Going Hunting in the Yukon...

Both the .300 Winchester and the .338 Lapua are good game cartridges, if you load them with appropriate bullets. But it doesn't sound like yours are chambered in what I would call hunting rifles. To me a hunting rifle must be handy enough to make a short range snap shot, as well as a deliberate long range shot from a rested position. When you're hunting, you won't know which opportunity you'll get until it happens. IMHO, if you need a muzzle brake in the field, you have too much gun, and you risk injuring yourself and anyone beside you if you shoot without warning.

I like the confidence I get from carrying a powerful rifle, and at one time or another I've used most of them up to .500s, but that rifle can just as easily be a .30/06 as anything else. The correct rifle with the right sight/scope combination and a good bullet is far more important that the cartridge in the chamber.

Here's a happy young Yukoner with an "eatin bull" he took a few years ago with a .300 Winchester SAKO on the Pelly near Faro. The moose would have been just as dead had it been hit with a .308 or a .30/30 for that matter.
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Rosie, you will NOT be popular with a muzzle brake! Bring the .300WM, and if you're going to be doing a lot of walking, then replace your stock with a Boyd's laminated stock for $120 delivered to your door. Just put the barrelled action into the lighter stock and you'll be a lot happier of a hiker, lol! The .300WM can handle any north american game with a good bonded bullet. Get a good set of heavy weight merino wool underclothes, they're comfortable, warm, and stink resistant. Don't forget sock liners and good wool socks, inside really warm waterproof Gore-tex boots. Dress in layers, and have fun!
 
I'd shop for a stainless Winchester Model 70 or Ruger M77.

i love my model 70 :D
i dilemma'd for so long on the "perfect" hunting rifle..... for big mulies at distance.... moose out in the clear cuts or on the lake shore, that still elusive full curl big horn ram..... and it has allways been a life long dream to hunt the yukon for cariboo, sheep and moose. I chose the 7mm magnum and have never looked back. not trying to give you advice at all, just chimin in with what works for me.

Your gear is the the number one thing that keeps you in good spirits on the s**ttiest of hunts, contributes to your success by giving you confidence and keeps you alive. Get the right tool for the job has always been way of doing things for me. Some good advice here on alternate suggestions. I wouldn't hesitate to launch a .308 165 gr nosler partition or other quality bonded bullet at any hoofed critter in north america out to 300 yards either..... well..... i've seen a bison shrug off 4 .308 180 gr and then took 2 .338 in the noggin to finally make it fall over....... so maybe i'd go for somethin in a 375 for them beasts :D


anyone wanna clue me in to how i can economically hunt moose or thin horns up in the yukon? Not into the high end guide outfits..... want something a little more down to earth and easier on the wallet. It's my understanjding non resident canadians "must" be guided up there??
 
anyone wanna clue me in to how i can economically hunt moose or thin horns up in the yukon? Not into the high end guide outfits..... want something a little more down to earth and easier on the wallet. It's my understanjding non resident canadians "must" be guided up there??

You need to be guided by a local with a special guiding license. 100 of these licenses are distributed every year and a local can only obtain one in any 3 year period. Just look up the Yukon hunting regs its in them. In other words you'd better have a good friend living here. :D

http://www.env.gov.yk.ca/huntingtrapping/huntingregulations.php
 
[QUOTE. Get a good set of heavy weight merino wool underclothes, they're comfortable, warm, and stink resistant. Don't forget sock liners and good wool socks, inside really warm waterproof Gore-tex boots. Dress in layers, and have fun![/QUOTE]


What time in January is he planning on going to the Yukon?
 
Not my idea of good hunting rifles but they'll certainly kill moose. The AICS would be an ungainly beast, and anyone hunting alongside that .338 with its brake isn't going to be a happy camper (or hunter rather).

What you need doesn't have to be fancy or pricey, a standard sporting .30-06 or .300 Mag out of the EE will be perfect, probably something decent in there for just six hundred bucks right now.

X2!

After a day tramping across bogs and slipping and sliding over lichen covered rocks, you're going to feel every single ounce. A heavy barrel rifle in an equally heavy tactical fiberglass stock is not what you want to be toting to the Yukon.

Moose aren't that hard to kill. There are probably 10-15 thousand killed in Newfoundland every fall with sporterized .303 Lee-Enfields. I'd be aiming to find the lightest rifle/scope package I could. Believe me, a quarter of moose gets real freakin' heavy after about 50 yards of toting it on your shoulder or back over barrens and bogs.

.308 Win works just fine, as does any of the standard long-action calibers such as .30-06 or even the magnums like 7mm Rem Mag or .300 Win Mag. It'll rain, your gear is going to get wet, so a light-weight fiberglass/synthetic stock or laminate is a good idea. A rifle with a sporter-weight bbl makes a lot more sense than a heavy/bull/varmint profile. You should only be shooting once or twice, so the bull barrels offer no practical advantage and the sporter-weights offer plenty of accuracy for your needs as a consequence.
 
. . .
anyone wanna clue me in to how i can economically hunt moose or thin horns up in the yukon? Not into the high end guide outfits..... want something a little more down to earth and easier on the wallet. It's my understanjding non resident canadians "must" be guided up there??

You can get a resident Yukoner to guide you for some species of big game, but not all; I don't think that it applies to sheep, but does to moose and caribou. Maybe somebody will volunteer.
 
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