BigGameHunt.net Hunting Forums

[ratherbhuntn]

im looking for a bigger rifle for hunting moose! I currently am using a 30-06 and I want to try a larger calibre im looking at 7mm ultramag or .300 mag I need it to have hitting power at long range any other suggestions? my worry is one day I will only have one crack at a bull and it might get away. I have had to take several shots with the 30-06 to drop some of the bigger bulls im using federal ammo and have switched to winchester silver tips with slightly better results.

[dino]

I shoot a 300 ultra mag, it rocks!! no problem dropping anything I point it at, I have the best luck with 180 gr. nosler partition. I am not sure the 7mm has the punch your looking for, if you look at a ballistics chart you will not see a large difference in the 306 or the 7mm, because the bullet is skinny, therfore dosent have the kinetic energy that you are looking for.

[Littman]

I would go with a .300 mag of any type (Win, H&H, Ultra) or better yet a .338 mag. I find it hard to believe that a Silvertip would produce better results than the Federal (Nosler Partition??). The Silvertip is a faster expanding round and may not get the penetration that the nosler would..
_________________
The work starts when you pull the trigger.

[ This Message was edited by: Littman on 2003-06-09 21:24 ]

[gutpile]

Are you in brown bear country? If so go with the most popular alaska load, the 338 win mag. If in L48 I'd use a 300 weatherby...you can change bullet weights & use it for anything from ground hogs to moose. Brown Bear...I feel better with a 250 grain minimum bullet...feel real better with a 340 wby or 375 H&H.

[Guest]

Moose are big animals, but not hard to kill. They just have a slower reaction time in dieing is all. If your not recoil shy, the 338 Win mag is the best thing going for big animals and with 200 grain bullets for mule deer it is a more versatile caliber these days. As mentioned before, in bear country the 338 is a big plus to keeping you off the bear's dinning menue.

[Gander River]

I used this same post for another chap on moose guns.

Not a thing wrong with using a 30-06 or a 270 for moose.
My wife shot one @ 240 yds. 14 pt bull, nice animal with her 270.

Over the years we have had more trouble with people coming hunting over gunned than under gunned.
A lot of people who are used to shooting 243's come with 300's or bigger and have trouble.
Give me a flat shooting gun, a 270 or 7mm every time over big power. The heart lung area on a moose is 16" square, all you have to do is hit it once, not put three shots in the same hole.

People who use guns that hurt them, tend to flinch or close their eyes when they fire. We get a lot of gut shots and a lot of misses from folks using these bigger guns.

The only reason I like the 270, 7 mm and 300 win. is that they don't have a big drop when range is mis-judged. This happens often.

This is based on 20+ years in outfitting business, 20+ hunters a year.

[buckstop]

I agree completely with gander river. I've seen too many people who thought they needed a cannon, but ended up not being able to shoot it consistantly accurate. I have a 338 rem ultra mag that kicks as hard as any rifle I have ever shot. When I let other people shoot it, they do fine for the first shot but flinch badly on the following shots. It does get painful after a dozen or so consecutive shots. After a few rounds, it takes all of my concentration to shoot tight groups. My 30-06 is cake to shoot 1" groups with. There aren't many animals that can survive a double lung or heart shot from any standard hunting cartridge. You might want to try some premium quality ammo for your 30-06 such as fail-safes or Federal trophy-bonded in 180 gr.

[shieldingarrow]

I have used on three Moose hunts in Canada Marlin 1895 in 45/70 with 350 gr Hornady bullets and found it to be very effective.

[cdakelly]

I shot a bull moose this year in Idaho with 300 ultra mag using 180 swift sciracco. He went 10 yards. The bullet was just inside the hide on the opposite side. It retained about 80% of its weight. However, the same bullet came apart on my deer and made a bit of a mess.

[Littman]

I have shot multiple moose with calibers ranging from .30-06 to .338 Win Mag. All of these are adequate to kill moose in the lower 48 and Canada. Shot placement is #1. If you have good shot placement i.e a central lung shot, the moose will not drop in its tracks but he will travel 50-100yards before falling. Many think that a larger caliber will give you a grater margin of error, it does not. Just my 2 cents

[mtcop71]

I shoot a .378 Weatherby Mag.. 270 grn Nosler.. When I hit it , I want it to drop right were its at.. SO itsstays out of the water.. Getting an 1500lb bull moose out of a river , would not be fun

[elkster]

We used to shoot them in a lake preferably, drag them to shore, and clean them in the water. Sure is a lot easier than doing it on land. The 30-06 is all you need. Used to be my job to hunt moose for family meat!

[pse-archer]

For moose I like the 7mm ultra mag. Or the 300

[Ridgerunner]

before I bought my last rifle "last mth"
I looked at the ammo ballistics for each caliber -'different manufactors'- I was interested in first!
you can learn a lot by doing this
'there is ammo out there that a sling shot will out shoot'

some had plenty of pop up front but die out shortly-

just run web site for different brands of ammo and compare

good hunting

[147 Grain]

The venerable 30-06 is big enough for moose, especially when shooting 180-gr. Partitions at 2,890 fps, which Federal loads in a High Energy round.