Moose hunting

[wonksy]

Most guys (non gun club members) I know here in NB couldn't handle a 300Mag and wouldn't spend the time or money on practice anyways. Hardly any, if they practice at all know how to sight in properly and wouldn't think of target shooting past 100yds.

These types are far better off with a 303, 30/06, 308 or 270, which IS what most here use. You won't find many of these fellows on CGN either.


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[sealhunter]

What hasn't changed is the physiology of the moose themselves.

Whether thay are 100 miles firther than they once were, or in the hardest of areas to get to, they are still moose and the rifle that killed them 30 years ago will still kill them today.

I believe the problem is, well not so much problem as whta causes arguements is the push for the flatter faster harder hitiing rigs...

Because the new 2010 super uber pushes a 200 grain a 4000 with +/- 3" to 300 yrds, doesn't mean the effectiveness of a 30/30 or .303 brit gets magically erased or the calibres obsolete.

I don't own very many magnums for many reasons, not simply becasue I'm Old skool and am anti magnum..

My style of hunting rarely extends my ranges beyond 200 yrds for big game.
For most shots, it's less than 100 yrds..not exactly where the Magnums are designed to shine IMO..

The big recoil and report of many magnums are not attractive to me and I don't find them pleasurable to shoot too much.

There is value in comfort and practice,...

I know my range, and I know the results my rifle does and does not get.

I have been witness to several guys purchasing rifles,.. many of whom i have never met, just watched and listened.

They ask to see a 338 WM or 300 WM or whatever..

They size it up, the counter guy is prasing the rifle,...then comes the all familiar saying, "should be good to 500 yrds with this one eh ! " and a big smile,...then usually a buddy chimes in " f**k ya, that's a big one, ..I got one and man that thing booms"

Then, trying to make a sale, the counter clerk chimes in..." was a guy in here yesterday took his elk at 472 yrds with the same rifle,..1 shot"

then there's a chuckle amongst everyone,...almost like "yes sir, this is the hammer of thor"

So I chirp in,..what are you shooting now?

just a husky 30-06, is the reply

How far you shooting with it,.. ?

around 200 yrds..

How much you practice with it?

don't.

Why not?

don't need practice.

Why the 300 wsm?

I wants to shoot farther... saw a moose last year at 500 yrds and only had the husky so I had to pass.. the 300 wsm is good to 600yrds or even more, there's a fella on youtube who...

Good luck to you, I hope it's MOA

what's MOA?


My oppinion is that it is far more likely the shooter that makes the difference, rather than the calibres we have been speaking of

Too many just don't get it.

 

[waderow]

Of course. And as previously established, a 30-30 will kill. A 22 will kill. Damn, one of those high end pellet guns could kill a moose.
What is practical is the key. For you, is is a 30-06. For me, its the 300mag I have been shooting with for 19 years.

 

[8mmpeter]

I think the fact that I bowhunted for years before picking up a rifle really help in the skills department. Spending most of the time trying to get within 40 yds. of the target animal makes a 100 yd shot seem like a mile. Same is true with practice. In the fall, a swarm heads to the range to shoot a dozen arrows and all of a sudden they are all pros. I practice year round as well as shoot in nfaa,ifaa,ibo and all kinds of other tournaments. The amount of time spent on the range directly reflects ability in the field. It does not matter what you hunt with as long as it is legal. Know your limitations and know the absolute out come of your shot before you pull the trigger.

 

[RED BONES]

all i was saying is that the guys here in the north were i hunt use magnums...it puts meat on the table...good guess iam not a club member....dont have time or the money to punch paper

 

[H4831]

Here is what Waderow said--"In my opinion, good moose hunters are much better hunters then their predecessors due to the skill it takes to locate, and bring in a trophy bull. By trophy I mean 50" class. Anyone can get a 30" bull to come and eat an apple out of their hand (slight exaggeration) but the big guys circle down wind, will sit and listen for an hour before breaking the fringe. Will send the cows out first. They are just plain old cagey. From the pictures floating around from the 60's, the average moose was over 40". Not anymore. Most moose pulled out of the bush are 30" or so...if that.

All this said, I do partially agree that hunters from years past were better then MOST, of hunters today."
------------------------------------------------------
The days of the true meat hunters, the type with families depending on him feeding them, ended with WW2. I have seen kids coming to school with only dry bread in their lunch pails. Then, their Dad got a moose. Now, lunch pails were filled with chunks of moose meat and the kids ate it like hugry dogs.
Not all old timers were good hunters, some just couldn't get an animal, while others were exceptionally good hunters. But, in no way can you compare these meat hunters of old, with modern pleasure hunters, who try and tell us they are hunting for the meat!
Hunting at that time meant starting out in early morning with the rifle and a lunch. If snow was on the ground, walk the area where game might be and hope for a fresh track to get on to. It took great skill to follow game tracks and get teh animal. The animal used every trick in the book and only a very good hunter would be successful. With no snow, hunt the likely areas. The game was very scary at that time, because any animal could get shot any week of the year, and the animals knew it!
My much older brother was an exceptionally good hunter, especially for elk. In every circustance, he knew what the elk would do. In his yuthful exuberance, he shot some huge bulls. Until the family told him to, "for heavens sake, get animals that are good eating." He then became known throughout the area as a hunter who always got the choicest of eating meat. Many Indian hunters could smell game in the bush and my brother also had this ability. I once saw him demonstrate this. I was with him when he stopped and said he could smell elk in the sqampy area ahead of us. We went into the swamp and sure enough, a herd of elk had just moved through it.
He commonly walked seven miles to a lake where a trapper lived in a cabin, stay with the trapper a day or two and hunt. One time he and another brother went there on a warm day, with a few inches of snow on the ground. Over night it turned cold, froze the snow, creating a condition where walking was extremely noisy. The trapper told them to not even bother going out in those conditions. They went, got onto some fresh elk tracks when the hunter brother gave instructions. He told the younger brother to do exalty as he did, while being half a step later in walking. This made the noise sound like a four footed animal instead of two legged. They would walk noisily like this, breaking step, for a mnute or two, then stop dead still for a while. Doing this, they walked right up to the elk herd that was bedded down at mid day, and shot two elk.
Show me a modern hunter capable of thes skills.

 

[Calum]

All this said, I do partially agree that hunters from years past were better then MOST, of hunters today.

I have to agree and some of my favorite reads are the old hunting books.

 

[RED BONES]

the question by heavyt was...what are some options for large game for around a 1000 dollars?

 

[RED BONES]

why the hell would anyone kill moose if not to put meat on the table?....had some roasted with potatoes and carrots tonite for supper....we have it once or twice a week....id sooner have t-bones though

 

[waderow]

a de-boned moose will taste good, even if a large trophy.

 

[yidava25]

THANK YOU! This has been driving me nutz on this site... all these armchair moose hunters and "old indian tricks".

A 30/30 is unethical and near useless against a BIG moose. You are often shooting from 20-300 yards. You are often shooting in rugged terrain and do not want to track a moose for a mile. You are often shooting through "trash" and a heavier bullet is required. A small bullet will not get good penetration in a moose and even a hopped up 300mag will not blow through a decent sized moose, let alone a monster.
I have had all kinds of guys flame me about my recommendations to shoot magnums when moose hunting, but one thing I can promise is that I have taken large moose, witnessed large moose go down, and when shooting front shoulders, they were all multiple magnum hits. All lethal, but not one shot put them down. It was always shot 2 or 3 or in once case 4 (all hits). We are talking 50inch+ bulls and we are talking shoulder breakers, and double lung, and just plain old devastating shots. But the BIG moose eat that s**t for breakfast. The only feasible way I could see a 1500 pound rutting bull go down in one shot is with a spine shot (high shoulder), or a solid head shot or a neck shot that hits bone. These are all low percentage shots, and the high shoulder shot in a moose is dangerous as you could easily hit him in the hump, and bye bye. A head shot could easily wound too and should be done at <50yards.
Big moose = big gun = big shoulder shots

PS all these 30-30 moose hunters never seem to tell about the ones that got away

Is there such a thing as a small moose? I've seen a .25 WSSM blow through a moose with squishy 120 gr factory ammo, but of course, i dont know how that compares ballistically to a hopped up .300 Win Mag.

As far as moose (i dont care how big they are) taking multiple deadly hits and staying on their feet, they will always go down in less than a minute if shot through the lungs, .243 or .458 Lott, it doesn't matter.

But whatever, i have more respect for the opinion of anyone who has shot multiple moose than for that of someone who has studied ballistic charts and bullet performance.

And maybe all these 3030 moose hunters dont have any "one that got away" stories. id bet money that no more moose have been lost to 3030s or similar cartridges than to heavy .30 and up mags.

 

[yidava25]

K really, you guys really need to get out to the range soon. The snow is gone or have you looked out your windows lately?

You know back in the day moose were taken with black powder and a ball of lead, are there better options today, of course there are but do we really gotta get into a 6 page arguement over it?

actually its about 17 pages now. If we're not allowed to get into arguments and post our opinions then WHY ARE WE HERE? its not like we're going to run out of room. and it just snowed about 6 inches up here so dont say stuff like that until mid august please.

 

[pharaoh2]

and it just snowed about 6 inches up here so dont say stuff like that until mid august please.

Then you'll only have 3 inches to contend with.

 

[ongaro]

its all about ethics if you shot a moose at 250 yards with a 30/30 and happen to hit a shoulder (your not on a bench at the shooting range crap happens)that moose is gone not so with a 300 wm
but if you shoot a 30/30 and let the 250 yard away moose walk thats great.
even with my 7mm mag i only shot 200 yards because theirs always anouther day and i know ill get my moose at 1oo yards or less

 

[yidava25]

Then you'll only have 3 inches to contend with.

Right! BBQ season begins! gonna do up some moose backstraps and have one last snowball war. tastes awesome no matter what it was shot with.

 

[yidava25]

sorry guys, but maybe for smaller bulls, calves, cows. The go down easy. Big monster bulls do not go down with a .300mag, let alone a 30-30.

And yes, it is dead after 1 shot, but I dont like my moose dead in the bush 1/2 mile away after I hit it.

You obviously were using a slingshot or you didnt hit it very well with your super duper ultra maxi magnum. gimme a monster bull and a 3030 with 2 shells and ill give you a dead monster bull. BTW thanks for contributing to this thread, u gave me some decent laughs, if indirectly.

 

[steve-o1979]

You obviously were using a slingshot or you didnt hit it very well with your super duper ultra maxi magnum. gimme a monster bull and a 3030 with 2 shells and ill give you a dead monster bull. BTW thanks for contributing to this thread, u gave me some decent laughs, if indirectly.

I'll agree with you on that one....the size of the moose don't matter much. The guy that owns the camp I hunt out of went to Cape Breton a couple years ago and got a 1000 lb bull with a 53" spread...2 shots with a .308. (Winchester 180gr.) The moose never made it 40 yards before it dropped.

 

[crazydave]

Get any caliber .270 and up and you will be good to go. The fact of the matter is you can drown in a few inches of water under the right circumstances. Shot placement not the size of the cannon you shoot is key.
As for the rifle type whatever fits best, go heft a few pick what you like best.

 

[H4831]

The largest moose in Canada are the Alaskan variety, an official sub specie of moose. They are the type in Alaska, the western Yukon and filter well down into BC.
They are huge. I have seen quite a few in northern BC, and the largest moose I ever shot was a cow, of the Alaskan variety. It would have taken a very large bull of the Canada moose variety, to have been as large.
Official moose information books say the Alaskan sub specie can go to 1800 pounds.
Funny though, one shot from my 30-06 killed the big cow and the 30-30s that used to belong to the trappers and prospectors in the north, killed those moose, same as any other moose.

 

[MadDog]

If we're not allowed to get into arguments and post our opinions then WHY ARE WE HERE? its not like we're going to run out of room.

Don't see where I said you weren't allowed. In fact if it was going south I would have locked it by now.


Carry on.....