Moose Kill Question From An Ex Hunter....

[jmr40]

Never hunted moose but have seen a lot of deer and bear shot. Sometimes the shot placement is perfect and the bullet performs well and they just don't want to die. Having read many hunting stories in Outdoor Life and other books etc. it seems that moose are especially tenacious in not wanting to go down after a good hit.

Did not see the show, but I would hunt with a .270 with good bullets but would prefer something bigger.

 

[CoRoMo]

40 yards with a .270?!?!?!?

posted by David E. Petzal:
Called-in moose are usually shot at ranges of 20 to 40 yards, where high velocity is worse than useless. At the very least it will produce blown-up bullets that cause horrendous meat loss. At worst the bullet will blow up on the shoulder and the animal will run away and die at his leisure, and you may not ever find it. What you want is a bullet that will hold together and pass intact through 4 feet of bone, hide, and muscle.

If you're hunting that close, go with the heavy, slow projectile. 45/70 would be perfect. Keep the .270 for longer shots.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

That's why I like the .35 Brown-Whelen. A 225 grain Nosler PJ at 2800 fps is just about ideal for larger game, and has enough punch and reach to deal with any reaonable range, from off the muzzle out to 300 yards or so.

 

[351 WINCHESTER]

The .270 with a heavy bullet or a heavily constructed 130 gr. will kill moose all day long. I knew an elderly gentlemen that used to hunt moose with his .351 winchester. Never lost one or had a problem. He was an excellent hunter.

 

[Rebailey]

Moose

A friend of mine hunted moose in Alaska. The natives used .243 Win. with 100-gr bullets. They said shoot them through the lungs. They waited about 30 minutes then followed them and they would lay down and die. No problem.

 

[CoRoMo]

The .270 with a heavy bullet or a heavily constructed 130 gr. will kill moose all day long.

I couldn't agree more. I'm a .270 lover and I'll never change. However, when I've shot deer at close ranges (26 paces was the closest) the 3,000+fps bullet seems to explode on impact. Sure, it still killed the mule deer, but on a big bull moose, I'm not sure what that close of a range would do. Just a massive wound or 'good enough' penetration?

 

[rhweb32]

My buddy shot his moose here in Montana this year with a .357 mag. It took one shot at 25 yards. It's all about the bullet and shot placement.

 

[Run&Shoot]

Bullet weight and construction are important. The 130 gr is very popular for the .270 and is fine for deer and antelope. But for moose it would be better to use the 150 gr of good construction (like the bonded bullets).

I would opt for a .30-06 in 180 gr or even 200 gr., or a .35 Whelen. Or even a .300 or .338 WM. The .270 seems a bit small but with good shot placement and a good 150 gr bullet it should do better than what you saw in the show. I suspect the guy either used the 130 gr bullets or had poor shot placement.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

I have a lot of sympathy for people who rail against "magnumitis" -- the proposition that nowadays you can't kill game without the latest magnum. And I agree that in days gone by, people killed moose, brown bear and similar really big game with rifles we would consider too light today.

But at the same time, I realize they used those "too light" rifles because that's all they had. And they were hunting in a different era -- it didn't cost them the price of a new car to shoot a moose, and if they lost one, they could always find another.

Having said that, a .30-06 is still all you really need in North America, and a .35 Whelen (or my favorite, the .35 Brown-Whelen) is extra insurance.

 

[MakAttak]

Having said that, a .30-06 is still all you USUALLY need in North America, and a .35 Whelen (or my favorite, the .35 Brown-Whelen) is extra insurance.

Fixed that for you.

I don't know if I'd want a 30-06 with a charging Grizzly...

 

[Vern Humphrey]

I've never shot a charging grizzley, but I recall reading about a lady out berry picking who shot and killed two -- with a .250 Savage.

Personally, with a good 180 grain bullet or better, I think you'd be hard put to tell the difference on grizzley between the .300 Win Mag and the .30-06.

 

[mbt2001]

Ballistically, the .270 is shooting roughly the same size bullet at roughly the same speed as the 7mm mag. Obviously the 7mm is the faster, larger, more powerful rifle, but not by a large margin. 100 - 300 fps and approx 300 ft lbs...

The 30-06 and 308 have a similar difference in power and most people would agree that anything you can hunt with a 30-06 you can hunt with a .308. Just FYI.

The .270 is fine for Moose. There are other cartridges that do it better, but few "larger" guns have the same versatility as the 270 round.

Vern Humphrey - You sentiments are the same as mine. There are a lot of people that put magnum at the end of a cartridge and feel that it can do anything, when in reality the difference between a "magnum" and "non magnum" round is sketched out above. The 30-06 and .300 winchester magnum have about the same varience as the .270 and the 7mm mag.

Everyone on this board would say that a .300 win mag is OK for moose and grizzly bear and most would say the same for the 7mm mag. I wonder if they see that in advocating those two, they are elliptically agreeing that the .270 win and the 30-06 are also fine for the same game.

 

[redneck2]

Two years ago I shot a mid-sized 6-point white tail with my 12 gauge. Deer was facing me from maybe 50 yards. I was prone, deer standing still looking at me.

485 grain slug went in the right side front of the chest, angled thru the heart and lungs and exited just in front of the left rear hind quarter. Looked like a buzz saw went thru. Deer still ran about 100 yards.

If a .712 round with exceptional expansion and complete pass thru isn't big enough, I don't know what is.

Some times they just don't know they're dead.

 

[Nevertoomanyguns]

My buddy shot his moose 3 years ago with a .270 using 130 gr. bullets. Shot it just behind the shoulder complete pass through and the moose went about 25 yards and dropped. The moose was a cow and weighed 850 lbs dressed. I hunted for my bull moose this year with my .270 and never felt under gunned I just never found my bull.