Moose hunting, recommended caliber

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"...he talked me into getting a nice 7mm Mag..." Your cousin a firearms sales guy? Your Mosin with the right bullet will drop a moose like a ton of bricks. If you place the bullet right. The .303 British with 175 or 180 grain hunting bullets at about 2400fps, has been one of the standard moose cartridges, up here, for eons. You don't need a magnum, of any kind, for Bullwinkle. He's bigger than an elk, but a .30-06 with a 165 grain hunting bullet will kill him.
Yogi isn't interested in you either. Yogi is not out there looking for people to maul or eat. He avoids people like we avoid smelly trouble makers. You're a smelly trouble maker to Yogi.
"...if you can't count on shot placement, shoot solids..." Rubbish. If you can't place the shot, you shouldn't be hunting. Solids are not the answer to poor shooting. A .270 with any 140 or 150 grain SP hunting bullet will kill a moose with one shot. A Barnes bullets just costs more.
"...I've killed a bison with them and they are WAY to soft to be depended on for big critters..." The buffler go down with one shot? Just curious. Mind you, factory .45-70 is loaded down to BP velocities. Of course, a lot of buffalo were killed with lead bullets and BP.
 
H&H, now I'm a bit perplexed by your statement....

How much big game as in elk or larger have you killed with factory Remington 405 gr soft points out of a .45-70. I've killed a bison with them and they are WAY to soft to be depended on for big critters.
Click to expand...

Well, since a bison bull can weigh twice what a bull moose does, then I'd say we need to hear the rest of the story - obviously, if it's unreliable for moose, it's WAY too unreliable for bison. So what happened with the bison was hit with the 405 (we're still talking about the Remington Core-Lokt bullet, I believe)? I don't know - I'm not challenging, just asking. I've never killed anything bigger than a whitetail deer.
 
I would bet that the locals have killed more moose with a 30-30 than with anything else.
My thoughts would be a 35 Whelen as a good choice for all around use.

NCsmitty
 
Dunno how old this is but here's an example of a big bad Yogi and a 7mm Mag...

Forest Service in Alaska and his trophy bear (killed in self defense).

He was out deer hunting last week when a large grizzly bear charged him from about 50 yards away. The guy emptied his 7mm Magnum semi-automatic rifle into the bear and it dropped a few feet from him. The big bear was still alive so he reloaded and shot it several times in the head.

The bear was just over one thousand six hundred pounds. It stood 12' 6" high at the shoulder, 14' to the top of his head. It's the largest grizzly bear ever recorded in the world.

Of course, the Alaska Fish and Wildlife Commission did not let him keep it as a trophy, but the bear will be stuffed and mounted, and placed on display at the Anchorage airport to remind tourists of the risks involved when in the wild.

Based on the contents of the bears stomach, the Fish and Wildlife Commission established the bear had killed at least two humans in the past 72 hours including a missing hiker

The US Forest Service, backtracking from where the bear had originated, found the hiker's 38-caliber pistol emptied. Not far from the pistol were the remains of the hiker. The other body has not been found.

Although the hiker fired six shots and managed to hit the grizzly with four shots (the Service ultimately found four 38 caliber slugs along with twelve 7mm slugs inside the bear's dead body), it only wounded the bear and probably angered it immensely.

The bear killed the hiker an estimated two days prior to the bear's own death by the gun of the Forest Service worker.

Think about this:
If you are an average size man; You would be level with the bear's navel when he stood upright. The bear would look you in the eye when it walked on all fours! To give additional perspective, consider that this particular bear, standing on its hind legs, could walk up to an average single story house and look over the roof, or walk up to a two story house and look in the bedroom windows.
 
You can kill a Moose with a 30-30 or an old 38-55 Etc. They are Moose not Sherman Tanks. You can get close to them in most cases. They stand around in my yard every winter here on the Bear River. All this being said, you will be hunting other game as well. The need for something to protect yourself from the bears is a concern. My old .338 Win Mag, as served me well for all these needs,:)
 
Since I'm the OP and I've seen what's there, no I'm not afraid of bears. They didn't bother us before, and as long as we follow sensible precautions they won't bother us later. Sunray had it right as far as my experience of bears go, they don't like us and normally leave, and worst case close in with a 12ga Magnum Slug will do the deed. I don't plan on hunting bears for sport, especially not blackies, they don't taste very good.

IMHO based on consensus and mailing some of the Old Timers near my property the 30-06 is the most popular for pretty much everything, and they have them in town (I don't want to drive 100+ miles to Fairbanks to get an ammo-load in case of emergency). Just need to up my marksmanship a little, which isn't a bad thing anyway.
 
I've dropped moose with a 30-06. Always opted for a clean shot and the moose were nice enough to fall over and play dead for me.

If you are moving to the boonies of AK, I think I would invest a little money into a reloading setup. Gives you the opportunity to always find the round you want instead of relying on whats in the store. Just buy a good starter kit, brass and bullets before you head up. Buy a good book on reloading to go with it and your set. I be one of your neighbors up there can answer any question you'll have.

Wish you luck with that move. Wish I could head north to settle down.
 
A .45-70 with 350 or 405 grain factory loads will work on anything that you can run into.
Click to expand...


Waterman you are right.

This was from fineredmist,

My apologies sir.

Tad writes,

Well, since a bison bull can weigh twice what a bull moose does, then I'd say we need to hear the rest of the story - obviously, if it's unreliable for moose, it's WAY too unreliable for bison. So what happened with the bison was hit with the 405 (we're still talking about the Remington Core-Lokt bullet, I believe)? I don't know - I'm not challenging, just asking. I've never killed anything bigger than a whitetail deer.

They were Remington 405 gr soft points I don't think they were Corelokt just the plain old vanilla soft point. I've got several hundred of them for cheap reloading. In any case the bison was a cow and weighed about 1100 lbs. The bullet performance was CRAP they over expanded and came apart almost instantly with two body shots. Fortunately the cow stopped on the second shot and my buddy was able to but in a head shot which killed it.

The first two rounds both hit ribs on the entry and barely made it into the on side lung. They were launched at about 1600 FPS MV.

I've killed all kinds of stuff with my .45-70 with proper rounds it is a hammer but the cheap factory stuff is to be avoided on large game. It is anemic and it's to darn soft. It is fine for deer.
 
Forest Service in Alaska and his trophy bear (killed in self defense).

He was out deer hunting last week when a large grizzly bear charged him from about 50 yards away. The guy emptied his 7mm Magnum semi-automatic rifle into the bear and it dropped a few feet from him. The big bear was still alive so he reloaded and shot it several times in the head.

The bear was just over one thousand six hundred pounds. It stood 12' 6" high at the shoulder, 14' to the top of his head. It's the largest grizzly bear ever recorded in the world.

Of course, the Alaska Fish and Wildlife Commission did not let him keep it as a trophy, but the bear will be stuffed and mounted, and placed on display at the Anchorage airport to remind tourists of the risks involved when in the wild.

Based on the contents of the bears stomach, the Fish and Wildlife Commission established the bear had killed at least two humans in the past 72 hours including a missing hiker

The US Forest Service, backtracking from where the bear had originated, found the hiker's 38-caliber pistol emptied. Not far from the pistol were the remains of the hiker. The other body has not been found.

Although the hiker fired six shots and managed to hit the grizzly with four shots (the Service ultimately found four 38 caliber slugs along with twelve 7mm slugs inside the bear's dead body), it only wounded the bear and probably angered it immensely.

The bear killed the hiker an estimated two days prior to the bear's own death by the gun of the Forest Service worker.

Think about this:
If you are an average size man; You would be level with the bear's navel when he stood upright. The bear would look you in the eye when it walked on all fours! To give additional perspective, consider that this particular bear, standing on its hind legs, could walk up to an average single story house and look over the roof, or walk up to a two story house and look in the bedroom windows.
Click to expand...

Gungir,

That is an internet legend. Checkout snopes that bear was killed with one shot from a .338 win and was on a legal license.
 
Oh...

Lets see about 20 to properly sight it in, and then none, didn't have time this past hunting season, and since I didn't have anywhere to store it, I figured it would keep better on the hoof. Guess it was a little optimistic, in my ability to get here, and get set up for winter, AND go a-moose huntin'
 
It would depend on the range for me at least. Inside 300, 30-06 180gr. Over 300, 300WM 180-200gr.
 
My vote is for the .45-70 in a Marlin guide gun. You throw 405 grains at anything in North America, it's going to die as long as you do your part.
 
35 Whelen

FYI, I believe that the moose is the most dangerous (as far as body count) animal in North America. They are fearless, massive and fast.
 
If all I had was my .30-06 and couldn't buy another rifle, I'd take it along in a heartbeat. However, if I was able to purchase a rifle with the specific purpose of hunting moose in Alaska, I would definately go to a larger round, probably a .300 Win Mag. That's just me. Make no mistake though. Even if you're shooting a magnum, it won't make up for poor shot placement. A poorly placed shot is going to result in a long tracking session, reguardless of the caliber.
As far as bang for the buck, you can't go wrong with a Weatherby Vangaurd. Brand new for $400.
 
So, at the ranges that moose seem to be shot at, why are there so many recommendations here for 300winmag on up? At under 300yds, I see no difference really between the two, both are 30 cals, and both can launch the same size bullets.

Use the 30.06, it'll take a moose, it'll take a griz, it will take just about anything that you're gonna run into.

If you end up with more cash, and get a hankering for a new gun, find out what calibers are easily available nearby, maybe a 338 or something fatter. Or a 760 in 30.06
 
Ankeny said:
That would make a great bumper sticker.
Click to expand...
+1 on the bumper sticker idea. the OP already has a .30-06, so let's quit putting foolish notions in his head of buying an "elk" gun thereby causing him to purchase a rifle that he does not need, causing the wife to leave him and take everything he owns including his new elk rifle AND the .30-06 that he could have used in the first place. ;)
 
"...If you cant kill it with a 30-06, you should hide..." Exactly. No need for heavy or premium bullets either. Any 165 will do nicely.
"...if you can't count on shot placement..." Don't shoot. Wounded is wounded. Bull moose can be extremely dangerous.
 
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