, and .50-caliber air rifles that are more than capable of bringing down deer-sized animals. It’s safe to say that Ralphie’s...

As AR-15 rifles have become more popular among casual shooters, hunters have wondered if it's the right platform for their next deer gun. So, we're here to break down the pros and cons of toting an AR on your next hunt. Some of these will apply to other kinds of semi-automatic rifles like the AK-4...

Remember that old children’s story, “Goldilocks and the Three Bears?” Some take the moral as a warning against breaking and entering, but most folks probably remember the story’s lesson about moderation: not too hot, not too cold, not too hard, not too soft—just right. The .257 Roberts is the...

Does the gun you use on deer have too much power? The answer may be more complicated than it sounds. Is your deer gun capable of taking a whitetail quickly and cleanly with minimal meat damage? Yeah, probably. Are you capable of using your deer gun to take whitetail quickly and cleanly with minimal...