I have shot a number of them over the years and as has been said already none have gone far on a good shot. Some in the early years worried me a lot as they started to wander off seemingly untouched when I had seen exactly where the shot had hit and knew it was good. They all fell over in a short distance. However I have seen some a long ways after a poorly placed shot and as mentioned above some seem to be somewhat vindictive in their choice of spots to fall over.
Have you ever shot a moose that was hard to kill
- Thread starter Papaclaude
- Start date
rifleman762
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Southern Alberta
In my experience, moose are surprisingly easy to kill. My first moose was shot with a 308 Mauser at 75 yards with 180gr Partitions. It was a small spike fork and I got 3 or 4 bullets in it before it finally fell over. First shot was fatal with bright lung blood coming out. Second moose was slightly bigger - shot it with a 300 WM 180gr Accubond at 460 yards. It was still alive and got up to try run away when I got there. First hit was low in the leg - didn't appear to be a fatal hit, just crippled it. I still shudder about how close I was to having an injured animal get away.
My dad emptied a couple mags out of a Winchester model 100 semi auto 308 at a moose. 100% of hits in the lungs but he wasn't sure if he was missing or hitting because the beast didn't react at all. The bullets were spraying blood mist behind it but he thought it was spray off the wet vegetation. Dead moose standing.
My brother shot a caribou with a 308 and I joined in with a 300 WM. 7 bullets through it before it dropped.
After this I got smart and decided to not keep shooting and wasting meat on a fatally hit animal. My brother popped a 56 inch moose through the lungs with the usual 308 with 180 gr Partitions. I held my fire until the critter decided to head for the brush. Then I shot the spine to drop it.
Moral of the story: a hit in the lungs will kill a moose even with a small cartridge but not anchor it. A hit not in the vitals is bad and a magnum cartridge won't help you. If you need it to drop on the spot use a CNS follow-up shot after a boiler room shot. They don't move quickly after being hit which allows for your choice of a follow-up.
My dad emptied a couple mags out of a Winchester model 100 semi auto 308 at a moose. 100% of hits in the lungs but he wasn't sure if he was missing or hitting because the beast didn't react at all. The bullets were spraying blood mist behind it but he thought it was spray off the wet vegetation. Dead moose standing.
My brother shot a caribou with a 308 and I joined in with a 300 WM. 7 bullets through it before it dropped.
After this I got smart and decided to not keep shooting and wasting meat on a fatally hit animal. My brother popped a 56 inch moose through the lungs with the usual 308 with 180 gr Partitions. I held my fire until the critter decided to head for the brush. Then I shot the spine to drop it.
Moral of the story: a hit in the lungs will kill a moose even with a small cartridge but not anchor it. A hit not in the vitals is bad and a magnum cartridge won't help you. If you need it to drop on the spot use a CNS follow-up shot after a boiler room shot. They don't move quickly after being hit which allows for your choice of a follow-up.
Shoot a dozen mooses and none been hard to kill, most memorable shot was a buck across the lake at 350 yards from me, had time to set myself in prone position with my Steyr Scout 308 using the rifle bipod, one shot, he went down in is track.
This was a great shot.
This was a great shot.
Moose either drop on the first poke and almost always on the second hit.I find if you don't chase them they just wander around a little and fall over.If they are near H2O I shoot them a foot below the hump so they stay put then one between the lookers.
In the rut when you get them all worked up I have seen them take a bit of a run but if they are well hit the run was never more then 5 or 10 yards and most just dropped where they stood.
Had a hunter take a frontal chest shot at 7 paces once cause that was the only shot he had...The bull came to the call in the thick tangled bush and ended up right in front of us with his head down swinging back and forth for what seemed an eternity...At one point the hunter let his rifle muzzle down cause he was so shaky afraid and out of his element...I coaxed him with hand gestures to take aim again...The beast charged after the shot but ran into the large tamarack deadfall I was standing on and the hunter was kneeling behind...The hunter dropped his rifle and let out a horrible howl as he turned and dove out of the way...My boat was tied to the same deadfall and the bull rolled thrashing up against the hull...What a frantic wet ruckus...I picked up his rifle and finished off bully...Hunts like this are worth the price of admission and stay vivid in your mind a long, long time.
Had a hunter take a frontal chest shot at 7 paces once cause that was the only shot he had...The bull came to the call in the thick tangled bush and ended up right in front of us with his head down swinging back and forth for what seemed an eternity...At one point the hunter let his rifle muzzle down cause he was so shaky afraid and out of his element...I coaxed him with hand gestures to take aim again...The beast charged after the shot but ran into the large tamarack deadfall I was standing on and the hunter was kneeling behind...The hunter dropped his rifle and let out a horrible howl as he turned and dove out of the way...My boat was tied to the same deadfall and the bull rolled thrashing up against the hull...What a frantic wet ruckus...I picked up his rifle and finished off bully...Hunts like this are worth the price of admission and stay vivid in your mind a long, long time.
More than you could ever believe. That cow was farkin' HUGE (7 years old), and if she had dropped in that swamp, it would have been carry out one chunk at a time in waist-deep ice water.
Suka
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
I wouldn't say hard to kill, but there's an old saying about hunting moose. Don' pick up your brass, meaning you'll bend down to pick it up, look up and the moose will be gone.
My first moose took 3 in the boiler to drop(30-06/220 nosler, about 60 yrd), never ran, just was walking away on an angle. After that I bought an iron sights blr in 450 marlin and use 400 grain hawks, thus eliminating any concern. (only hunt calling season, most under 40 yds I'd say.)
My first moose took 3 in the boiler to drop(30-06/220 nosler, about 60 yrd), never ran, just was walking away on an angle. After that I bought an iron sights blr in 450 marlin and use 400 grain hawks, thus eliminating any concern. (only hunt calling season, most under 40 yds I'd say.)
215gr .303 at about 125 yards, just as I squeezed off a round he stepped forward. I JUUUUUUST knicked the lung. He went about a mile deeper into the bush before he crashed down.
Quartered him and packed him out 3/4 of a mile on our backs to the bike. Needed a boat to get him over a big beaver pond. Shot at 10am and it was 9pm before we were back at camp with all our stuff and people.
One guy was going to shoot a calf that he walked up on that same afternoon. I told him don't you dare shoot it.......if you do your on your own getting it out. Realistically, it wouldn't have been to bad, could have drove a ATV and trailer right up beside it.
Quartered him and packed him out 3/4 of a mile on our backs to the bike. Needed a boat to get him over a big beaver pond. Shot at 10am and it was 9pm before we were back at camp with all our stuff and people.
One guy was going to shoot a calf that he walked up on that same afternoon. I told him don't you dare shoot it.......if you do your on your own getting it out. Realistically, it wouldn't have been to bad, could have drove a ATV and trailer right up beside it.
I’ve shot moose with a 7mm Rem Mag, .35 Whelen, .300 WSM and .375 Ruger. None of them went far and shot placement is everything but I’d be lying if I didn’t say that the three that went down the fastest weren’t shot with the .375 Ruger.
Got my first ever moose st 375 yards with my .300winmag. First shot right threw the boiler room. Lining up for my second shot the moose disappeared then I seen 4 legs straight into the air. Dead by the time I walked over there.
Next year moose walks by at 15 yards. 300wm barks again and moose stumbles for about 5 steps then falls over dead.
Shot a smaller black bear at 10 yards about 2 days later. Got 3 shots on him before he went 50 yards and he didnt even act like I hit him. All 3 shots hit lungs/liver he went about 100 yards before expiring, I couldn't believe it. All with 180g corelokts
Moose are easy to kill if you hit them right, Know one guy that shot a bull 9 times in the neck and after each shot the bull kept walking closer so he would shoot again. Not sure why he didnt aim for the boiler room
Next year moose walks by at 15 yards. 300wm barks again and moose stumbles for about 5 steps then falls over dead.
Shot a smaller black bear at 10 yards about 2 days later. Got 3 shots on him before he went 50 yards and he didnt even act like I hit him. All 3 shots hit lungs/liver he went about 100 yards before expiring, I couldn't believe it. All with 180g corelokts
Moose are easy to kill if you hit them right, Know one guy that shot a bull 9 times in the neck and after each shot the bull kept walking closer so he would shoot again. Not sure why he didnt aim for the boiler room
Nawt hard to kill, sum were fruck'in chewy though...…………….
appens most offen wen yas chasin im wit da truck.
Funny how they only run to water when your chest waders are 300 km. away!
mostly just drop with a good hit but have seen them go into shock, splay there legs and refuse to drop. usually don't even move.they can absorb a lot of lead. there dead but don't know it yet. a shot to the head puts them on the ground quickly. my nephew put 4 rounds of 308 into a moose broadside. kept shooting because is didn't fall over. moose was dead just to dumb to fall down.
nowarningshot
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Have shot a bunch. Double lung, less than 50 yards.
There are 30 or more calibers that will quickly take a moose. Where the extreme large magnum calibers come, is in threads like the recent 44 mag for moose or last years, 17 rem for moose.
There are 30 or more calibers that will quickly take a moose. Where the extreme large magnum calibers come, is in threads like the recent 44 mag for moose or last years, 17 rem for moose.
No worries there's always the annual, can I hunt deer with my .223 thread ? BTW I once bought a 788 /.223 that came with the original box of shells except three. One to check the sights ,one in a bulls hump and the third in the forehead.A nice lady bought her husband a big game rifle from a lying slick gun counter salesman knowing the caliber was not legal.Too late to get another gun so he made due for his moose hunt.Then upgraded.
The .44 thread is what triggered this. Was curious to compare my experience with others'. Seems like my hunch was right - moose ain't tough.
