As I browse the ammunition section of a well-known big-box sporting goods store in Hattiesburg, I take stock of the various rounds available. In addition to hundreds of loads for 30.06, 270, and .30-.30, I see a few that seem out of character for anything in the state. I see various loads of 300 Win Mag, .338 Laupa, 35 Whelen, and even a couple of 9.3mm Mauser cases. Scratching my head and rewinding every hunt I’ve been on in the Magnolia State, I wonder where all these moose, grizzly bears, and moose are that I’m missing.

I go to Chip, a friend of mine for years who happens to work behind the rifle counter at the store in question.

“Potato chips?” I say, “What’s the problem with all these big game loads? Are they for guys from here who go to Alaska to hunt?”

He nods. “Some of them, but we sell a lot to guys who also hunt locally.”

He continued to regale me with instances where he had been personally involved from mutual friends who hunt with big-bore rifles and never leave the 228 or 601 area codes. I made follow-up calls and checked with said mutual friends that, in fact, sometimes they venture into the pine forests with such heavy artillery.

Armed with this knowledge, I had to look at the ballistics of this for myself.

Taking a look at ballistics tables for various rounds, let’s look at the minimum commonly acceptable round used by whitetail hunters: the .223 Remington. This cartridge, said in a 55-grain ballistic tip, generates 3,300 fps velocity and delivers an impact energy of 1,500 ft/lbs. This cartridge has been shown to be capable of taking down deer and large pests such as coyotes, wild pigs and Taliban.

At what many would consider the top of the ballistic spectrum for common whitetail deer rounds is the venerable 30.06 Springfield. This cartridge, for example in a 180 grain Core-Lokt Soft Point, generates 2700 fps and offers an incredible 2900 ft/lbs of energy. The round was used by the US military for most of the 20th century, including in the World Wars and Korea, and has been used on every continent.

So, with these two bookends, you could comfortably say that any projectile that generates between 1,500 and 2,900 ft/lbs of energy from a 55- to 180-grain bullet is a whitetail projectile. This would include such popular bambi-getters as the 243, 270, 280, 30.30, 303, 308, and 7.62x54R, 7mm Rem Mag, and 7mm-08.

Now let’s take a look at some of the big boys that people are using along with them. The belted 300 Win Mag magnum has much more power than the 30.06. The 300 Win Mag 200 grain Nosler clocks in at over 3,000 fps and imparts an astounding 4,100 ft/lbs of energy at the muzzle. Sure, this will take down anything in Mississippi smaller than a mini-van, but with twice the power of the capable 243 round, is that overkill?

Now, elephant barrel sized artillery rounds like .375 H&H and 9.3mm (pushing over 5000ft/lbs) are out of the box when you look at their ballistics. Buying and using this caliber in-state feels like shooting a butterfly with a 10-caliber. Sure, it will work, but let’s be sporty.

What is taking the record breakers?

The largest Mississippi white-tailed deer (per rack) ever caught was Tony Fulton’s 1994 season non-typical deer with 295 6/8 Boone and Crockett points (BTR score of 321 7/8 inches) in the county of Winston. Tony took it 50 yards with a shot of his 30.06.

Neither Alabama nor Mississippi maintain official records for feral hogs, which are considered nuisance animals by the state department of conservation. With that said, a 768-pound monster was caught in Mobile County, just miles from the Mississippi line. The chosen weapon was a 30.06.

Boone and Crockett compiled the data on the sizes used from their logbook entries from 2007 through 2009. The winner for white-tailed deer? 270 Winchester took more than any other. The real kicker is that while the 270 took more than any other centerfire round, it ranked third overall behind bows and shotguns/muzzleloaders, respectively.

This B&C list included several Win Mag 300s, 338s, and a few of the other big ones, but they were all in the mule deer, sheep, elk, and elk categories.

Just say.