.303 is pretty much all my brother has ever hunted with. He uses Hornady 174gr (I think). It's closer to the ball ammo weight and is a lot more accurate than the standard wally world loads, according to him.
Get in a pissin contest with him!
I always heard NEVER pee anywhere near where you hunt, BUT... I read an article a couple of years ago saying a deer could not tell the difference between human and deer pee, just male and female. Anyway,last year, I kicked out a scrape about 1.5' diameter and...
Still pretty quiet around here, just a couple of yearlings so far. As to the early shot, it could have been like a buddy of mine years ago. He blew a hole through the floorboard and transmission removing the rifle from the truck. Try explaining that one to daddy at 16, haha.