Best cartridge for Light Mountain Gun

Really enjoyable thread. I am moving to the Yukon so I have been paying attention. One of my favourite rounds is the 6.5 Remington Magnum. In my 20" Rem 660 I get 3300fps with 100 grain Nosler Ballistic Tips or 3100 with 120's. With 120's I have been getting 3" groups at 300 yards with a 4X mini Leupold.

In my 22" Ruger I get 100fps more by combination of more barrel and slightly longer loaded rounds.

I also have a 284 and I can get a bit more from the 6.5. Recoil is not too bad in either round.

If I was going new I'd take a hard look at the short 7 SAUM or 7WSM in whatever rifle I could get the best deal on.

Looking at the great pictures in the Richardson Mountains I guess I could also use my Ruger 44 Carbine with open sights. 5 pounds. Yeeha.
 
Toomanyguns; I can definitaly see the advantage of a scope in lower light, but for the game I hunt, mostly sheep and caribou in the mountains, low light shooting has never been an issue. I have shot moose in fading light though, with a scope.

H4831; I have a husqvarna lightweight .308, (with a williams FP) and never held a rifle that shoulders and points so naturally!
 
I'm wondering what people think of as an ideal mountain cartridge. The theoretical gun will be 7lbs all in, so some considerations to recoil should be made, and the cartridge should be comfortably capable of downing a bull elk. I don't really want this to become a discussion of what is suitable for elk or not. This doesn't have to be limited to short actions, but obviously they would be better fit for a lightweight gun. Wildcats are also worthy of including.
So, what does everyone think?
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Ruger M77 MII .308 stainless with synthetic stock ... ;)

Otokiak
Rankin Inlet, NU
CANADA
 
H4831 said:
Of the 95 replies on here, I wonder how many are based on the writers own, personal experiences in the mountains? I can quickly think of at least eight hunts where we took more than one day to get up a mountain. I couldn't begin to count how many times we have left a camp in early morning, arrived in the huntable alpine about 11:00 AM, hunted until about 4 or 5 PM, then made it back to camp before dark. Take my word for it, every ounce on that rifle counts, in spades.
A scope on the rifle has been mentioned. A scope makes a rifle very awkward to carry, compared to the same rifle without a scope. I used to hunt with a fellow that grew up and hunted in the Swiss Alps, and he always took his scope off and carried it in his pack, until we got up the mountain. I have shot a fair bit of game and carried on at least half of all my mountain trips, my old Husqvarna 30-06, with a Lyman 48 aperature rear sight and a near perfect post on the front. I never felt the slightest handicapped, because I didn't have a scope.
One late afternoon two of us were just getting off the alpine, into dwarf pine and scruffy brush, following a bit of a game trail. I was ahead, with the old Husqvarna on a sling over my shoulder. There were a lot of grizzly tracks and sign, so obviously we were alert. Suddenly, there was a commotion in the brush about twenty feet off the side. Then a large, male blue grouse flew up and landed on the trail about twenty five feet ahead of us.
In the time it took that grouse to burst into flight and land just ahead of us, I, by pure instinct, had the rifle off my shoulder, safety off, and lined up to shoot. The grouse had just hit the ground and within an honest 2 seconds, or even less, I was lined up on his neck and blew his head off. All with my iron sights!
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Grouse exploding off the ground is not a topic of any noteworthiness. It is a common daytime occurence for those that walk in the woods. I do agree that is is quite startling and causes a momentary "WTF was that" response. I have been startled but never shot a grouse because it decided to take to the air as I walked by.

Leaving camp before dark and arriving back after dark is nothing special. It is quite standard for myself and the hunters I run with.
 
Why not? said:
Shooting the head off a grouse is a common experience among us old geezers. :)

It is a great way to get a delicious dinner, especially when it is blue grouse!

Ted
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Geezers-in-training too!

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lledwod said:
Takujualuk; welcome to the Yukon! That 6.5 remington magnum sounds interesting. I get about 2900 fps with 120 grn barns tsx in my 20" 7mm-08.
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Thanks!. We are moving down from Inuvik. The 6.5 has a great combination of ballistics with reasonable recoil levels. Some muzzle blast from a 20" I admit.

Need to wait a year for residency but how does the draw system work for sheep?
 
Toomanyguns said:
Grouse exploding off the ground is not a topic of any noteworthiness. It is a common daytime occurence for those that walk in the woods. I do agree that is is quite startling and causes a momentary "WTF was that" response. I have been startled but never shot a grouse because it decided to take to the air as I walked by.
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Perhaps your experience hasn't been on ground covered in bear tracks, but I can tell you should it happens when you're on bear alert it isn't just startling its heart stopping. While I agree that a grouse exploding from cover at your feet is not particularly noteworthy, it is after all a common occurence, your response might be. H-4831's response was noteworthy in that his off hand snap shot, made before his heart had slowed back to a normal rhythm, was within a half inch of perfect. Noteworthy indeed! I'm a little surprised that was lost on you.
 
Boomer said:
Perhaps your experience hasn't been on ground covered in bear tracks, but I can tell you should it happens when you're on bear alert it isn't just startling its heart stopping. While I agree that a grouse exploding from cover at your feet is not particularly noteworthy, it is after all a common occurence, your response might be. H-4831's response was noteworthy in that his off hand snap shot, made before his heart had slowed back to a normal rhythm, was within a half inch of perfect. Noteworthy indeed! I'm a little surprised that was lost on you.
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Maybe, just maybe, he is full of crap. Lots of geezers are full of crap. That is not lost on me.
Typical of many a poor soul that spouts off hunting tales, shooting tales, tales of superior knowledge.
Purely for the sake of seeking recognition in cyberworld.
 
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Toomanyguns said:
Maybe, just maybe, he is full of crap. Lots of geezers are full of crap. That is not lost on me.
Typical of many a poor soul that spouts off hunting tales, shooting tales, tales of superior knowledge.
Purely for the sake of seeking recognition in cyberworld.
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i actually typed a response to this, but then closed the tab and didnt post it - didnt want an infraction.

glad its been handled :D
 
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