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Thomas Pavelka

At one point in my life I had so many rifles I would stand like an idiot in front of no less than 6 gun cabinets for well over an hour trying to decide which rifle I was going to take on the hunt that day.

Hey, some guys put the money into hot women and fast cars. My vice was always rifles with voluptuous wood stocks.

As the years went on some rifles got weeded out based on weight alone. Others got taken off the list because they were not stable in extreme weather conditions. Over time, the wood stock guns became less, the synthetics more.

After much annihilation on everything from White Tail Deer to an American Bison, and about everything in between with a 378 Weatherby Mark V it dawned on me one day that not so much horsepower was required.

The old bones were becoming subjective to the recoil, and too, the fluid in the human skull can only get sloshed and slammed around so much before something has to give. When one blacks out then wakes to find the rifle on the sand bags wondering if it was fired or not it's time to drop down in calibers.

So these days I have a few rifles, but alas, I open the ammo cabinets and it looks like the ammo counter at the sporting goods store.

Since I found this site I have done MUCH reading. And, it occurs to me that if there is ONE bullet that keeps jumping into the mix, it has to be the Nosler Partition.

I do believe I could get by with the following:

150 Nosler Partition in the 308 ( it hates anything above 150 with that 1:12 twist) Used on deer to 230 pounds at not more than 100 yards, but more likely less than 50 yards.

180 Nosler Partition in the 30-06 for Black Bears up to 400 pounds at ranges not to exceed 100 yards, but most likely less than 26 yards.

And the 270. Can't decide on the 130 Nosler Partition or the 150. But if I had to pick just one, which one would it be? Same critters, same distances.

Long distance is out of the game here abouts. When the leaves are off the tree in late Fall, if one lines up the trees just right, MAYBE a 100 yard shot is in the offering, but that would be about once in a blue moon.

More often than not, shots are taken in feet rather than yards. This comes about from very dense brush, and, or dwelling in trees from stands. Many of the rifle shots are clearly in bow range.

I'm thinking the Nosler Partitions can reduce the ammo pile down to something much more manageable.

Anyone come up with a reason NOT to go this route?