What caliber to the "only one rifle" big game hunting in Ontario?

In that case to clear it up, lets open up the floor again!

100% for sure the 270 is now out for me, and is my least fav hunting caliber anyway!

Your 300 WM will serve the purpose any place, I like hunting with the 30s most times, and carry a 300 wm or wsm myself most times. This means nothing to most but its my Top list cartridge for North American Cartridges, and say 9 xs out of 10 I would go with it over the rest of my hunting rigs. Load it up with a good bullet 180, 190s or 200s a Patrition, or TSX or any Bonded bullet that shoots good and she will do what ever you need and than some from deer to moose to bear. The nice thing about the 300 wm it will not pound you either, and those R-1s ( I am not an auto guy) but they do shoot pretty dang good I have seen it first hand.

Regards
 
JohnC said:
So while people's mileage may vary if moose or bear are onth e agenda I would go with a .30 , with .308 and 30:06 being the most widely available, closely frollowed by .300 winmag.
Click to expand...

X2...and I own a .270, just for the record.

.308 or 30-06 is the all-around, easy to find calibre and relatively cheap to feed. Lots of options for bullet types as well.
 
Last edited:
I would go with the 300Rem Ultra Mag. with power level ammo now available power level1 30-06 power level2 300Win.mag Powerlevel3 300 Ulta With these choices you can use one gun to hunt everything I have one and love it.
 
If you willing to buy only one gun, you need something which will be popular anon expensive. You can choose anything from 6.5x55 to .300Win Mag, but IMO picking
rifle in .30-06 or .308Win would your best bet.
Why?
You can buy ammo everywhere, they are sufficient on all Ontario creatures even pass 200m. Don't forget to put decent scope on the rifle, something like Elite3200 series or Leupold VX-I.

Greetings
 
I would echo what some others have already mentioned.....if you do not have any (near future) plans to hunt SG/ML applicable only WMUs ..... my personal preference would be:

#1 - .308 or a .30-06.....as both are similar from performance perspective.
#2 - .270

If you are thinking of something in the price range of a Benelli....then I would strongly suggest also look at the Sako bolt actions first.

For something around $1k, next in line would be the CZ bolts. Also, Tikkas are very hard to beat despite some plastic components used.....very good build quality, IMHO, even though I've always been a supporter of all steel components in firearms.
 
"...therefore not allowed according to the small game regulation..." As daft as it sounds, the bullet diameter doesn't matter. They go by the name of the cartridge.
There are municipalites that say nothing over .270 for any hunting. Mostly close to TO.
The really odd thing is that the Small Game regs say nothing over .275 calibre for the City of Toronto. Nothing like a calibre restriction for a place where hunting isn't allowed at all.
 
The 270 rule in Ontario only applies to a small portion of the province, where usually the only big game is deer (in that area). Coincidently, the deer hunts in those areas are almost always muzzleloader/shotgun hunts anyway, so the it makes pretty well mute.

I'd take a 308.
 
The .308 Win hands down for big game in bushland Ontario and .30 cal is king. These folk aren't wealthy and usually only have 1 or 2 hunting rifles and a .22.

We hunt deer, black bear and moose every year in my hunting part of around 12 when everyone is there.
1 - .300 Savage
3 - .30-06
6 - .308
2 - .30-30

Of course I may use at anytime .308, .260, 6.5x55 or even a 7.62x39, but then again I've used the .308 mostly.
 
Tikka Battue in .338 Federal. With a 1.5-5 or 2-7 scope in Quick Detach. mounts.

pyjwj.gif


Load light if you want to reach out a little farther, load heavy for the brush that we love so dearly in tha' ON :D.


If all else fails....30-06 the shiat out of it.
 
Others have said it: Ontario is a diverse place and so more information from you would help a lot. [Ontario is not just in terms of regulations. It is true that the whole 270 thing is a side-track if you're looking for a rifle to hunt big game, but that's beside the point.] Where are are you likely to hunt, what terrain are you likely to hunt, and what types of hunting strategy appeal to you?

Furthermore, since you seem to be putting some real time and consideration into this, you should consider that the cartridge choice is not completely independent of the action and model of gun, so this will be come a much more interesting and infromative discussion if you can fill the members in on some more details in this respect as well.

RG

<><
 
Uncle Den said:
Hi everyone,

been a totaly new in hunting, I was wondering if hunting proffecionals can
sugest something.

Data: 1) due to "budgeting" It can be one and only one rifle.
2) used for a big game in Ontario, with no preference given to any particular game type.

it's not a question of which rifle, what make or action ,however...

Question is: which caliber that one and only rifle should be?

Thank you.

Den.
Click to expand...
Folks, let's pay atention to the question asked. One gun...big game. Not coyote, not rabbit, not ducks, not partridge...BIG GAME. Don't put in your hunting preferences and allow for the small game stuff as well. Ther eis no question that the best rifle for this would be the .30-'06. It has proven itself for 105 years. There are literally dozens of loads, it is still the most popularly commercial load available. However, the same can be said for the .308. Not as long a posterity, but impressive none the less and available loadings are numerous. And, last but not least is the topic burner...the .270. Remember that the .270 is a necked down .308. Very capable of doing the job. In my opinion, and I LOVE my .30-'06, if I were buying my first gun and wanted to hunt only big game with it, I would probably go to the .270 WSM. It gets the job done nicely, fills the bill (a Stevens 200 would go less than 400 bucks), and isn't too bad to carry around.
However, you can lurk around the EE here and walk away with a decent sported .303 that'll do the same job anyday for half that.
Good luck in your search.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom