One "issue" I have with modern hunting is the we tend to use waaayyyyy too much gun. Hundreds of thousands of moose were cleanly and humanely dropped with 30-30's, even 44-40's. It's all about bullet placement, although modern, quality, bullets help ensure consistent expansion and weight retention once hit.
Way back when, my wife killed a huge cow moose at 220 paces with an AK-47. Three shots in the lungs did the trick. I can't remember if it was a through and through, but there was a good blood trail. The 444 is an excellent choice, out to 200 yards. But if you're gong to use it past 100, I'd practice range estimation (fairly easy to do) as you will likely get over a foot of drop at 200. My 45-70, with Lever Evolutions drops about 11". Still plenty of power to kill, but you have to compensate.
Papaclaude: agree with you that for direct, clear shots moose & bear, aside from thin skinned like deer, can be readily harvested cleanly with smaller caliber firearms (.243, .270Win, etc.) at longer ranges with the higher velocity rounds, the circumstances which may dictate a heavier projectile include hunting in heavy brush at medium yardages. The heavier bullets from the 45/70, 444 Marlin, 450 Marlin, etc, using the "Express" straight walled cartridge generally tend to be slower velocities (2,000 FPS +/- a couple of hundred FPS), and the increased mass of the bullets combined with those slower velocities reduce deflection from small branches, brush, etc.
I have examples in the safe of most of the common calibers (.308, .270, 30-06, 6.5X55) and will use those as required for longer yardages (a lot rarer in Ontario than on the prairies, for instance, but still present). Most of my hunting is done not too far from the Ottawa Valley, in extremely heavy brush. I have seen my hunting buddies (many of whom I would class as good shots, better than me) using their .308's and 30-06's have their shots not impact POA or even close, turning out to have contacted a small branch or even a twig on the way down range, and moving the POI by quite a bit.
On the other hand, I have also had my 444 Marlin using 265 Gr Hornady's go clean through small "lumber" and carry on quite a few more yards to drop a deer in its tracks hitting dead on POA with no deflection whatsoever. The black bear I got a couple of years ago was also, as bears are prone to do, wandering around brush you might be tempted to use a machete to clear to walk through - and in cases like those I definitely treasure the 444 - clean shots, excellent sightlines to the animal for safety, but with a lot of brush between muzzle and POI.
Like hammers - sometimes you gotta use the big boy, other times a plastic hammer will do. With the 444 in my case, I've never had to take more than one shot.
O.N.G.
