Rifles for the brutal hunt.

Toughness of the hunt east Vs west? It's not harder on either side IMO, just different.
You have more vertical slopes, we have more thick stuff and marshes, mixed with shorter climbs. You have longer shots on average, we have close up very fast encounters whereupon the game vanishes. There are exceptions to that statement on both sides of the country, even just within Ontario.

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The above is taken in the laCloche range, just north of Georgian bay Ontario. not a mountain by BC standards, but an example of what Ontario has.
When I was up there some years back, you could see the big smoke stack at Sudbury 60 miles away.
Oh, and not my pic, mine were before the digital camera, and are on slides.

This would be more typical. Laying wire to get across the bog with the machines:
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That is pretty much the same terrain I hunt in around Britt. The SKS is a decent beater rifle for short range deer and bear. This year I am taking the M305 and am going to stay in a clearing.
 
I've never kept a gun for this purpose.
I take the gun that grabs my fancy at that moment and that is dead reliable, more often than not it's the one I have ammo for...
I don't care if a pricy rifle (for me) gets a few nicks or wounds; I bought it to use it.
I'll never remember a safe queen that is perfect but I'll remember what I had on my adventure.
I used a M1D once on an ATV hunt as a cheap disposable rifle before I knew what it was...It was the only one I pulled out of service (and sold) due to feeling sorry for it...
 
I'd reach for my Ruger m77 Scout w/ McMillan stock - I think it would take a lot of abuse to make it ####ed up

chambered in the 308FUDD wildcat. (243WCF necked to 308")

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The mountain hunting I have been doing is a lot more like the "brutal hunt" than the spot and stalk (relatively) long range shooting I thought it would involve.
 
Laying wire? Like winch cable?
The beaver mash is too long, and deep to just winch over, so we lay down a long roll of old school fencing. What you see in the pic is several years old, and holding up well. the problem, is in the really soft areas it tends to stretch and the sides bend in. i suspect one day we are going to have a machine not only stuck, but wrapped up in a tangle of wire and flat tires. But so far it's been working well, we throw a few planks under it where it's really soft.
 
Not a lot of steep country around here . . . but it can get long . . .






And sometimes cold . . .




And sometimes the bugs come out . . .




And the one rifle I could count on for all situations is this one . . .
 
To: Boomer - Wow! Great country, great photos. Could you tell me more about your rifle please, I don't know what it is.

My guess is a 602 BRNO ??

Yup, it started out life as a Brno 602.

I had the Ron Smith 20" stainless fluted barrel chambered for the .375 Ultra, and the McMillan stock replaced the factory stock after it failed, despite both glass and pillar bedding. The McMillan was pillar and glass bedded, and had cross bolts installed to act as rebar. The custom quarter rib is inletted for Talley rings. The rear peep sight is a Talley in a Marlin base; at that time, NECG didn't make their excellent CZ peep sight, or I didn't know about it, otherwise I'd have gone with it rather than drill holes in the rear bridge. The front sight is a brass rectangular post which has almost magical properties. Against a white background it appears black and against a black background it appears white. The finger deflector became necessary due to the fact that the McMillan pistol grip crowds the trigger guard and in recoil my middle knuckle got a nasty wrap. The pistol grip of the factory stock was more open and the problem hadn't come up with it. The front sling swivel is attached to the radius of the forend tip to prevent recoil from cutting my hand, and the sling is Galco's Safari Ching Sling. This sling was purchased from Gunsite back when they would deal with Canadians, and it and it's twin have the Gunsite Raven embossed near the front swivel. The Gunsite logo is absent on the slings I purchased directly from Galco. I think that about covers it.
 
I started pushing bush with a borrowed 12ga 870 (.410 wasn't considered enough for those conditions). I got a SS Remington 20ga for Christmas that year. I pushed bush with that for 5 years (I did ALL my hunting with that for 5 years). I have fallen over roots, downed trees, slipped on rocks, barked more shin material than I thought I owned, but have NEVER actually broken a weapon, not even in tank-rutted Gagetown, but I DID dent a barrel once on a 500 Mossberg 12 ga (lost 5" of barrel on that trip).
All of my weapons are tools. If I need to push bush (less likely now that I am over 50), I'll go with my Jungle Carbine, the Lee Enfield Cavalry Carbine, or my trusty Remington 20ga. If anything gets dinged, it just adds character. If something gets rusty, I just clean it up. If a stock gets a groove in it, I just linseed it up. No sense getting crazy keeping pretty weapons.
 
Remington 760 carbine in 30 06. I also just picked up a Marlin 336-R.C in 35 REM I think would be great as well.
 
Not a lot of steep country around here . . . but it can get long . . .






And sometimes cold . . .




And sometimes the bugs come out . . .




And the one rifle I could count on for all situations is this one . . .

Walking in snowy wheel ruts, damn, I almost prefer to wade in the snow. If I have the snow shoes I do avoid the ruts. I have a Savage 220 slug gun I have yet to try. must get that sighted in.
 
Walking in snowy wheel ruts, damn, I almost prefer to wade in the snow. If I have the snow shoes I do avoid the ruts. I have a Savage 220 slug gun I have yet to try. must get that sighted in.

Actually the buggy ruts were wide enough, and the bottom compacted hard enough to permit easy walking; they were much deeper than they appear in the photo. Those ruts probably saved us an hour compared to the slow process of snowshoeing with a heavy pack, which put my combined wight up around 350 pounds. Once you're that heavy, the only thing that stops snow shes from sinking deeper is the ground, and a high center of balance, and unbroken, inconsistent snow pack leads to lots of spills, particularly with a dog that wants to stand on the tails of your snowshoes.


In those conditions, this is easier . . .
 
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