Well Cam, you have more knowledge of firearms than most of us on here, so you would certainly pick what you considered best.
But for the general question, the one and only rifle would surely be the 30-06. I note that several are saying a 30-06, except for grizzly. Did I miss something here? Are grizzly bears now equipped with bullet proof hides, or bones that don't break? Do you need a larger rifle than a 30-06 for grizzly?
Grancel Fitz was a trophy hunter and was very instrumental in the Boone and Crocket Club scoring system. He set out to get a record book size speciman of all north american game. He got many records, I think it was eleven different species, but one I will mention was in 1953 he shot a grizzly bear on the Klini Klini River in BC, that tied the world record grizzly, shot in 1890. Grancel Fitz shot all his game with a 30-06 rifle. He didn't reload, so he used factory ammunition. For grizzly he preferred 220 grain bullets.
Hosea Sarber was probably the best known of the Alaska brown bear guides. He had a saying that one in 25 grizzlies was out to kill you, and the problem was they didn't wear numbers on their backs, so you never knew when you might meet number 25.
Frank Dufresne, one of my all time favourite outdoor writers and another Alaskan, in his book, "No Room for Bears, tells of a killer Alaskan brown bear that Hosea Sarber went after. A ranger and a young assistant was in thick bush along a creek on Admiralty Island when they were attacked by a brown bear. The ranger got a quick shot away, but the bear killed him, while the assistant escaped. They got the body out, then Hosea Sarber went after the killer bear. He said this was a for sure # 25!
He said he was carrying his favourite rifle, a 30-06 sporter and he had 220 grain open point expanding ammunition. He encountered the bear at close quarters and the bear roared, worse than he had ever before heard, but the bottom line is he killed the big brown with one shot from his 30-06.
So here we have one of the most, if not the most, experienced brown bear guide in Alaska, going after a killer brown bear and the rifle he takes is a 30-06. Damn, those 30-06 rifles must have something going for them!
Edited to say that that Hosea Sarber's rifle had iron peep sights, with a large size aperature.
But for the general question, the one and only rifle would surely be the 30-06. I note that several are saying a 30-06, except for grizzly. Did I miss something here? Are grizzly bears now equipped with bullet proof hides, or bones that don't break? Do you need a larger rifle than a 30-06 for grizzly?
Grancel Fitz was a trophy hunter and was very instrumental in the Boone and Crocket Club scoring system. He set out to get a record book size speciman of all north american game. He got many records, I think it was eleven different species, but one I will mention was in 1953 he shot a grizzly bear on the Klini Klini River in BC, that tied the world record grizzly, shot in 1890. Grancel Fitz shot all his game with a 30-06 rifle. He didn't reload, so he used factory ammunition. For grizzly he preferred 220 grain bullets.
Hosea Sarber was probably the best known of the Alaska brown bear guides. He had a saying that one in 25 grizzlies was out to kill you, and the problem was they didn't wear numbers on their backs, so you never knew when you might meet number 25.
Frank Dufresne, one of my all time favourite outdoor writers and another Alaskan, in his book, "No Room for Bears, tells of a killer Alaskan brown bear that Hosea Sarber went after. A ranger and a young assistant was in thick bush along a creek on Admiralty Island when they were attacked by a brown bear. The ranger got a quick shot away, but the bear killed him, while the assistant escaped. They got the body out, then Hosea Sarber went after the killer bear. He said this was a for sure # 25!
He said he was carrying his favourite rifle, a 30-06 sporter and he had 220 grain open point expanding ammunition. He encountered the bear at close quarters and the bear roared, worse than he had ever before heard, but the bottom line is he killed the big brown with one shot from his 30-06.
So here we have one of the most, if not the most, experienced brown bear guide in Alaska, going after a killer brown bear and the rifle he takes is a 30-06. Damn, those 30-06 rifles must have something going for them!
Edited to say that that Hosea Sarber's rifle had iron peep sights, with a large size aperature.
