6.5 Creedmoor for moose

Poor shot? You don't know my abilities nor was you there. First deer was under 100 yards. I put the cross hairs behind his shoulder propped up on a shooting bag. After the shot was made. I tracked where the deer ran as far as I could which was about 100 yards in thick south Mississippi woods. Pulled out of the woods and called my buddy to bring his track dog. We went over 400 yards tracking this deer with no blood trail. Unfortunately we never recovered the animal but every effort was made on both deers. I put that pile of junk in my gun safe and pulled out my 270. Guess what when I pulled the trigger on the third deer he dropped in his tracks. I can think of many different calibers far superior then the 6.5 Creedmoor for taking animals. 6.5 Creedmoor is a over hyped cartridge and needs to be left for competition shooting rather then taking game. Will it kill a animal? Yes it will no doubt about that. But is it a the right choice for taking game? No even close.
The creed is more than capable of taking deer. Its actually one of my favorite deer rounds. I can say with all assurity the cartridge was not at fault here. We've killed lots of deer with the 6.5 creed and I've killed 2 black bear with it with one dressing at over 300 lbs. I'm going to say there was more going on there than the cartridge. I normally stay out of these threads but this is just how bad stuff gets spread around. Not a good deer cartridge? Give me a break. Moose however leave the creed at home. That's why they make bigger cartridges
 
The creed is more than capable of taking deer. Its actually one of my favorite deer rounds. I can say with all assurity the cartridge was not at fault here. We've killed lots of deer with the 6.5 creed and I've killed 2 black bear with it with one dressing at over 300 lbs. I'm going to say there was more going on there than the cartridge. I normally stay out of these threads but this is just how bad stuff gets spread around. Not a good deer cartridge? Give me a break. Moose however leave the creed at home. That's why they make bigger cartridges

I once shot a buck with a 7 Rem Mag firing Hornady 175 grain bullets. It didn't make it through the shoulder blade. I didn't know it at the time. When the deer turned to leave I put on into the base of the tail; which dropped it. Then I put one through the back of the neck to finish it. After than I switched to Nosler Partition 175 grainers. Problems went away.

No one reasonable would say a 7 Rem Mag is inadequate for deer.
 
Poor shot? You don't know my abilities nor was you there. First deer was under 100 yards. I put the cross hairs behind his shoulder propped up on a shooting bag. After the shot was made. I tracked where the deer ran as far as I could which was about 100 yards in thick south Mississippi woods. Pulled out of the woods and called my buddy to bring his track dog. We went over 400 yards tracking this deer with no blood trail. Unfortunately we never recovered the animal but every effort was made on both deers. I put that pile of junk in my gun safe and pulled out my 270. Guess what when I pulled the trigger on the third deer he dropped in his tracks. I can think of many different calibers far superior then the 6.5 Creedmoor for taking animals. 6.5 Creedmoor is a over hyped cartridge and needs to be left for competition shooting rather then taking game. Will it kill a animal? Yes it will no doubt about that. But is it a the right choice for taking game? No even close.
You were using TTSX-bullets with your 6.5CM ?
What bullet with the .270 ?

Own bad experience with .308 and 150gr SST-bullet - shot a whitetail fawn perfect broadside, about 150 meters. Deer ran along the field and in to the swamp, with almost no bloodtrail. Got the tracking dachshund and found the deer in the swamp where it ran, maybe about 250 meters.
The bullet had not penetrated trough the fawn with a lungshot.
Bullets and animals are a bad combination, something weird might happen.
 
Why are people so interested in doing the minimum.

Maybe this all started with Jack O'Connor and Roy Weatherby. Jack showed us you could shoot anything in North America with a .270 Win and Roy seems to have killed at least one of everything in Africa with a .257 Wby Mag.

Were either of those cartridges the optimal cartridge for all of the game taken? Probably not.

Were either of those cartridges the optimal cartridge for most of the game taken? Likely.
 
Maybe this all started with Jack O'Connor and Roy Weatherby. Jack showed us you could shoot anything in North America with a .270 Win and Roy seems to have killed at least one of everything in Africa with a .257 Wby Mag.

Were either of those cartridges the optimal cartridge for all of the game taken? Probably not.

Were either of those cartridges the optimal cartridge for most of the game taken? Likely.

3 things:

1. you acknowledge that they are not optimal. If that is all someone has, I guess you make it work, but I'd borrow a gun before I went on an Alaskan moose hunt with a 6.5 CM.

2. Jack and Roy were often trying to prove a point vs using the the optimal round. I never said it couldn't be done.

3. Jack and Roy were probably better than average hunters. I'm pretty confident they were better than me. I'll take a little more margin for error in case Murphy shows up.
 
TXBadger, I don't really have a dog in this fight. I don't own a 6.5 in any form and would probably take my .340 Wby Mag as my primary with my .300 Wby Mag as my backup on any moose hunt.

My post was primarily me postulating on your question of why people go for the minimum versus the average, and in this case which cartridge. 300 Win Mag seems the average and while I would assume a 7mm Rem Mag would be the minimum, it's apparently lower than that.
 
Reality is a 338 is better suited to moose than a 6.5. Its pretty simple.

I have 5 different 6.5's, shot a few moose and have been around for plenty more, and I am pretty sure I could kill a moose with any one of the 6.5's. Moose hunting this year did I take one of them, no because a 338 is a better choice on moose.

A 6.5 is a stretch on a northern moose, when you are hoping for a 1400ish pound monster of a moose you should go prepared with the best choices made.

The fact remains you don't need the big 338's to kill moose or any other big game.

The Rum's, Lapua's and other big .338's are but an infinitesimally small percentage of rifles used to successfully take moose.

Moose are huge animals but they are not hard to kill with a well placed shot. All you gain with the big .338's is forgiveness for poor marksmanship.

The only area in which the offer a significant advantage is when shooting beyond 600yds which according to all the moose hunters and guides I've ever talked to is extremely rare.

Cannonitis does not actually alter reality.
 
Reality is a 338 is better suited to moose than a 6.5. Its pretty simple.

I have 5 different 6.5's, shot a few moose and have been around for plenty more, and I am pretty sure I could kill a moose with any one of the 6.5's. Moose hunting this year did I take one of them, no because a 338 is a better choice on moose.

A 6.5 is a stretch on a northern moose, when you are hoping for a 1400ish pound monster of a moose you should go prepared with the best choices made.

How are the big .338's "best" when numerous smaller case magnums and even non magnums kill them just as dead?

All you're gaining with bigger is a greater margin of error for bad shots.
 
How are the big .338's "best" when numerous smaller case magnums and even non magnums kill them just as dead?

All you're gaining with bigger is a greater margin of error for bad shots.
Its not just dead, but how fast to dead. Want to skin a moose in knee deep water? How about in a thicket so thick you can barely get to him? Guys promoting h little guns really dont consider this. Anyone here think they can break both front shoulders on a moose or move it to a place where they can butcher it? There is a reason folks are telling you to use a big gun.
 
Warning! This thread is more than 5 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.
Top