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
sheephunter said:
When I went to Russia my gun paperwork got all screwed up so I was given an AK47 to use with the advice that it held 11 rounds so if I saw a bear I should pull the trigger 11 times. I didn't take that as a real endorsement of the round....lol I never got to try out their advice...thankfully I think.
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I believe you are confusing the 7.62x39 with the 7.62x54R, the x54R has more jam than the 308 and is very close to the 30-06.
 
Ardent said:
And for those who say .30-06, remember the .300 will do everything it does and more, with the added range and power.
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You are on the slippery slope there, Ardent... with that thinking... you will be "one-upping" to the 50 BMG and beyond... the way I understand the question, is what cartridge is "sufficient and ample" while at the same time not "overkill." To me that is the .30/06... properly loaded it will cleanly harvest everything in NA... including the big bears and bison... while at the same time being an excellent choice for moose and medium game and readily being loaded down for coyotes or varmints.

In addition to being widely available at very reasonable prices... with reloading components in every store.
 
Writing this without reading any of the other replies, just the original post, I'd have to say the only logical choice is the .300 (Win, Norma, H&H, Weatherby) magnum, if you really have the opportunity and desire to hunt everything in North America. I tend to vacillate between the .300 and the .338, and right now the scale is tipped towards the .300 end. That said, most of the hunting I'm still interested in pursuing could be done with a 7x57/.280/.270.

You left out 9.3x62 btw.
 
MiG25 said:
I believe you are confusing the 7.62x39 with the 7.62x54R, the x54R has more jam than the 308 and is very close to the 30-06.
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Wasn't really confusing anything...just passing along a story of my trip there but you are correct in what you say.
 
Bigfoot 870 said:
Woodleigh and Barnes make 180 grain .277 projectiles.
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Barnes hasn't in a decade or so unfortunately unless something has recently changed...?

Hoyt noted, few would argue the -06 does anything better than the .300 except kick less however, and if you can't really tell the difference between the .300 and .30-06 when shooting unless you stop and think about it, the .300's certainly not handicappig you. For me I'd vote them both in the same recoil class, comfortable, and under the same logic have a harder time justifying stepping down when it doesn't serve me a benefit, and if anything slightly handicaps.

This said, that's all hypothetical, while I voted .300 Mag I actually use .375 H&H. Just prefer not stocking additional chamberings.

Doug, BUM you guys are right, .340 is great too but never owned one. Brother uses a .300 Weatherby, hard to argue with that on this continent too.
 
Bigfoot 870 said:
Looks to me like the OP expresses the exact opposite...........but I could be wrong. Ardent, care to chime in?:)
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I agree, safer to go over than under, always. I suppose it really comes down to recoil tolerance, if they're all the same to the shooter there isn't a convincing argument for me on why you should use less. I'd rather be properly gunned for the biggest game I hunt and overgunned on the smallest.
 
I voted for the .338 as the question asked all around North American which would include large brown bears and polar bears.......love the 30-06, .270 and 7mm Rem Mag but I would rather have something a little more stout for the big bears. .338 does just fine on deer sized game.
 
Ardent said:
Brother uses a .300 Weatherby, hard to argue with that on this continent too.
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There's a bit of a secret society of hunters in North America that have taken the NA29 with a 300Wby so definitely hard to argue that it wouldn't do the job.
 
Phil Shoemaker used a 30-06 as a backup rifle on coastal browns for years. He's also said that with good bullets, it's a great choice for his clients. I'd lean towards the 300 Win for the answer to the original question as well, but would be fine with a 30-06. Personally, I've been downsizing and plan on doing everything in the future with a .270 win and a .338 WM.
 
Guides often recommend the 30-06 because they've seen some awful shooting with larger rifles.
 
RT said:
Id vote of you had included .280rem.....but you didnt......shame on you......:)
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Unfortunately ain't a thing it'll do the .30-06 won't, and you give up some versatility leaving the .30-06 for it. I will agree with you however that I have other duplicates there, WSM and Win Mag both etc, however they are both much more popular than the .280 and warrant it. You could vote .270, it was the original 7mm-06 and there's not even a sheet of paper's difference in bullet diameter between em. ;) They are for all intents and purposes the same cartridge, but the .280 benefits from the lovely selection of bullets 7mm offers. Game can't tell the difference however between those bullets. :)
 
Voted .375hh, in the absence of my first choice for all around ... 9.3 x 62(Wagner).
Have one of each cal., the nod has gone to the much lighter 9.3 rifle, as them hills keep getting steeper with every year passing.
Loaded warm with 250 gr mono's, trajectory is not a problem out to well past the distance I've ever before held on hair.
Recoil is still manageble enough to allow prone supported precise shooting at distance.

That one time in the Chugach coming face to face with a bedded Grizzly rearing up, me holding /06 loaded 200np's at the time ... was enough to convince this nimrod the wisdom of bigger cartridges when facing bigger game.
That .30 cal. nosler may well have worked just fine in the clutch ... will never know as Mr. Bruin took off through the Alders like a freight train.
Leaving me plenty of time to bury me ruined gotchies under a rock.
 
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