WannaBe,
Have ya'll had those mature bucks and all those does tested this season?

Raghorn sounds like they are not using proper bullets for deer to me. I get half dollar to grape fruit size exits on coyotes and the same exact results as I get from our 243 and 7mm-08.

It's not a caliber issue its a hunter issue doing something wrong bad shot, wrong bullet, or maybe a bullet failure. BUT it always easier to try to Blame a cartridge.

The main problem, as I see it......is the 6.5 Creedmore is first and foremost a target rifle caliber. The long, skinny, high ballistic coefficient bullets have less wind drift at distance. So if goal is best groups at 1,000 yards.......the CM is your huckleberry.

Two problems emerge from that when use gets redirected to hunting. First is muzzle velocity is on low end to begin with......in 2,800 fps range.......so stopping power falls off quickly past 200 yards or so........and people seem to also graft notion that if they can shoot targets out to 800 yards, they can shoot game out that far too......so end up wounding and losing more animals than they kill. Eric Cortina put together a video series on 500 yard challenge. Bring your best "HUNTING RIFLE" and take one cold bore shot at 500 yards........make an accurate kill shot. Going from memory, fewer that 1 in 10 could do it, and those are experienced F class target shooters.

Having said that, family members killed 3 deer with 6.5 CM's on opening weekend of MO deer season. But all were shot inside 100 yards.

CWD has likely been here for decades....or longer. Yes...we've probably all eaten a positive deer. Many deer in our lifetime could've had it and we've ate them. We've all seen deer like the one pictured above from Berrien County, Ga.

A lot of factors come into play here.

1) how long has it been here? Since Georgia restocked in the 50s & 60s? Has it always been in the environment?
2) takes repeated exposure for deer to contract it so how about humans? The meat has less prions, but..?
3) some deer show symptoms sooner than others....maybe others have not had enough exposure yet? Maybe a genetic resistance? Is that deer that has it but not showing symptoms spreading it longer...yep!
4) other ailments have similar physical symptoms to CWD. What's ailing that deer? Must test to know for sure.
5) CWD hasn't spread much in our lifetime.....testing for CWD has expanded greatly.
6) due to other mortality factors, in addition to hunting, prevalence may inadvertently have been kept low in any given area.
7) where prevalence is high...these are the areas where infected deer(showing symptoms) will more than likely be observed.
8) low prevalence areas = less likely to see a "CWD sick" deer.

This is a complex mess guys! You cant look at this with a simple mind, thinking of a simple fix or denying there is a problem. The problem might not be affecting us today, but think and look into the future. Your grandkids or great-grandkids gonna have quality deer hunting like we've had?

Shouldn't be in denial just because you aint seeing any problem with this today. There are yet a lot of unknowns and you're witnessing agencies scrambling with these unknowns.

If you're OK with what you see today....then so be it. It likely won't always be like this

My favorite to eat!

Over the f’ar

I agree there are too many wolves, but I’ve never heard of the DNR introducing more, as opined above. Why would they, wolves have always been present in MN.

Bet ya that the snow made for easier spotting. Nice work, ADC.

It has had a successful life because of great marketing.

If you want to kill deer at a mile or more, you can only do it with a 6.5 Creedmoor. PUN INTENDED

I'm sure it's a great low recoil round that's fantastic for shooting paper and steel plates.

Everyone is hyped up on fast twist and thinking they're a long range shooter when they buy a 6.5 CM

But every firearms season I get to go help someone I know track a deer that they shot with a 6.5 Needmore.
All but one of them had solid and property placed shots that should have killed them sooner than they did. And that one wasn't far off.
But for whatever reason, deer tend to travel a ways before they die from a 6.5 CM shot. I'm not saying that we don't find them eventually, but I don't want to drag a deer any further than already necessary.

I have been seeing and hearing good things about the 6mm ARC on both deer and varmints.

You do you, but there are better cartridges then the 6.5 CM for deer sized game that have decades of proof backing them up.

#1 says that wildlife is "conserved" and held in trust for all citizens. Trustee is the state which means the government has complete control of wildlife. "Complete control" isn't that the same as ownership. Splitting hairs there

I don't have a smart phone, just an old flip phone. It is all I really need. I have been paying $30 a month for many years now. I can't see paying what folks are paying monthly who have smart phones.

Looking to get an upper for my mp2 to use for deer. Most shots for me realistically where I hunt are going to be under 100 but occasionally I'll have some out to 150 later, moreso later in the season.

Is there much difference in an 16/18/20 barrels at this ranges.

Havalon has something that might work. I was thinking a 3 blade folder but they have a handle that accomodates a variety of resharpenable blades including a skinner, gut hook, and bone saw.

Or this

https://www.shieldon.net/product/oe...er-saw-gut-hook-serrated-blade-jld-c383/