Brown bear Rifle

Planning on a once in a lifetime brown bear Alaskan hunt in a couple years. Have a 300 Win Mag that shoots 220 Nosler partitions and 200 Nosler partitions quite well. Don't really want to buy another rifle but should I move up to a 338 class? Thinking of either a 33 Nosler, 338 WM or 338 ultra??? Opinions???
Talk to your guide and see what he recommends. I know some would rather see a 338 as a minimum caliber. But just visit with him and see if he is okay with your 30..
 
We need to sit around a fire and swap stories
I like your delivery. I could learn from you!
Thread makes me think of that story.
We've touched a bit on hunt styles affecting choice. The best opportunity I may have had, was a camp raider.
Locals had given up their fish camp early due to an aggressive bear. They had filled their winter stores, and decided it wasn't worth being greedy, and all left.
We were invited to visit the empty camp and sort it out.
We pulled in fully expecting to see a busted cabin or 2 to explore. No bear.
Of all the classic pictures one has of finally fulfilling this dream. The one in my head is a surprised bear, with a powdered sugar donut in his mouth, head covered in condiments.
Could have been much more exciting than that no doubt. Just how my mind works.
 
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I would say stick with your current rifle. 200 or 220 grain Partitions should be fine. Bear hunting usually is not a real long range event, but it gets exciting real quick. So work with what you already know very well. Be sure to speak with your outfitter and guide, because they will know the area and hunting conditions best. Pay attention to their suggestions and comments. They will be working to get you on a good bear. Unless a clients skills or equipment are marginal, I don't think most guides want to start "blasting away" on the game. And if you want to go to bigger caliber, I would suggest you go big, at least 375 or up. The 338 are good but not that much better than your 300. I can recommend the 375 Ruger. Rifles and ammo are readily available. It's very effective and pretty easy to shoot for a big bore.
 
I never hunted browns but I was amongst them in Alaska. I felt better with my Marlin 45-70. But after shooting a 375 H&H I think that would be good. recoil is like others have said, a big push. Those H&H cartridges feed really slick which is a nice feature. However on a lifetime hunt I'd probably stick with your 300 Win Mag, you're familiar with it.
 
Also, you did not mention what brand or model your 300 WM is. If you go to a bigger caliber, you may want to consider the same or similar model if available. You would already be pretty familiar with the handling and operations. Just as we teach in defensive pistol class, under stress it is your experience level with the firearm that saves time and lives...
 
I think i might have been misunderstood on my comments about the guide shooting my animal. I fully understand the guides point of view and the last thing i want is for the guide to go into the alders after a wounded freight train with teeth . All i said was i think i know why the guide feels the need to shoot , never said it was wrong. I also said an animal finished by someone else doesn't feel like my kill . I can't help that feeling . I was raised to be self reliant and taking an animal isn't a thing i can feel right about sharing duties on. Just trying to be honest.
To the dangerous game guides on here, don't let my opinion get under your skin . Its just my honest thoughts on the matter. I have the utmost respect for you and the job you choose to do.
 
If you put a bullet in the shoulder/lungs of a bear, it will die...eventually or perhaps immediately. Put a bullet in the guts and he might die a painful death if he is lucky. I don't understand you guys who say the guide better not shoot; I suspect most of you have not hunted much dangerous game. My last brown bear was shot with a .338 Win Mag and 250 AFs. Bear went down when I shot - dropped like his legs were pulled from under him. Guide followed up with a shot, and I put in a second one as well. Bear went nowhere.

My advice: if you have a problem with a guide shooting your bear, don't book the hunt. Your attitude alone will sour the hunt. You are essentially saying you killing that bear single-handedly is more important than human life or at the very least, your ego is more important than an animal suffering longer. I sure would not want to be your guide.
As i was saying in my comment recommending the 378WM this is first hand experience. I guided a hunt in the nw corner of BC the hunter brought a 300 Browning semi auto which i had advised him against. At 140yds he shot a very large grizz in the hump after i had recommended a heart lung shot and the bear charged the hunters gun jamed and i was standing beside him with my 4570 marlin saddle gun 440gr bullets. When he finally realized the bear was 30 feet away i finally got a 'shoot" out of hi. And the marlin did what it was supposed to the bears nose landed exactly ten feet away from us and i never did another g bear hunt.i did not want to shoot his bear and by law was not allowed to shoot until requested. I had nightmares of this hunt for 5 years it still 40 years later makes my knees weak. Please MOST not all of these guides are competent and follow the law and ethics Please consider your guides recommendations some of them are friends of mine and i dont want to hear they are dead because someone thought they knew more
 
If you want to see the craziest griz kill with archery gear, look up Tim Wells video of his one shot between the eyes kill. This guy jumps up and runs TOWARDS a 700lbs griz in an open field ! As the bear turns to see him, he draws his SIGHTLESS compound bow and drills the bear in the left eye, DRT ! Man has a death wish, but is as deadly as they come with archery gear .
 
The self reliant thing is for those by themselves. Most of us hunt as parties, and share the load regardless of what it is. A guide putting a second round into an animal, bear, or not offends me not in the least. Some are offended by merely others employing a guide.
I consider all they have done before to get me there, and all they do after to get me out. Whatever at the moment to make it seamless is no different.
If you 10 ringed your bear you know you did your job whether the guide tails it as it retreats or not. If you fluffed it you know that too.
Archery and record books a different beast.
 
The self reliant thing is for those by themselves. Most of us hunt as parties, and share the load regardless of what it is. A guide putting a second round into an animal, bear, or not offends me not in the least. Some are offended by merely others employing a guide.
I consider all they have done before to get me there, and all they do after to get me out. Whatever at the moment to make it seamless is no different.
If you 10 ringed your bear you know you did your job whether the guide tails it as it retreats or not. If you fluffed it you know that too.
Archery and record books a different beast.
I guess thats my hang up with someone else finishing my job for me. I've hunted alone 98% of my hunting life. Never joined a hunting club and never paid a outfitter or guide . Its always been a very personal thing between the game and me. I also hunted exclusively with archery gear the majority of my adult life . I very much enjoy talking shop with other hunters , but when it comes time to get down to business, I'm a loner.
 
Ya' don't hear much about the 9.3 x 62mm on this site, but there's another proven, big bore 'killer'. I have one in progress now. It's owner plans on a African lion next year. He already has the .375 H&H that I built for him, and we're looking for a suitable CRF action for a .416 Rem Mag.
Have you looked at Defiance machine? They will build a long crf action for you. Three position wing safety, trigger tech trigger, heavy claw extractor and fixed ejector. But they are proud of the thing. Then there is Big Horn Origin. Which would work best with a center feed aics dbm.
 
I guess thats my hang up with someone else finishing my job for me. I've hunted alone 98% of my hunting life. Never joined a hunting club and never paid a outfitter or guide . Its always been a very personal thing between the game and me. I also hunted exclusively with archery gear the majority of my adult life . I very much enjoy talking shop with other hunters , but when it comes time to get down to business, I'm a loner.
We're cut from a very similar mold. I began shooting archery with recurves at age 7. Started hunting solely archery at age 13. Migrated into also rifle hunting large game over a period of time. Maybe 5 yrs.

I believe it's very common, if not most common, in discussing hunting with many other hunters over the years, that hunters would prefer to shoot and kill their animals on their own.

But I've also met a few that were indifferent, and one hunter that didn't care if he shot his bear or his guide shot it.

So the guides have their work cut out for them too, having to deal with all flavor of hunters and their individual preferences. It's clearly a two-way street environment.
 
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I was getting worried, but on page three, others started saying what I was thinking. Plenty of gun, especially since you say you know you can use it well., but the bullet selection needed to be improved. Never been a fan of Nosler partitions for much bigger than deer. You have lots of great suggestions already.
 

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