The Ultimate North American Hunting Round?

Best North American Hunting Round

  • .270 Winchester

    Votes: 70 8.4%

  • .270 WSM

    Votes: 11 1.3%

  • .30-06

    Votes: 358 42.8%

  • .35 Whelen (tough to find, yes, but solid)

    Votes: 19 2.3%

  • 7mm Rem Mag

    Votes: 67 8.0%

  • .300 Win Mag

    Votes: 147 17.6%

  • .338 Win Mag

    Votes: 67 8.0%

  • .375 Mag (H&H or Ruger)

    Votes: 54 6.5%

  • .300 Ultra Mag (tough to find, but hard to argue with)

    Votes: 8 1.0%

  • .300 WSM

    Votes: 35 4.2%
  • Total voters
    836
Bigfoot 870


Egos and a$$holes persist, as most totally ignore the OP.

To me, Sheephunter makes the most sense. Although he is a mere mortal, like most of us on here, he does have actual multi-experience that some others wish they had.

Ardent, you said this would be fun.............are you havin' fun yet
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Yep. Either people don't read the OP; or the do read it and don't care about the OP simply because they want to assert the self-held prowess of their own favorite cartridge; or they read the OP but can't fully conceive of the multitude of situations that one might see in NA because they haven't seen anything beyond their own hunting backyard hunting nook.

To quote the OP:

I don't mean the round you enjoy in your little corner of the country and feel applies to all the continent equally. I'll admit my impetus for doing this, and no doubt this thread will prove a colossal argument with little consensus, is the frustrating statement "Good for anything in North America". This is constantly thrown around to describe what I view as quite inept all around North American chamberings, I recently saw the .25-06 labelled this way for instance, and it's not even legal for Wood Bison in at least two of the places you can hunt them. Now, the .243, .25-06, .260, 7mm-08, etc etc are wonderful cartridges, in their niche. All rounders they are not. I'm going to make a list of what I view as the sensible choices for use on coastal Brown Bear in Alaska and BC, really big Moose, Roosevelt Elk, long range mountain Sheep and Goats, dog treed Cougar, speedy and distant Antelope, Wolves, desert Bighorns in Mexico and the US, stretchy Gemsbok in the desert, tree stand Deer, you name it. This is a rifle for the travelling hunter, someone who experiences as much of the game available as possible, not just Saskatchewan bucks or Newfoundland Moose etc. Ammunition availability is a real consideration, and a bias must be thrown to the big stuff as the bigger cartridges perform wonderfully on the smaller game, but not vice versa, and the rifle has to be truly last home hunting anything on the continent not just side showing in it.

In my mind there is only one best choice, which I do not presently own, .300 Win Mag. It has the trajectory, bullet weight options, light enough rifles, easily available ammunition, power for big Brown bear and Ungulates, affordable rifles... everything really.

Your thoughts? This will be fun.
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I read this as an exercise in imagination to a certain degree for those (admittedly like me) who have limited experience when it comes to game species and terrain.
For me, I imagined as many circumstances as possible starting with marginal shot opportunities on expensive hunts. What I mean by marginal is, a shot in which you would consider not worth taking with one caliber, but would be easily within the evelope of another caliber (considering equal proficiency with either caliber)
If I were to limit myself to 1 single rifle/caliber to hunt the entirety of the continent (which no sensible gunnut would do ;)) the criteria would be one that would limit me the least over the multitude of situations/terrains/species. Consider trophy moose in NFLD over varying terrain from thick brush to open bog. White tail in NS or NB where close in shots are typical, or northern Quebec/Labrador for caribou. Or Mule/White tail deer in Manitoba or southern Sask where you can watch the wife drive away for 2 days after she's divorced you for spending too much on guns ;) Or ### in ###,etc, etc, you get the idea.
For me, I tend to agree with the OP on this exercise and choose 300WM. Yes, I own a 300WM, as well as cals from 223 up to 416 ;), all different tools in the tool box for specific jobs :)
 
NorthernCX said:
Plain and simple, there is NOTHING on this continent that the .30-06 cannot kill if you do your part. It's the bare minimum caliber most African guides will allow a hunter to bring....
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I just checked something, to make sure that I understood the definitions before sticking my oar into the water: "bare minimum" and "ultimate" don't meant the same thing! I know, I know...shocking, huh? They actually come pretty close to being exact opposites. Wow...who knew?

Bigfoot 870 said:
Egos and a$$holes persist, as most totally ignore the OP.
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AG said:
Yep. Either people don't read the OP; or the do read it and don't care about the OP simply because they want to assert the self-held prowess of their own favorite cartridge; or they read the OP but can't fully conceive of the multitude of situations that one might see in NA because they haven't seen anything beyond their own hunting backyard hunting nook...if I were to limit myself to 1 single rifle/caliber to hunt the entirety of the continent (which no sensible gunnut would do ;)) the criteria would be one that would limit me the least over the multitude of situations/terrains/species. Consider trophy moose in NFLD over varying terrain from thick brush to open bog. White tail in NS or NB where close in shots are typical, or northern Quebec/Labrador for caribou. Or Mule/White tail deer in Manitoba or southern Sask where you can watch the wife drive away for 2 days after she's divorced you for spending too much on guns ;) Or ### in ###,etc, etc, you get the idea.
For me, I tend to agree with the OP on this exercise and choose 300WM. Yes, I own a 300WM, as well as cals from 223 up to 416 ;), all different tools in the tool box for specific jobs :)
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Sorry, you guys are among the few who have read the original post, comprehended its meaning, and responded thoughtfully. You'll have to leave now. :)

I came late to this thread, was a bit surprised by how many cogent arguments were made for the .300WM, but then stuck with my original response and voted .338WM. Yes, yes, the .300 is a contender, absolutely, just not the confidence-inspirer that the .338 is.

I do so wish that I had a .30-06, just so I could pick it up, think about it in the context of this thread, and be able to say "....MMMMM...bare minimum...." with a little Homer Simpson dribble running down my chin. :)
 
It is not "bare minimum" that is being discussed, rather it is "sufficient."

When discussing a single cartridge for NA game, every cartridge will find itself somewhere on a sliding scale (x-y)... where "x" = too much for the task and "y" = I need all I can get... somewhere on that scale will be "ideal for the task at hand." When you force a cartridge to move to a task below or above its station, the question becomes can it function here? Can it do the job? From all the discussion it seems that coyotes are considered the bottom or "x" and big bears/bison are the top or "y"... if someone spends 99% of their time at the "x'ish" end of the scale, they will want a cartridge that is ideal there, but which can also be pressed into service (although not ideally) on the "y" end if the scale. However if a hunter spends 99% of the their time pursuing game at the "y'ish" end of the scale, then they will choose a cartridge that is ideally suited to "y" game, but may be pressed into service on the "x" end of the scale, although not ideally...

All this debate is illustrating, is what we ALL already know, namely, there is NO ONE cartridge that does everything well...

Ardent, start a new thread requesting opinions on the TWO best cartridges to cover NA game from coyotes to bison... then we can have a real conversation without the rhetoric...
 
c-fbmi said:
So I guess this means I can hunt bison in Alberta with my 234 Douglas............gonna have to tee that hunt up for sure.............Who wants to ride shotgun (read backup) on that hunt? Probably need a resident sponsor, any volunteers?
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Nope, not in the licenced season as it's residents only but you can hunt the unregulated herd with a .22 rimfire if you like......no rules at all.
 
I disagree... it is not "bare minimum" that is being discussed, rather it is "sufficient."
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I thought it was "Ultimate"?


All this debate is illustrating, is what we ALL already know, namely, there is NO ONE cartridge that does everything well...
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It doesn't have to do "Everything" it just has to do everything in NA well. That could be done well, big and small, near and far, by the .300s, 8mm Rem Mag, .338 Win, .338 RUM, .340 Weatherby, and the hotter .375s. Hell, there's a ton of cartridges that can do it all well, and the exact blend of characteristics and logistics is just something to debate around campfires.

The catch, is that the entire genre of high performance do all NA cartridges come with higher recoil.
 
sheephunter said:
Actually is was "ultimate" :D
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I was not referring Ardent's OP criteria... I was referring to the 42% who chose the .30/06 et al... they did not chose those because they are the "bare minimum," rather, because they are "sufficient..." You see?
 
hoytcanon said:
All this debate is illustrating, is what we ALL already know, namely, there is NO ONE cartridge that does everything well...
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Actually I'd say several "do everything well" cartridges have been discussed here. Some just aren't willing to acknowledge them or don't have the experience with "all" North American game to appreciate what's required..
 
hoytcanon said:
I was not referring Ardent's OP criteria... I was referring to the 42% who chose the .30/06 et al... they did not chose those because they are the "bare minimum," rather, because they are "sufficient..." You see?
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I'd say they are posting and arguing in the wrong thread then...this one was about the "ultimate"
 
sheephunter said:
Actually I'd say several "do everything well" cartridges have been discussed here. Some just aren't willing to acknowledge them.
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Yeah... I can't wait to get out and do half my hunting for coyotes (& retain the hides) with my downloaded .338 WM... give me a break... the one gun premise breaks down completely if you bring coyotes into the equation... deer to bison... sure, the .30 Mags will do... heck even your .338 WM.
 
sheephunter said:
I'd say they are posting and arguing in the wrong thread then...this one was about the "ultimate"
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Really? The .30/06 is on Ardent's list as are lesser cartridges...

From the OP;

"Now, the .243, .25-06, .260, 7mm-08, etc etc are wonderful cartridges,#in their niche. All rounders they are not. I'm going to make a list of what I view as the sensible choices..."

.270 Winchester#57#8.24%

.270 WSM#9#1.30%

.30-06#295#42.63%

.35 Whelen (tough to find, yes, but solid)#17#2.46%

7mm Rem Mag#56#8.09%

.300 Win Mag#123#17.77%

.338 Win Mag#55#7.95%

.375 Mag (H&H or Ruger)#46#6.65%

.300 Ultra Mag (tough to find, but hard to argue with)#8#1.16%

.300 WSM#26#3.76%
 
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hoytcanon said:
Yeah... I can't wait to get out and do half my hunting for coyotes (& retain the hides) with my downloaded .338 WM... give me a break... the one gun premise breaks down completely if you bring coyotes into the equation... deer to bison... sure, the .30 Mags will do... heck even your .338 WM.
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Pretty sure the thread was about big game....;)
 
I voted 35 Whelen...... But it's just a necked up 30-06......, As previously debated multiple times the 30-06 and 308 are the same ;)....., and the 308 is based off the 300 Savage. The 300 Savage is just a necked up .250-3000.......
So I guess the .250 Savage is the best. :)

But seriously, for me 30-06 is just fine.
 
A substantial part of the problem with a "discussion forum" is that a majority of the participants are not interested in "discussion" and simply use it as "opinion broadcasting forums". i.e. they do more talkin' than listenin' and are more concerned with arguing their personal opinions vs actually being open-minded enough to learn from other's opinions/knowledge/experience ;)

I don't post much cuz I try to subscribe to the "more listenin' than talkin" side of things. I've learned that when it comes to the hunting sub-forum there are only a handfull of posters worth reading and putting any stock into what they say.
 
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