This is sage advice, indeed! I feel that those who insist you need a 300 Magnum or larger to kill a moose just have not shot very many of them. I have shot moose with everything from the 6mm Remington up, and a well-placed shot always does the job quickly. Range? Moose here in Northern BC can be from 15 yards to 500+ [in a clearcut] So, need to be ready for the longer poke in some cases. Regards, Eagleye.
Moose gun
- Thread starter Cagunman
- Start date
This is sage advice, indeed! I feel that those who insist you need a 300 Magnum or larger to kill a moose just have not shot very many of them. I have shot moose with everything from the 6mm Remington up, and a well-placed shot always does the job quickly. Range? Moose here in Northern BC can be from 15 yards to 500+ [in a clearcut] So, need to be ready for the longer poke in some cases. Regards, Eagleye.
"I think Mr. Musick's article one of the best that ran last year in the front section of Rifleman, but many small bore addicts who have little experience will pan him but you can tell if they do they lack experience as no experienced man is going to pan another hunter for using a big gun"
Elmer Keith corresponding to Paul A. Matthews
So my point is small bore guys (less than 38 cal
) should lighten up. Sure you can dump a moose with a .243 if you place it in the right spot. What would you do if you were hunting for a week and the first decent shot that presented itself was a strong quartering forwards shot? I would like at minimum a 30-06 with well built 180's. I prefer a .338, very final.
If you shoot an '06 or 270 and like it thats a great moose gun. If your 30 caliber bazooka make-numb is your favourite moose gun then hair on you for being man enough to shoot it.
Note, I feel sorry for who ever had to edit Elmer's grammar....or mine for that matter.
Can't we all just get along?
Elmer Keith corresponding to Paul A. Matthews
So my point is small bore guys (less than 38 cal
) should lighten up. Sure you can dump a moose with a .243 if you place it in the right spot. What would you do if you were hunting for a week and the first decent shot that presented itself was a strong quartering forwards shot? I would like at minimum a 30-06 with well built 180's. I prefer a .338, very final.If you shoot an '06 or 270 and like it thats a great moose gun. If your 30 caliber bazooka make-numb is your favourite moose gun then hair on you for being man enough to shoot it.
Note, I feel sorry for who ever had to edit Elmer's grammar....or mine for that matter.
Can't we all just get along?
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Last thing I would do is knock someone's choice of a big rifle to shoot moose. If a chambering that lays the daisies low for a 50 meter circle in front of you when you touch one off is what you like....so be it!!! All I said was I don't appreciate it when someone fixes me with a steely glare and tries to tell me that one MUST have a 300 Magnum [or 338, or 375, etc] to kill moose successfully. 50-odd moose have convinced me otherwise. Eagleye.
I see we agree then!
Wasn't really directed at you. Just a general comment.
I would also second the part about the steely eyed I've-killed-one-moose and "one must have a 300 magnum" being a trifle uninformed.
I have used everything from a 270 up to a 338. Its really about what you can comfortably shoot. I don't like rodeos so I tend to err on the side of larger calibre, and heavy, well constructed bullets.
We hunt thick bush and overgrown blocks. Shots are almost always close and sometimes the angles are less than ideal. I would really think twice before I shot over 200 yards because I'm a hunter, not a shooter. I practice lots, make sure my guns are capable of at least 1 1/2 MOA, but I'm not the marksman some other guys are.
Interesting note: A few years ago I shot a good bull. When we boned him out we found a 25 cal partition, encased in gristle, on the inside of the scapula. It was a text book, expanded bullet that looked like it had good weight retention. The lungs were pretty much evaporated by a .338 double tap so we didn't note any scarring. It was likely a combination of distance and poor shot placement, but had the shooter been using a bigger gun that moose would likely have been down.
There is a huge difference between someone like yourself who has A) had a lifetime of hunting moose and B) above average marksmanship skills compared to someone just starting out (or only an occasional moose hunter). In that case, they should really be considering the 270 as a minimum in the long action or maybe the 7mm-08 in the short action (7X57 is a good one too). There's a lot of exceptions to the rule, but unless they're heck on wheels with a rifle the neophytes best avoid the real light stuff for medium game.
Wasn't really directed at you. Just a general comment.
I would also second the part about the steely eyed I've-killed-one-moose and "one must have a 300 magnum" being a trifle uninformed.
I have used everything from a 270 up to a 338. Its really about what you can comfortably shoot. I don't like rodeos so I tend to err on the side of larger calibre, and heavy, well constructed bullets.
We hunt thick bush and overgrown blocks. Shots are almost always close and sometimes the angles are less than ideal. I would really think twice before I shot over 200 yards because I'm a hunter, not a shooter. I practice lots, make sure my guns are capable of at least 1 1/2 MOA, but I'm not the marksman some other guys are.
Interesting note: A few years ago I shot a good bull. When we boned him out we found a 25 cal partition, encased in gristle, on the inside of the scapula. It was a text book, expanded bullet that looked like it had good weight retention. The lungs were pretty much evaporated by a .338 double tap so we didn't note any scarring. It was likely a combination of distance and poor shot placement, but had the shooter been using a bigger gun that moose would likely have been down.
There is a huge difference between someone like yourself who has A) had a lifetime of hunting moose and B) above average marksmanship skills compared to someone just starting out (or only an occasional moose hunter). In that case, they should really be considering the 270 as a minimum in the long action or maybe the 7mm-08 in the short action (7X57 is a good one too). There's a lot of exceptions to the rule, but unless they're heck on wheels with a rifle the neophytes best avoid the real light stuff for medium game.
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